The Overtones ~ All You Need Is Love

Yes, yes everyone might be banging on about the Glee kids doing the Beatles songs this week but the real study in how to recreate an all time classic was undertaken on a misty, grey stage in Liverpool to celebrate 25 years of Britain's favourite sick day hang out, This Morning. Luckily the drizzly weather was given some vibrant colour thanks to the always reliable, always charming The Overtones who were on hand to provide the musical accompaniment in the form of my very favourite Beatles song, All You Need Is Love. Clever choice too because although (sadly) it's not on their upcoming Saturday Night At The Movies collection, it does feature prominently in my very favourite film, Love comma Actually - so it teams with the theme and I'm doubly satiated :) Wins all round (God Only Knows by The Beach Boys next please eh fellas?!) Now, as you will be able to judge yourselves from the clip above, there were a lot of distractions going on - a pantomime horse getting down with it's bad self. Holly Willobooby jigging around and proving how she got the nickname. A bloke in a beenie hat realising he's on camera and quickly singing along. Some dude at the beginning, next to Holly & Phil, looking all confused with his glass of champers (or sparkling apple juice - it's hard to tell on camera :P) And of course Keith Lemon doing what Keith Lemon does, grabbing the mic & adding his slightly less than flawless vocals to the mix ;) (You get the impression that if this was a pilot episode for an Overtones sitcom, you would have seen Mark karate chop him & the next scene would have been the lads singing perfectly, with Keith trussed up in the corner with a cravat round his chops :D) So if you are looking for a 3 minute clip that is very Carry On Overtones, look no further - but don't be fooled; within the clip The Overtones do what THEY do and provide some very lovely music indeed. It starts off with those almost hymn like, choir harmonies to the universal message of "love, love, love" & just those few seconds alone are serene beauty. Lachie gives an outstanding lead vocal that is rich in tone & high in emotive resonance while of course the rest of the chaps provide an exquisitely textured backdrop of harmonies (particularly effective with Timmy taking a higher key to accentuate these). The chorus is of course designed to be utterly uplifting and jubilant & that message comes across loud and clear with all five powering the love is all you need sentiment forward. I'd love to hear a studio version of this (perhaps a b-side to the first single?) but even if this is all we get of it, I'll be more than happy. PS, excellent display of pocket squares going on. Most pleasing :)