posh we are

Lightyears write song for 2012 Olympics

At the end of last year The Lightyears were commissioned to write a song for the London Olympics – and we have penned a track called There With You, due to be performed at the Peterborough leg of the Olympic Torch Relay on Tuesday 3 July.

Peterborough has big plans for its Olympic Torch celebrations, and the performance of There With You promises to be nothing short of spectacular. In addition to The Lightyears, the concert will feature nearly 700 voices, along with 50 drummers to reflect the cultural diversity of the region. More details to come nearer the time!

Visit the Voyager School website to find out more.

Many of you will remember that we have a long-standing relationship with the city of Peterborough, having released charity football single Posh We Are with Peterborough FC and the Voyager School back in 2008. Read more here.

Our Top 20 Moments Of 2008

So, as 2008 draws to a close, I thought I’d send out a festive greeting to all our fans. Y’know, kinda like The Queen’s Speech.

2008 has been an unpredictable year. We’ve never known quite where we’re gonna end up from one month to another but it’s been a pretty exciting ride all told. 

We have big plans for 2009. Our new album “London, England” is coming out in the New Year and we have a feeling you’re gonna like it! Plus next year is gonna be all about you – the fans – and we’ll be spending our time creating music, media and all manner of delectable treats intended for your voracious consumption. More about that after Christmas… 

In the meantime, we’d like to thank Lightyears fans everywhere for your continuing support of the band. Wherever you are and whoever you’re with, have a disgracefully Merry Christmas and a calamitous New Year.

In the meantime, here are our Top 20 Most Memorable Moments Of 2008:

1. Performing at London Road stadium to thousands of people (twice!)
    
2. Being played on XFM
3. Being name-checked in The Guardian newspaper
4. Selling out The Troubadour
5. Performing in front of Barry Fry and the Mayor of Peterborough
6. Reaching #45 in the iTunes Plus Top 100 with charity single “Posh We Are”
7. Touring to Ireland to play at the launch of national music magazine State
8. Making the short-list for Best Pop Act at the INDY Awards
    
9. Presenting the award for Best Female Solo Act at the INDYs alongside Feargal Sharkey and Mike Rutherford
10. Playing London Astoria 2
11. Drinking a toast in a Korean jacuzzi at 7am after one of the best gigs of our lives
    
    
12. Performing twice at Glastonbury Festival
13. Supporting the Mystery Jets at a packed Barfly
     
14. Fans at Brightlingsea Festival singing all our lyrics back to us on a hot August evening
     
15. Flying Business Class to New York!
16. Headlining the Time Out Festival in Union Square, Manhattan
     
17. Releasing our EP “At Midnight” in the USA and being nominated as “Single Of The Day” at Amie Street
18. Filming a music video for “Obama Republic“
19. Recording our new album “London, England”
20. Buying a bitchin’ new van!

Here’s to 2009!

Chris Lightyear

Lightyears in FourFourTwo

The Lightyears get a mention in this month’s edition of football magazine FourFourTwo following their collaboration with Peterborough United Football Club on the charity single Posh We Are.

The single, a re-working of the club’s 30 year-old terrace anthem, was released in May of this year to raise money for Peterborough-based sports charity Free Kicks. The record reached #45 in the iTunes Plus Top 100 Chart.  

See Page 123 of FourFourTwo’s October edition (part of the “Planet Football” feature) for the band’s appearance. 

Our sources suggest that this represents The Lightyears’ first appearance in the national sporting press. Hopes for the future include a double-page spread in the Subbuteo Almanac and an intimate and revealing exposé in the Gymkhana Gazette.

BBC Radio Cambridgeshire – Cambridge – 10/07/08

How was it for us?

Back at the BBC. The Beeb. A great institution and one of our spiritual homes – a place where people behave in a thoroughly British manner, there’s always lots of tea for everyone and they let you nip to the pub for a sneaky half before your interview. Jeremy Sallis (“Jezza” to us now) originally asked us into the Radio Cambridgeshire studio back in April after playing the Peterborough United charity single Posh We Are on his show, I think partly out of curiosity as to what we had in our repertoire beyond football club anthems. His weekly music show The Audio Files always features a live band, sometimes local, sometimes national and occasionally international (he had Jason Mraz on last week). We played Emily, Sleepless and new song Run, which seemed to be a particular favourite of Jez’s. There was a bit of chat about our Glastonbury experience, the INDY Awards and our association with Peterborough United – which I’m hoping didn’t dent our popularity in the Cambridge area, given that the two teams are bitter rivals – and everyone went home happy. You can listen again to the interview on the BBC Radio Cambridgeshire website.  

Chris Lightyear

How was it for you?

Did you listen? Got an opinion? Want to write a review? Hit the comments box at the foot of the page.

Gig Details

Lightyears to play to stadium crowd

This week The Lightyears have released a charity single with Peterborough United – and the band will be promoting the release with a gig in front of a sell-out crowd of 15,000 people at London Road Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

Charity record “Posh We Are” is a re-working of the club’s 1973 anthem and is available now on download from iTunes and Napster. All proceeds from the song will go to sports charity Free Kicks.

To purchase the song visit www.PoshWeAre.co.uk or download it directly from iTunes here.

The song is currently charting in The iTunes Plus Top 100 at Number 45.

Lightyears to release charity record

At the end of April The Lightyears are releasing a charity record in collaboration with Peterborough United (A.K.A. “The Posh”). The single is a re-working of the team’s anthem Posh We Are and all profits will go to the Free Kicks Foundation, which organises days out in sport for sick and disadvantaged children.



The new version of Posh We Are, written by Peterborough fans Brian Paine and Tony Pickering in 1973, has been arranged and performed by The Lightyears and also features hundreds of voices from the local community – including Peterborough United players, Posh fans, The Voyager School choir and the Voyager U14 football team. The Posh are currently top of League 2 and if the team win this Saturday then promotion is guaranteed. Local press have shown huge interest in the project and this has created a city-wide buzz.

The Lightyears and 250 students from The Voyager School will be performing the song in front of a sell-out crowd of 15,000 people at London Road Stadium on the last day of the season (Saturday 3 May).



This release represents the pilot project for a brand-new initiative called Sparks. Sparks is a collaboration between professional musicians, education and local communities that is responding directly to recent changes in both the music industry and the education system. The project has been making waves in government, education and media circles for several months now and an article in The Guardian, covering The Lightyears’ work with Sparks, is due for publication within the coming fortnight. Details to follow.



Find out more at www.TheSparksProject.com. 



Posh We Are will be available for download from numerous major digital outlets from Monday 28 April. Watch this space for updates.