Hawkwind legend set to
change the cancer world for millions with new release
PUBLISHING DETAILS & CREDITS:
©LYRICS: MARION LLOYD-LANGTON
©MUSIC: HUW LLOYD-LANGTON
PUBLISHING: Copyright Control (MCPS/PRS)
Recording Studio: Paul Smith at “The Surgery, Parkstone, Dorset”, BH14 9DL
Cover
Artwork: "The cover was painted by friend and commercial artist Phil
Bestford” who sadly died on April 22nd 2008 at the age of 40 after
battling brain
tumours for 17 years. Despite his illness he
continued to paint and teach right till the very end, never failing to
inspire all he met with his enthusiasm for life. It has been kindly
loaned by his brother Mark
PERFORMERS:
Huw Lloyd-Langton – VOCALS/GUITARS
Richard Gillespie – BASS
Volker Von Hoff – DRUMS/PERCUSION
With
thanks to Gabrielle Hass for her input, ideas & hard work and Paul
Smith who was put under extreme pressure & tight deadlines but
still smiled and produced great work!
KILLING Cancer is a Registered Charity. Number: 1109926
Official press release, August 2009:
Wild man of rock and former Hawkwind frontman, Huw Lloyd
Langton, believes that his latest single release, ‘PDT - Photodynamic
Therapy’, will help change the cancer and life chances of millions of
people around the world.
To be released Monday 19th October by Cherry Red Records as a global
digital down-load on the net, the song, co-written with wife Marion, is
one of the cornerstones of a campaign to fund the global development of
a new style of cancer treatment. “It’s not your usual charity record. I don’t think there has ever been
anything so specific written about cancer, and certainly nothing that
can – and will – have such a dramatic impact in changing the way cancer
patients are treated in the future,” says Huw. “I am incredibly proud
of it.”
Photodynamic Therapy (PDT) kills cancers by starving the cells of
oxygen, and uses light to activate a chlorophyll-like drug. The song’s
lyric tells the story of a man dying of cancer, wanting and knowing
that PDT is his best chance of defeating his killer disease. PDT
is a single, one-off treatment cancer treatment where tumours are
killed within minutes. It is a treatment that can be repeated without
any toxic damage to the body, and few sides effects, compared to
radiotherapy and chemotherapy. PDT can also be an alternative to
surgery.
PDT is available now for skin, head and neck, mouth, oesophageal and
some lung cancers on the NHS now. But the potential for PDT to
successfully treat other cancers and conditions means that £50m has to
be raised to fund the trials. Breast, cervical, prostate, bile duct,
brain, throat, bladder and stomach cancers are on the target list. So
is PDT for arterial disease and MRSA.
“Everyone who knows me thinks of my hell-raising days of Hawkwind. I’ve
lived life to the full, and Marion and I have survived the ups and
downs of the rock music world since we met in 1967. I thought I was
invincible until Legionnaires Disease smacked me down when I was
touring with Hawkwind over Christmas 2001. “I thought I was finished. And friends and family around me were almost
dropping like flies from cancer. It wasn’t the cancer that was
destroying them, but the treatment. And I couldn’t see any way back,”
he says.
It was Marion who found out about Photodynamic Therapy (PDT), and the
journey of discovery since has changed their lives. Marion
was researching a cancer answer for a friend. All the other options
seemed so dire, and yet here was an apparent answer that was a one-off
treatment, it didn’t leave the patient feeling desperately ill, and
wasn’t going to involve surgery. Huw and Marion were considering an offer to re-record some of Huw’s
best known tracks. Huw says “It didn’t seem the right thing to do. I
would have felt cheap – an easy way out – to simply re-hash what I had
done before. You feel you HAVE to do something different to the vocal
when, in all honesty, you still loved the original.”
It was meeting patients treated with this ‘magic’ therapy that, Huw
says, ‘gave me back a direction and a purpose for recording and
performing again. I’m not 16 all over again, but the sense of rebellion
and fighting remains. But the focus is different these days.
“Marion and I looked at this guy who was supposed to have died years
ago. Standing either side were two others who had been destined for the
surgeon’s knife and a crap life ahead. Nothing to look forward to,
other than living as a shadow.” Marion takes up the story. “Huw was looking at mirrors of his life.
When the Legionnaires was at its worst, he had no hope and didn’t plan
even about the next hour. Here we were looking at three men who had
been looking down the barrel of a similar gun.
“But here they were, smiling, laughing and reflecting on their own
personal miracles,” she adds. The lyrics didn’t take long to flow and, Huw and Marion put
in calls to drummer Volker Von Hoff (left - from Lloyd-Langton Group -
LLG) and, right, bassist Richard Gillespie (senior analyst in the City
for a top French Bank).
The Photodynamic Therapy track will also be featured on the album “Hard
Graft” that was finished in July 2009. It is a brilliant portrayal of
Huw’s mastery of guitar with excellent musicianship from Volker and
Richard. The songs are varied and haunting!
Richard Gillespie suggested running an animation competition with a
2-minute edit of the PDT track, getting computer animation students in
colleges and universities round the UK all creating their own
interpretation of the track. Within weeks 20 student groups had entered, and Marion thinks the total
number will be a lot higher. The closing date is 1st March 2010 with
the judging panel including TV and radio presenter, Matthew Wright,
Kris Tait, Steve Ibsen (Kitty Cat) and Michael Poole, Executive
Producer of Arts & Entertainment at the BBC. The album will be
released Spring 2010 together with the winning 2-minute animated DVD.
The KILLING Cancer charity is promoting the use of PDT in hospitals
around the world, and also launching the campaign to get public funds
to pay for the new cancer trials. The charity’s
task is to reach out to people of all ages, making them aware that PDT
is a non-surgical treatment route for some patients now. 50 million
patient leaflets are being be distributed via retailers and GP
surgeries. Many top celebrities are involved in the campaign, including
Chris Tarrant, Sir David Frost, Sir Alex Ferguson, Ronnie O’Sullivan
and many more.
Says David Longman, Director of the charity: “The PDT story is one of
injustice. Too few patients are able to get PDT, and the major drug
companies don’t seem bothered to get involved and fund the development
of this incredible science. Huw, Marion, Volker and Richard have done
something stunning.
“We have to reach out to men, women and children around the world,
letting them know more about PDT. The record, the competition and the
media coverage really will help us to change the cancer treatment world
for millions – maybe billions of people.
“This campaign is all about a cancer patient today, tomorrow and next
week. Together with all the other activities from our launch campaign
in September this year, we are absolutely going to change the lives of
so many people.”
________________
Here's a PDF that you can download, print and/or pass on, in any way that you see fit: huw killing cancer.pdf (Photo credit for PDF flyer: John Chase)
More on Killing Cancer. More on the Animation Competition.
Press clipping: Elder Stubbs
Press clipping: Journal of the Musician's Union
Web coverage of the campaign:
Radio Interview by David Longman (of Killing Cancer) (24MB, MP3)
Classic Rock Magazine 4/9/09
Author Ian Abrahams 4/9/09
Michael Moorcock (Sci-Fi Writer)
Aural-Innovations Web site & Radio (USA)
Total Rock Radio
PDT was featured on BBC Bristol on the Today show and breakfast news on 13th October 2009
Marion
& Huw have are donating every penny of their royalties, both
publishing and performance, directly to the Killing Cancer Charity as
are the performing artists drummer Volker Von Hoff and bassist Richard
Gillespie. Also note that the band and Huw & Marion have paid for
therecordings and masters out of their own pockets.