Girls just wanna have fun

On Saturday morning Joy and I made our way to Islington and found the recording studio where the Race for Life charity single, ‘Girls Just Wanna Have Fun’, was being recorded. On the way we passed a sign that Joy liked.

At the studio we met some Cancer Research people, some PR people, and some recording studio people. They had already done one day in the studio, with celebrities all singing a line of the song the day before.

It all got a bit confusing but that’s definitely the lovely Polly second from the left. Apologies to everyone else for not remembering your names.

First came makeup. Then we met the voice coach, a woman with the voice of an angel and the patience of a saint, who took us through what we were going to be singing, and reassured us that we would all sound wonderful.

The recording studio was in an old church, so here I am with a large organ:

And here are Nathan (left) and Tony (right), the cameraman and director. (The recording was also being filmed for the video.)

Once the group had assembled, we were arranged and given props. I got the butterfly deely boppers, and had a brief moment where I was going to refuse to wear them – I think I even considered them beneath my dignity when I was a child – but I gave myself a little ‘this is not about you’ talking to and remembered that at least I hadn’t ended up with the bunny ears.

So, the track was played, and we were encouraged to sing and dance our way through the song. We were a little bit nervous and, I imagine, not a little out of tune.

But we kept doing it, and the more we did it, the more relaxed we got. And the more relaxed we got, the more we belted it out, the more we danced and (according to the director) the better we got.

I guess we spent the best part of an hour singing “They just wanna – just wanna – They just wanna – just wanna – Girls – they wanna – wanna have fun – girls -wanna have”  Then, everyone was happy, and it was time for some photographs.

The man with the camera on the left is filming for a Sky documentary that will be screened at the beginning of May. We were all interviewed for that, individual photos were taken, and then we were done.

Except for my interview with one of the girls who was singing in the afternoon.

I can’t tell you how much fun I had. Singing on a record is one of those things that I never thought I would do and, because it was so far from anything I’d ever done before, I felt that the only way to approach it was to launch into it headlong, confident in the knowledge that my singing would be drowned out by the hundreds of other women who are giving voice to the chorus. Watching Joy watching me (she took the photos, by the way) was fun too – I think she coped with watching her mother sing and dance in deely boppers really well! I did nearly cry laughing when I saw her managing to incorporate a bit of slow-hand-clapping and eye-rolling into the general cheering and encouragement from the rest of the onlookers.

And it’s wonderful to be part of such a big effort of cancer awareness, and cancer fundraising. Of course I am doing what I can here in the corner called Bah!, but there are times when I feel very small. Saturday reminded me again that there is will, and passion, and determination everywhere from people who want to see the back of cancer. I’m proud, proud, proud to be part of that. And if being part of that means deely boppers, then so be it.

The single is released in April. You’ll be able to buy it at iTunes or in Tesco – fear not, I’ll be reminding you! And you can sign up for Race for Life here.