EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW - The RAH Band - Messages From The Stars @CelebrityPhil Part 1

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Radio DJ Phil Wilson Interviews - Richard Anthony Hewson - THE RAH BAND - MESSAGES FROM THE STARS. Part 1 Of 2
The 1983 release that has gone viral and gained more than 300 million streams in the last year… Messages From The Stars!
THE VIRAL PHENOMENON:
With the renaissance of heritage acts and the emergence of digital downloads and streaming, the Spotify figures for 80s hit makers, The RAH Band, had been slowly growing year on year and by January 2022 were comfortably sitting on an average of 12,000 streams a day. Then, suddenly, the daily figures started to jump…20,000, 30,000, 40,000…all the way up to 100,000 + daily streams within a month. The band hadn’t had a ‘hit’ for well over 30 years!The trail led to TikTok, where Messages From The Stars (a lesser known track from 1983) was being used as the audio for a huge volume of user generated videos. To this day, no one knows how the trend began, but some big hitters used the tune to back their viral videos which had then been shared or repurposed by hundreds of thousands of other TikTok users. As the song got more screen time, the more people searched for it on other platforms such as RUclips etc. Within 6 months, the track started appearing in charts around the world, peaking at No.6 in the USA Viral Chart on Spotify alongside Kate Bush (thanks to her Stranger Things phenomenon). Messages From The Stars, has gained over 5 million monthly streams on Spotify alone!
Richard Anthony Hewson is an English producer, arranger, conductor and multi-instrumentalist born on March 17, 1943, in Stockton-on-Tees, England. Richard joined the Merchant Navy as a cadet in his teens, it was during this time he discovered jazz while listening to Willis Conover’s Jazz Hour on his shortwave radio. On one of his naval expeditions, the previous occupant of his cabin had left a guitar behind; Richard taught himself to play and quickly realised he wanted to be a musician. Hewson received a scholarship to attend the Guildhall School of Music after leaving the navy. He studied classical composition, piano and trumpet, graduating in the late 1960s. His earliest accolades after graduating included arranging Mary Hopkins’ ‘Those Were The Days’ which was an instant #1 hit, followed by James Taylor’s debut album, and then the iconic strings section in The Beatles ‘Long & Winding Road’. Hewson became renowned for his arranging work and went on to collaborate with the likes of Diana Ross, The Bee Gees, Carly Simon, Toyah Wilcox, Fleetwood Mac, Herbie Hancock, Art Garfunkel, Supertramp, Leo Sayer, Chris Rea and more.
But that’s not the end of The RAH Band story… A mind-blowing unexpected surge in popularity has occurred since early 2022, with 1983 anthem ‘Messages From The Stars’ becoming a viral sensation on TikTok, peaking at #6 in the US viral charts that Summer alongside Kate Bush during the Stranger Things phenomenon, resulting in 100 million Spotify streams and 200 million RUclips hits within the last year. Megastar Frank Ocean declared himself a fan in recent years too, placing the track as #1 on his ‘Blonded’ Apple Music radio show and Spotify playlist. The song continues to receive over 5 million streams a month..
2024 brings more excitement for The RAH Band fans, old and new, with four albums of unreleased material and more live shows to come. It’s clear that Richard Anthony Hewson’s pioneering analog sound transcends generations.This year Richard turns 80 years old and is still making music. Every day he follows a strict regime, heading to his studio in the morning where he still uses the same equipment from his 80s heyday, and heading home again at the end of the day. His incredible story has never been told until now. A brand-new RUclips series of interviews reveals the tales of one of the UK’s most endearing songwriters and perhaps the most unlikely global viral sensation of recent years.
THE FUTURE OUT NOW! CLOUDS ACROSS THE MOON
This is a 75-track deluxe 5CD box set containing expanded versions of the albums Mystery, Something About The Music, and the previously unreleased World Keeps Turning. It Includes 2CDs of additional 12” mixes, 7” mixes and remixes and 58 tracks previously unreleased on CD including 29 tracks previously unreleased on any format. With Something About The Music released how it was meant to be in 1987 with all the correct mixes and versions of each track, AVAILABLE NOW.
Live At The Jazz Café - The album of the band’s FIRST EVER live show!Watch a video clip here: -- • The RAH Band - Message...
25th NOVEMBER 2023
THE RAH BAND’S 2nd EVER LIVE SHOW! Omeara, London
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Coming Soon in 2024
4 x Albums of Unreleased Material!