Well established Munster band J90, have just launched their first charity single to help raise some much needed funds for local charity, Cork Simon Community.The five talented young musicians from Cork, Kerry, Limerick and London decided to record a cover of Phil Collin’s number-one hit and anti-homelessness anthem “Another Day in Paradise”, with all the proceeds from the single being given to Cork Simon.
Cork Simon Community works in solidarity with men and women who are homeless in Cork, offering housing and support in their journey back to independent or supported living. Cork Simon supports over 800 people annually, providing accommodation, access to health services, housing support, training and employment opportunities to enable people to move out of homelessness.As the famous song was originally written to bring attention to the problem of homelessness, the band wanted to do the same.
Lead singer of the band and RTE’s “Fade Street” regular, Ger Murphy states: “We get asked to do so many charity events that we thought it would be nice to do something special this Christmas. These hard times are seeing even more people homeless, so we especially wanted to do something to help those people in particular.”
Playing to thousands of people every week nationwide, with a mix of Rock, Pop, Hip Hop, Dance, it was unusual for the band to go against their normal genre and chose a more mellow song. Ger went on to state: “The song is a personal favourite of ours and wouldn’t normally fit into are routines but we are delighted to be performing it now. We are thrilled with our version of the song, which will hopefully be a hit with the public.”
Thanking J90 for their time and effort, Cork Simon Director, Colette Kelleher, stated “By their actions, Ger and the band are giving hope and showing that they believe in people. The proceeds from this single will help give someone who is homeless in Cork over Christmas hot food, shelter, kindness, a warm welcome from the cold and hope – hope that the New Year might just bring a new beginning.”
J90’s “Another Day in Paradise” is now available on iTunes and various other mp3 download sites. The CD will also be available at all of J90’s gigs, visit www.facebook.com/j90music. All the proceeds raised will be donated to Cork Simon.