Andy Ropek was a legendary London music promoter who truly cared for musicians, was passionate about sound, and who gave a stage to those who wouldn’t otherwise have a chance to be heard. Andy died very suddenly of cancer just before Christmas 2011.

On Saturday, 4th February 2012, The Portraits will join a host of other talented acts, including renowned singer songwriter Benny Gallagher (of 1970s Gallagher and Lyle fame) to play a tribute concert to Andy at The Blackheath Halls in SE London.

It seemed totally fitting therefore that Song 5 in The Portraits’ weekly Friday Song series should be a tribute to Andy and to the massive help his and Phil Dearing’s joint Icarus Club venture has given to hundreds of musicians since its 2004 inception.

This is a light-hearted, affectionate tribute to a great guy, a jolly singalong tune, at once the story of trying to get the attention of major labels and failing because you’re always a little “too young, too old, too hard, too soft, too breakaway, too done before” – as per the lyrics – and a description of just how incredible it is to find a musical home in the shape of a listening audience as provided without fail by the Icarus Club, which incidentally will live on – it is being relaunched on 8th February in Greenwich, London: http://www.facebook.com/theportraitsmusic#!/events/176259892480890/

For the first time, Lorraine and Jeremy are joined by their other band members on a Friday Song, which they’re over the moon about. Vincent Imbert is on violin and French hand-claps (totally distinct from non-French ones) and Shemi Jones, normally the player of a cello and an Irish bodhran drum, turns his hand to a little guitar – and does rather a powerful job of it, I expect you’ll agree.

Uniquely, this week’s song will be sold not to raise funds for the Burma Campaign as per the other songs in the series, but for Greenwich and Bexley Hospice which cared for Andy at the end of his life. And double uniquely, a CD single version will be available exclusively at the Concert For Andy on 4th February 2012. The disk will be an enhanced CD containing the audio version plus the song’s video in MPEG2 quality and much additional material.

This is the fifth in The Portraits’ weekly “Friday Song” series, released first on their Facebook www.facebook.com/theportraitsmusic

A brand new song every single week based on ideas and inspiration sent in by you!

We hope you enjoy the song, and we look forward to receiving your input towards the next songs in the series. The songs are inspired by ideas, pictures, suggestions sent to us by you. They can be originals for which you send us stories, bits of poetry -- anything from your own lives, or covers you would like to hear us do in Portraits-style. We will tag you in the videos and publicity if you've been the inspiration for the current week's song!

So “Trilby Song”, last week’s song “Song For A New Soul” and the first three in the series, “Glastonbury Song”, "Daybreak" and "Final Act" can be downloaded right now from our main site http://www.theportraitsmusic.com/ - click on Friday Song towards the top of the page. The songs can be downloaded for free, or you have the option of choosing a price -- and all proceeds from sales of the Friday Songs will go to The Burma Campaign (http://www.burmacampaign.org.uk/) who campaign for human rights and democracy in Burma, a cause close to our hearts.

JEREMY MILLINGTON
THE PORTRAITS http://www.theportraitsmusic.com/
— with Jeremy Millington