''The Age of Aquarius'' song makes comeback for climate talks in Paris this month (video/audio clip here)

Recent events in Paris made the planned marches to protest at the current UN Climate Change Conference impossible, so protesters at COPY21 turned to music to get their message across.

Enter Tony Wild. A published author for HarperCollins, Mr Wild is a fan of the old 1960s favourite The Age of Aquarius from the classic musical Hair.

CREDITS: ''The Age of Aquarius''. Remix produced by Phil Solaris (a.k.a.Philippe Cohen Solal, co-founder of the Gotan Project), featuring Horace Andy (Massive Attack and others) and Leila. Video mashup created by Tony Wild from You Tube footage of surf legends Jerry Lopez and the late Andy Irons - the Moon and Sun of surfing.

 

To cut a long story short, Tony eventually managed to persuade Philippe Cohen Solal who, in turn, inspired roots reggae songwriter and singer Horace Andy of Massive Attack fame to join him in making a new version of the famous song.

 

“It’s been adopted as an anthem by the climate change campaigners. It’s being played worldwide!”
Recorded in July in Paris, the end result features an actual passage from the book read by Tony’s co-writer Diana De Gunzburg.

It’s hard to explain why, but the dialogue was actually recorded in Laguna Beach in Orange County with the help of an old friend, musician Jason Feddy who left Harrogate more than a decade ago for sunny California.

The now completed new version of The Age of Aquarius struck a chord quickly with climate change campaigners.

Tony said: “Paris means a lot to me. I went back there after the bombings. I’d heard the terrible recent events had made the planned marches to protest about the COP21 Climate Conference impossible. They obviously got banned.

“But the song’s message of spiritual harmony and peace in both our book and the song got everyone excited and turned on.”

The Age of Aquarius, complete with Tony’s words and Diana’s voice, has now been taken up by Coalition Climat 21, the most powerful umbrella organisation for protest groups whose activities were halted after the Paris attacks.

For the duration of the Paris Conference, which runs until December 11, supporters of more than 130 global networks affiliated to Coalition Climat are being asked to play the track on the hour every hour to spread the word.