'A Wombling Winters Tale'

As I have stated here before, my Christmas Youtube video single for 2013 is my version of David Essex classic 1982 hit 'A Winters Tale'. Surprisingly, there are very few covers of 'A winters Tale' in existence and so, loving the song, I thought I should have a go at it myself. As when covering any classic hit, however, you are always setting yourself up for a fall artistically when you do a new take on  another recording artists work because usually the original version will always remain the best in most hearts and minds. The best reason then to record one of your favourite songs is to do it because you want to for yourself. If anyone likes your interpretation then great but if not you had a lot of fun recording it and trying to bring a little of yourself to it. http://youtu.be/__GTj_-wrCs

Click on the link above to see my video for 'A Winters Tale'

'A Winters Tale' is not as easy a song to sing as it sounds. While there are no real soaring heights to reach nor depth to try and get down to the song has a wistful, wintery feel to it and David Essex's rugged yet whispery vocal style is absolutely perfect for the song. I'm no professional singer and I have never had any vocal training or coaching so I try best I can to sing songs by feel. In all honestly, I'm not 100% convinced that I managed to capture the emotion within 'A Winters Tale' and like most performers I'm a bit paranoid about sounding a bit flat here and there. Still, until I win the lottery or Simon Cowell bashes on my front door promising to make me an intergalactic megastar, I will just have to be content with doing the best I can with the voice and techniques I've got.

'A Winters Tale' was of course co-written by Mike Batt - the man responsible for the recording career of The Wombles. 'Wombling Merry Christmas' is an especially poignant festive hit for me as, like Wimbledon's finest, I volunteer lots of my time to going out clearing up the streets of where I live in Hollington. I have given myself the monicker of 'The Clean Up Man' and am an active campaigner when it comes to trying to highlight the problems of litter in our communities. Have a listen to that classic Wombles hit and then take a look at one of my 'Clean Up Man' videos to see what I'm faced with on a daily basis!