Episode 36: The Mission UK’s Wayne Hussey Discusses Charity Single ‘TOS2020’ Featuring All Your Favorite Musicians: Mission frontman assembles a dream team of alt-rock greats for a worthy cause.
Never content to rest on his laurels, Hussey remains a creative force, as evidenced on The Mission’s 2016 epic album ‘Another Fall From Grace.’ And now he’s lending his musical talents to a host of charities for Covid-19 frontline workers with a new charity version of one of his biggest hits.
Hussey has remade The Mission’s 1988 classic ‘Tower of Strength’ (retitled as ‘TOS 2020’) with a huge host of musicians (referred to as The ReMIssion International) that reads like a Who’s Who of alternative icons, including (deep breath) Andy Rourke, Billy Duffy, Budgie, Evi Vine, Gary Numan, James Alexander Graham, Jay Aston (who we’ve interviewed for this podcast), Julianne Regan, Kevin Haskins (who we’ve ALSO interviewed for this podcast), Kirk Brandon, Lol Tolhurst, Martin Gore, Michael Aston, Michael Ciravolo, Midge Ure, Miles Hunt, Rachel Goswell, Richard Fortus, Robin Finck, Steve Clarke, Tim Palmer and Trentemøller.
In this episode, Hussey and I discuss what inspired remaking ‘Tower of Strength’, the Herculean task of assembling such an intimidating list of collaborators (and how he got Jay and Michael Aston to appear on the same track), his thoughts on being a musician during a pandemic, his other recent creative pursuits and more.
So give it a listen via the RadioPublic embed below, or click here to listen via Apple Podcasts, or click here to listen through Spotify (or through any of the various platforms in the widget below). And be sure to stick around afterwards, when we’ll be playing the radio edit edition of ‘TOS2020’.
FYI, you can purchase the new single in a variety of digital and physical formats by visiting the band’s official website.
Apple Podcasts
Google Podcasts
Spotify
Anchor
Radio Public
Amazon Music
YouTubeTRACK LIST for TOS2020 – ReMission International
Vinyl Side A (cat no: SPV 243541 LP)
1. TOS2020 (Beholden To The Front Line Workers Of The World mix)
2. TOS2020 (single)
Vinyl Side B
1. TOS2020 (Trentemøller remix)*
2. TOS2020 (Albie Mischenzingerzen remix)**
CD (cat no: SPV 243542 CD-EP)
1. TOS2020 (Beholden To The Front Line Workers Of The World mix)
2. TOS2020 (Trentemøller remix)*
3. TOS2020 (Albie Mischenzingerzen remix)**
4. TOS2020 (single)
Digital Bundle (cat no: SPV 24354D)
1. TOS2020 (single)
2. TOS2020 (Beholden To The Front Line Workers Of The World mix)
3. TOS2020 (Trentemøller remix)*
4. TOS2020 (Albie Mischenzingerzen remix)**
5. Tower Of Strength (original new remaster) – The Mission (free bonus track with bundle only)
TOS2020 nominated charities currently include:
NHS UK
St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital, Memphis
Music Venue Trust UK
Covenant House, New Orleans
Disasters Emergency Committee
MusiCares
Plan International
Direct Relief
Alzheimer’s Scotland
Liberty Hill Foundation
The Shrewsbury Ark
Memorial Sloan Kettering Center, NYC
Prostate Cancer UK
The Teddy Bear Clinic
Red Rover
Help Musicians UK
Crew Nation
Venice Family Clinic
The Anthony Walker Foundation
Projeto Cáo Communitário
The City Of San Francisco Covid-19 Fund