One Take Charlie

The Challenge

I have always believed that music can have a wonderfully positive effect on mental health. The aim of this project is outwardly simple; to bring together a group of people to form a one-off band and record a song - but the underlying theme remains the importance of being strong enough or feeling able to ask for help if you are struggling with a mental health condition. The band's name is One Take Charlie and the song is “Jimmy Jimmy”, first recorded by The Undertones in 1979. To turn the idea into reality, I needed to ask for help, so whilst I would try to provide something vaguely resembling vocals, I was incredibly lucky to have the support of Carl Pemberton and Adam Bell of the superb V12 on guitar and drums respectively; and I was thrilled that teenage bassist Megan Curtis was also willing to get involved ... a star in the making!

The Band

Picture
Megan, Carl. Adam and Richard

The Name

“One Take Charlie” was a nickname given to the child actor Charles Herbert (1948-2015) based on an apparent reputation for getting things right on set at the first time of asking. By the time he was five years of age, he was earning enough to support his family and during the 1950s he appeared opposite the likes of Cary Grant, Sophia Loren, Vincent Price and Doris Day. 

The Song

The Cover
“Jimmy Jimmy” was written by John O'Neill, recorded by The Undertones and released some forty years ago. It’s a great song by a fine band, from an era where my musical tastes were really (and rapidly) developing. There were so many fantastic bands around when I was in my mid- to late-teens and, despite the passage of time, a lot of music from that era still has a relevance and resonance today.
The cover of the original single featured a picture of a youthful singer Feargal Sharkey holding a trophy against a bright yellow background. The idea is to recreate the cover using a picture of me taken holding a trophy (that I hadn’t actually won) during a school presentation sometime during the first half of the 1970s - my cute but undeniably chubby phase...

And here it is!!

The Outcome...

On 15th December 2019, Megan and I were able to handover £110 to Rachael Bareham of Zoe's Place baby hospice, which is situated in Normanby, near Middlesbrough. The money was raised from the sale of a limited edition of 30 CDs of "Jimmy Jimmy" and we are all really grateful to everyone who bought the record. 

Zoe's Place does amazing work providing respite, palliative and end of life care to babies and children aged five and under, and to their parents. One Take Charlie will be back in the studio to record a new song in 2020; a small number of CDs will be produced, and hopefully we can raise a bit more money to support this wonderful charity.