The Stop HS2 Christmas single, ‘Oak Tree Lament (Did you stop the HS2?)’ by Dirty Mavis is now available online for pre-order online on the HMV website. Campaign supporters are being encouraged not only to but both versions of the track themselves, but to buy gift copies for their friends and family. To do this, you just need an email address of the person you want to buy a copy for. Up until now, the track has only been available via text message and it will be available on more websites come December 19th.
The track costs just 79p on HMV and is accompanied by the ‘Live Lounge’ version. Supporters are asked to buy both copies as they will get added together when the chart is compiled. Supporters will also be able to buy both tracks from other websites from December 19th, the official launch date. Under Official Chart Company rules, people can buy any track (in this case both tracks) three times from different retailers per credit/debit card before sales are counted as duplicates and struck out. Text sales are additional to this, as are gift copies.
The track being available on HMV coincided with the video being re-released with various edits. Guitarist Mike Hannon said;
“It’s not until visiting some of the areas effected you can start to appreciate the true scale of this project and devastation it will cause. We met many people from different walks of life on the day of shooting the video from Ruislip all the way along the M40 to Birmingham and it’s not until you see these places and where the track is planned to go you can even start getting an idea of the scale involved.”
“What struck me most is that, even if you think the environmental impact and financial cost of this project is justifiable, the one thing that that is impossible to ignore is the total lack of planning this project has. At every single stop there were extremely major planning considerations that have just not been looked at all and I just fail to see how the government can be anywhere near being in a position to give this project the go ahead. Are there not any alternatives? Where is all the planning and research that has gone into this? There just seems to be little evidence of any at all. It doesn’t take long when you start looking at the core facts to realise they need to go back to the drawing board on this. Yes it’s great to have better capacity and speed on the networks but at what price? It needs to be done in the right way.”
You can order the track now by texting TRACK 7655 to 80818 (Costs £1), doing this means you will get a message on 19th December with a code to download it onto a computer. You can order the track now for download direct to your mobile phone (not iPhone) by texting TRACK 7655 m to 80818. Costs will vary depending on your data download plan.
The song will become available to pre-order on music retailing websites over the coming week before the launch on December 19th, ready for a big push in the Christmas chart battle. You will be able to buy it more than once if you like and send gift copies via email. More details to follow at www.oaktreelament.org.uk
The song will also be performed live at the Stop HS2 Christmas Party on Saturday 17th December at Lacey Green Village Hall. Tickets are FREE, but need to be booked in advance as numbers are restricted. Contact Roger Waller on 01296 623675 or rogerdunsmore@aol.com