Download from Hawkwind’s Huw to spread the word
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The latest release by former Hawkwind frontman, Huw Lloyd Langton, will help change the life chances of millions of people around the world facing cancer, says the wild man of rock.
Released as a global digital download on Monday, 19 October on Cherry Red Records, ‘Photodynamic Therapy’, co-written with wife Marion, is a cornerstone of the Killing Cancer charity campaign to fund the development of a new style of treatment.
“It’s not your usual charity record. I don’t think there has ever been anything so specific written about cancer and I believe it will have a dramatic impact in changing the way cancer patients are treated in the future,” says Huw. “I am incredibly proud of it.”
The track highlights the Photodynamic Therapy (PDT) treatment that kills cancers by starving the cells of oxygen, using light to activate a chlorophyll-like drug. The song’s lyric tells of a man dying of cancer, wanting and knowing that PDT is his best chance of defeating his killer disease.
“When we wrote it I was thinking about two very close friends both of whom could and should have had PDT – and might be alive today if they had,” explains Huw.
Thousands of computer animation students in colleges and universities around the UK are taking part in a competition to create an animation of the PDT track.
Keyboards man, Tim Williams, was one of the ‘anchors’ of his life, whose varied career included band member, session musician, arranger and producer. He wrote the music for many classic TV commercials, including for Pretty Polly Tights and Hamlet cigars. He died from pancreatic cancer – a potential PDT target.
The other friend is artist and Hawkwind fan, Phil Bestford, who died from a brain tumour last year after a 17-year battle. One of his paintings has been donated and used as the cover of the new release. (PDT is now being developed for brain tumours, with patients experiencing numerous benefits over traditional forms of treatment – and longer life.)
“Everyone who knows me thinks of my hell-raising days of Hawkwind. I’ve lived life to the full, and Marion and I have survived the ups and downs of the rock music world since we met in 1967. I thought I was invincible until Legionnaires Disease smacked me down when I was touring over Christmas 2001.
“I thought I was finished. Friends and family around me were almost dropping like flies from cancer. It wasn’t the cancer that was destroying them, but the treatment,” he adds.
It was Marion who found out about Photodynamic Therapy (PDT) and the journey of discovery has since changed their lives. Here was an apparent answer that didn’t leave the patient feeling desperately ill and wasn’t going to involve surgery.
Meeting patients treated with this ‘magic’ therapy, Huw says, “gave me back a direction and a purpose for recording and performing again.”
The Photodynamic Therapy track will be featured on the album ‘Hard Graft’ - a brilliant display of Huw’s mastery of guitar with fine musicianship from drummer Volker Von Hoff and bassist Richard Gillespie. The songs are both varied and haunting.
Killing Cancer is promoting the use of PDT in hospitals around the world, and also launching the campaign to get public funds to pay for the new cancer trials.
The charity’s task is to reach out to people of all ages, making them aware that PDT is a non-surgical treatment route for some patients now. 50 million patient leaflets are being be distributed via retailers and GP surgeries.
The campaign is being endorsed by a host of leading celebrities including Chris Tarrant, Sir David Frost, Sir Alex Ferguson, Robert Plant and Jenny Seagrove.
Go to www.killingcancer.co.uk for more details.
Contact: David Longman, Director, KILLING Cancer:
01480 466866 or 0779 8833003.
Ends
Notes for Editors
• To hear a two-minute sampler of the track, please visit the website: www.killingcancer.co.uk.
• The full seven-minute single can be emailed or sent via YouSendIt
• The potential for PDT to successfully treat cancers and related conditions means that £50m has to be raised to fund the trials, says Killing Cancer charity director David Longman.
• PDT - research has been delayed for more than 10 years due to the lack of funding - is a non-surgical, one-off treatment where tumours are killed within minutes. It can be repeated without any toxic damage to the body, and few sides effects compared to radiotherapy and chemotherapy.
• Colin Hopper, head and neck cancer specialist at University College Hospital in London, is one of the pioneers of PDT treatments in the UK, treating over 1,200 mouth cancer patients over the past 10 years.
• PDT is available now for skin, head and neck, mouth, oesophageal and some lung cancers on the NHS now. Breast, cervical, prostate, bile duct, brain, throat, bladder and stomach cancers are on the target list. So is PDT for arterial disease and MRSA.
| KILLING CANCER THE HOME OF PDT | Email:info@killingcancer.co.uk |
