The no sleep 'til hammersmith contest – named in honour of the live 1981 Motorhead album of the same title following the band's legendary appearance at the venue now owned by HMV – was set up by HMV this year as an internal annual event to engage the strong passion for music that exists within the business. It is open to any member of staff from its stores, warehouses or head office, who is in a band or an act.
The company has announced the winner of the battle of the bands style competition is Stockton-on-Tees- based band Hey! Alaska (pictured).
From the original 55 acts that entered after the contest was launched back in February 2010, Hey! Alaska successfully came through two regional heats to defeat 10 other acts in last week's grand final (9 Sep 2010), which was held at the hmvforum in Kentish Town, North London.
Each of the 11 finalists performed two songs in front of a 200-plus audience, with the eventual winners selected by a mixed panel of HMV/guest judges chaired by HMV CEO Simon Fox and featuring MD of Universal Commercial, Brian Rose, and Glen Rowe of Cato Music.
Six-piece rock outfit Hey! Alaska, who include HMV Stockton-on-Tees sales assistant, Ritch Allaway, on lead guitar will, as their reward, now line up on the bill at the hmvapollo in Hammersmith, West London after HMV stages its annual managers' conference there next month on October 4th. The main headline acts for the 2010 conference are yet to be announced, but the bands who performed at last year's event included Kasabian, Friendly Fires and White Lies, so Hey! Alaska can be sure of supporting some high-profile artists this time around. The band also won use of Universal Music's in-house recording studio for a day, as well as a handsome trophy presented by Brian Rose.
Hey! Alaska band member Ritch Allaway, who works at HMV Stockton-on-Tees, said: "We can't believe that we're the very first winners of 'no sleep 'til hammersmith'. We really enjoyed performing throughout the heats, and it was so cool to appear live on stage at the hmvforum. Any unsigned act might think that's about as good as it gets, but to know that we're now going to play live at the legendary Hammersmith Apollo is just incredible, especially when you think the likes of David Bowie and, of course, Motorhead, have performed there. This really is a dream come true for all the band, and we're very grateful to HMV for giving us this opportunity."
Simon Fox, HMV CEO and chairman of the judges, added: "This has been a great event, and the standard across so many of the entries has been incredibly high. We set out to provide a motivational platform for all the creativity, energy and passion that we know exists within HMV – especially now that live music is such an important part of what we do, and I certainly think we've done that. 'No sleep' has created a real buzz in our stores –underlining once again, if proof were needed, just how much music is in our DNA. It's why so many members of staff join the business in the first place. I would like to thank all our wonderful entrants as well as the judges – particularly Brian Rose and Glen Rowe. I congratulate Hey! Alaska on their success and look forward to seeing them on the bill at the hmvapollo next month."
