Stars to set charity speed record

Razorlight's Johnny Borrell will feature. Picture / Reuters

Pop stars Radiohead, Razorlight and The Coral are to record the fastest album made to raise funds for children affected by wars.

Around 20 acts will each record a new song in one day on the 10th anniversary of the first War Child album, Help, which raised nearly 2 million ($5.1 million) for children in Bosnia.

The new album, Help: A Day in the Life, will be available for downloading on the War Child and other websites on the day of recording, September 9, making it the fastest album made. A CD will released later.

Radiohead, whose track Lucky was one of the highlights of the first CD, were among the first bands to sign up to the new venture.

Other acts expected to take part include the Zutons, Bloc Party, Hard-Fi, The Coral, Elbow and Manic Street Preachers, who also took part in the original project.

Despite fears that charity fatigue may have set in following recent fundraising for tsunami victims and Live8, the War Child charity hopes the new album will benefit children in Iraq, Afghanistan, Bosnia and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Mark Waddington, War Child's chief executive officer, said: "It was my intention that any new album should match up to the feats of the past. That's why we have set ourselves the challenge of remaking history and releasing the fastest album ever again."

The original Help was was recorded in studios across Europe on September 4, 1995.

The finished product was released less than a week later and went straight into the charts at No 1 after selling more than 71,000 copies in its first day in the shops.

- INDEPENDENT