Shropshire Star

The Fire Tones hit number one - watch the video

Singing firefighters from Shropshire and Mid Wales have hit the top of two music charts and are now hoping for the top spot for Christmas.

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Fire Tones

The Fire Tones version of Do They Know its Christmas is number one in both the iTunes and the Amazon music charts to the delight of the group.

Money raised from the single, written by Bob Geldorf and Midge Ure for Band Aid in the 1970s, will be split between the Band Aid Trust and the Firefighters Charity.

The single was the brainchild of Welshpool firefighter, Chris Birdsell-Jones, and has personnel from across the UK taking part, including many from Shropshire and Wales.

Oswestry's Kev Williams, guitarist on the track, said news of the number one spot was 'absolutely amazing'.

"Thanks to everyone who has helped us get this far," he said.

He stressed that to hit the top spot in the official charts people needed to watch the video on You Tube as well as buying the single.

"Streaming the single now counts towards the charts, so every stream helps towards the chart position," he said.

In the iTunes charts the Fire Tone have beat the likes of Mark Ronson and Miley Syrus, Ava Max and the Greatest Showman to Number one.

The fundraising has also been boosted with a donation from Credit Suisse, the Swiss multinational investment bank and financial services company.

It was made thanks to the marketing efforts being carried out by Oswestry-based entrepreneur Mike Harris and his team.

A Credit Suisse spokesperson said: “As soon as we heard about this charity fundraising project from Mike Harris it was an easy decision to make a donation. We are pleased to be supporting both the Band Aid Charity Trust and the Firefighters Charity which assists thousands of serving and retired fire service personnel and their families in times of need.”

Do they know it’s Christmas? by Fire Tones is available as a download from iTunes, Spotify and Amazon Music. The single is also available from Amazon Music and HMV as a collectable CD which will also be sold by firefighters outside Tesco stores and at other events to further increase the amount of money generated for the two charities.

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