The Crowd was a charity group formed specifically to produce a charity record

Charity record

A charity record is a release of a song for a specific charitable cause. Some of the earliest charity records came from the Music for UNICEF Concert, with ABBA's Chiquitita and the Bee Gees' Too Much Heaven among them released as singles, with all the royalties going to UNICEF...

 for the Bradford City stadium fire, in which 56 people died on 11 May 1985. The group consisted of singers, actors, television personalities and others.

Gerry Marsden

Gerry Marsden

Gerard "Gerry" Marsden is an English musician and television personality, best known for being leader of the British band Gerry & the Pacemakers.-Biography:...

 of Gerry and the Pacemakers had decided to make a charity record to aid the families of the victims of the disaster (the Bradford City Disaster Fund). The re-recording of the 1963 number 1 hit song "You'll Never Walk Alone

You'll Never Walk Alone

You'll Never Walk Alone is a song from the musical Carousel, a pop standard and football club anthem, for example that of Liverpool F.C.You'll Never Walk Alone may also refer to:* You'll Never Walk Alone , studio album...

", also a 'football anthem' for Liverpool

Liverpool F.C.

Liverpool Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Liverpool, Merseyside. Liverpool has won eighteen League titles, second most in English football, seven FA Cups and a record seven League Cups...

 supporters, entered the UK charts

UK Singles Chart

The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...

 at No. 4, and reached Number 1 on 1 June 1985. The single gave Gerry Marsden a ‘first’ in British recording history, by becoming the first person ever to top the charts with two versions of the same song.

Contributing musicians

The band members included: Jim Diamond

Jim Diamond (Scottish musician)

James "Jim" Diamond is a Scottish singer-songwriter. Diamond is best known for his three Top 5 hits. The first was "I Won't Let You Down" , as the lead singer in the trio Ph.D., with Tony Hymas and Simon Phillips. His solo performance, "I Should Have Known Better", was a United Kingdom number one...

, Tony Christie

Tony Christie

Tony Christie is an English musician, singer and actor. He is best known for his track, "Is This The Way To Amarillo", a double UK chart success.-Career:Tony Christie has sold over 10 million albums Worldwide...

, Rick Wakeman

Rick Wakeman

Richard Christopher Wakeman is an English keyboard player, composer and songwriter best known for being the former keyboardist in the progressive rock band Yes...

, John Conteh

John Conteh

John Conteh is a British former boxer who was world light-heavyweight boxing champion.Conteh is one of Britain's most successful boxing champions. At his peak in the mid to late 1970s he was considered good enough that he was touted as a possible opponent of Muhammad Ali...

, The Barron Knights, Jess Conrad

Jess Conrad

Jess Conrad OBE is an actor and singer from England.-Career:Having started his career as a repertory actor and film extra, Jess Conrad was cast in a television play "Bye, Bye Barney" as a pop singer...

, Kiki Dee

Kiki Dee

Kiki Dee is an English singer with a career spanning more than 40 years....

, Bruce Forsyth

Bruce Forsyth

Sir Bruce Joseph Forsyth-Johnson, CBE , commonly known as Bruce Forsyth, or Brucie, is an English TV personality...

, the Foxes

The Foxes

The Foxes are a London based indie rock band formed in 2006. They have entered the UK Indie Singles Chart twice and have been mentioned in the NME magazine.-History:...

, Rolf Harris

Rolf Harris

Rolf Harris, CBE, AM is an Australian musician, singer-songwriter, composer, painter and television personality.Born in Perth, Western Australia, Harris was a champion swimmer before studying art. He moved to England in 1952, where he started to appear on television programmes on which he drew the...

, Graham Gouldman

Graham Gouldman

Graham Keith Gouldman is an English songwriter and musician who is a long-time member of British band 10cc.-Early life and 1960s pop career: 1946–1968:Gouldman was born in Broughton, Salford, England...

, Kenny Lynch

Kenny Lynch

Kenny Lynch, OBE is an English singer, songwriter, entertainer and actor from London. Lynch appeared in many variety shows in the 1960s...

, Rick Wild of The Overlanders Keith Chegwin

Keith Chegwin

Keith Chegwin is an English television presenter, former child actor and singer.-Early career:Chegwin's early roles were in works of the Children's Film Foundation, appearing as Egghead Wentworth in The Troublesome Double Egghead's Robot . He also appeared as a stowaway in Doomwatch episode...

, Tony Hicks

Tony Hicks

Tony Hicks is a guitarist and singer who has been a member of the British pop group The Hollies since 1963.-Career:...

, Colin Blunstone

Colin Blunstone

Colin Blunstone is an English pop singer-songwriter, best known as a member of the pop group The Zombies, and for his participation on various albums with The Alan Parsons Project.-Biography:...

, Tim Hinckley, Johnny Logan

Johnny Logan (singer)

Johnny Logan , is an Australian-born Irish singer and composer. He is regarded as "Mister Eurovision", having participated in the Eurovision Song Contest many times since the 1970s, and, since 1992, has been the most successful artist in Eurovision history.Logan has won the international contest on...

, Zak Starkey

Zak Starkey

Zak Starkey is an English rock drummer. He is the son of Beatles drummer Ringo Starr and Starr's first wife Maureen Starkey Tigrett. He is also well known for his unofficial membership in the English rock band The Who, with whom he has performed and recorded since 1996. He is also the third...

, Girlschool

Girlschool

Girlschool are a British heavy metal band originating out of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal scene in 1978 and frequently associated with contemporaries Motörhead. They are the longest running all-female rock band, still active after more than 30 years...

, Black Lace

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Black Lace is a British Euro pop band, best known for novelty party records, including their biggest hit, "Agadoo". The band first came to the public eye after being selected to represent the UK in the 1979 Eurovision Song Contest, in which they finished seventh with the song "Mary Ann"...

, John Otway

John Otway

John Otway, is an English singer-songwriter, who has built a sizeable cult audience through extensive touring, a surreal sense of humour and a self-deprecating underdog persona.-Biography:...

, Gary Holton

Gary Holton

Gary Frederick Holton was an English singer-songwriter, musician and actor from London. He was the frontman of the band Heavy Metal Kids, for whom he played lead vocals, guitar, rhythm guitar, keyboards and harmonica, and played the part of Wayne in the UK television comedy Auf Wiedersehen, Pet...

, Nigel Holton, Hank Hancocks, Peter Cook

Peter Cook

Peter Edward Cook was an English satirist, writer and comedian. An extremely influential figure in modern British comedy, he is regarded as the leading light of the British satire boom of the 1960s. He has been described by Stephen Fry as "the funniest man who ever drew breath," although Cook's...

, the Nolans

The Nolans

The Nolans are an Anglo-Irish all-female band consisting of a group of sisters. The group, best known for their song "I'm In the Mood for Dancing", gained prominence as guest performers on numerous television shows in the United Kingdom...

, John Entwistle

John Entwistle

John Alec Entwistle was an English bass guitarist, songwriter, singer, horn player, and film and record producer who was best known as the bass player for the rock band The Who. His aggressive lead sound influenced many rock bass players...

 of The Who

The Who

The Who are an English rock band formed in 1964 by Roger Daltrey , Pete Townshend , John Entwistle and Keith Moon . They became known for energetic live performances which often included instrument destruction...

, Motörhead, Karen Clark

Karen Clark

Karen J. Clark is a Minnesota politician, and a member of the Minnesota House of Representatives. A Democrat, Clark represents District 61A, which includes portions of the city of Minneapolis in the Twin Cities metropolitan area including portions of the Phillips, Ventura Village, Seward, and...

, Dave Lee Travis

Dave Lee Travis

Dave Lee Travis , also known professionally as DLT and the Hairy Cornflake, is a British radio presenter, best known for his career on BBC Radio 1.-Early life:...

, Graham Dene

Graham Dene

Graham Dene is a British radio personality.He was initially famous in the London area as Capital Radio's breakfast presenter in the 1970s and 1980s, and later worked for Virgin Radio. In 2006, he worked at Magic 105.4. In 2008, he was 102.2 Smooth Radio's breakfast host...

, Ed Stewart

Ed Stewart

Ed Stewart is a radio broadcaster from England. His real name is Edward Mainwaring but he is known by the nickname Ed Stewpot Stewart.-Early life and career:...

, Phil Lynott

Phil Lynott

Philip Parris "Phil" Lynott was an Irish musician who first came to prominence as a founding member, principal songwriter, and frontman of the Irish rock band Thin Lizzy....

, Smokie

Smokie (band)

Smokie is an English rock band from Bradford, Yorkshire who found success in Europe in the 1970s.-Early years:Originally called The Yen, then The Sphynx and later Essence, the band was formed in 1964 at St. Bede's Grammar School in Heaton, Bradford as The Yen. The Yen's first gig was at Birkenshaw...

, Joe Fagin

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Joe Fagin is a British pop singer-songwriter.-Biography:He was musical director for Jim Davidson, including his 1983 Falklands tour....

, Eddie Harding, Gerard Kenny

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, Chris Robinson, Tim Healy

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, Kin Kelly, John Verity

John Verity

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, Rose Marie

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, David Shilling, Chris Norman

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, Pete Spencer, Bernie Winters

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 and Robert Heaton

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Robert Charles Heaton was the drummer in the English rock band New Model Army. With Justin Sullivan, Heaton was the core of the Bradford based band, originally alongside Stuart Morrow on bass and then later with Jason 'Moose' Harris. He wrote many of NMA's best known compositions, which are still...

.

Paul McCartney

Paul McCartney

Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...

 contributed some words on the B-side of the record.

Fund controversy

Having decided to collect the money and donate it as a lump sum to the fire disaster fund, Marsden was shocked to discover that the appeal had been closed, and the organisers had told him that they didn't want the money. In the end, the money was donated instead to the burns research unit in Bradford.

The music publishers of the record refused to waive their royalties, resulting in a much-reduced donation of £132,000.