The Power of Love – Thanks to fans

Well it’s been all bubbling away behind the scenes. Plans for this October’s tour are coming together and through the wonders of twitter, facebook, BBC radio, youtube, crowd sourcing, blogs and TopMan we’re amassing quite a bunch of help. So thank you.

Chris Gregory (@MrFurrball on twitter), in Kentish Town, gave Hope and Social a big ol’ plug live on air on BBC Radio 2’s The Radcliffe & Maconie Show.  Beeb favourites Radcliffe and Maconie featured Chris taking part in “officially the longest listener-generated, thematically-linked sequence of musically-based items on the radio”, “The Chain”. You could hear the plug for yours truly at in The Chain from around 49.15 on, We’ve now acrchived it; see below. Now if we can just get them to play the record… Rest assured we’ll be adding: “I’ve heard the name vaguely” – Mark Radcliffe, BBC Radio 2 to our quotes list.

[soundcloud url=”http://soundcloud.com/thehuxcapacitor/hope-and-social-plug-on-bbc-radio-2-the-radcliffe-and-maconie-show”]

Meanwhile, across the pond, possibly our youngest fan from the US exclaims her favourite Hope and Social track:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1d0yLG6aIxA&hl=en&fs=1&]

If you’re struggling to catch it all, she’s saying “Hi Hope and Social, I like King of Spain and I’m Ophelia”. You can hear King of Spain in the background too if you listen closely. Aaaaaaw bless.

While we’re getting down with the kids, it seems that UK fashion store TopMan are cottoning on to the styles the band have been sporting this year, the blue jacket:

We’re slightly uneasy being at the spearhead of the fashion war for once, particularly as we’ve spent so much of our lives unable to see the curve, let alone be ahead of it.  (Picture courtesy of Ed Heaton / @thesoundmill)

Things are heating up nicely in advance of our Autumn tour, a few more dates may drop in, but we’re pretty much there. All details will be up on hopeandsocial.com. We’re very happy to be returning to Joseph’s Well in Leeds and to make our first foray to a new venue in York, “City Screens’ Basement Bar”.

Our special “Be the Architect” show at (where the album was recorded) is selling well and we’re ecstatic that the event will be photographed and documented by the rather fantastic Phil Barber of The Sound Gallery – Why not check out some of his fancy work at a recent U2 show? Rather cool huh?

Through the power of crowd sourcing, and Twitter communications, the lovely people who held a Hope and Social launch party in Denver are not only making it over to the Crypt show, but also bringing new toys for us to play with, courtesy of an anonymous benefactor. We don’t know quite what we’re getting as yet bar it includes free strings, capos and piano pickup mics, but how lovely it is that people will put themselves out for you like this.

Even further afield, Saskia (a teacher in Australia) has been playing our song to her class and getting them singing along. Anyone know how much international postage on 30 kazoos or so would be? Saskia’s “” is up .

A big thanks goes out to Ben, Lynette and Si Wiffen for the pulling in of favours, the offering sofas for the studio, sending tickets, inspiring and energising and for really being great helping us organise the crypt show. Can’t say a big enough thanks to you guys. Big and genuine thanks also to the US contingent, Ellen, Chris and Guitar Centre for your generosity in bringing new and exciting strings, capos, piano mics and other toys for us to use, and to Ophelia for her lovely message. So I suppose that’s the point of this post, really to say thanks, you’re all brilliant.

And if anyone wants to buy me one of , I’m a 34. Ta!

xR