Friends get a helping hand from their musical Enemas
OFTEN identified in some quarters as propagating fears of environmental Armageddon, Friends of the Earth (Hongkong chapter) is in the throes of making an eco-TV programme about green current affairs.
But without the resources to buy copyrights to modern music, the greenies were in a quandary.
A hitherto unheard of species of humanoid - soft-hearted media people - decided to generously give of their time and undoubted talents for free.
The result is Public Enema: the group that is going to clean out the insides of Hongkong.
Their first record, a rap number called My Skin is Turning Green, can be heard on Commercial Radio's AM Alive between 7 and 8 am tomorrow.
The group's name was conjured up by Wil-E ''B'' Good, who bears a suspicious resemblance to ad-man Hans Ebert, of Beyond-the-Line. Joining him are DJ Funky Ice Mixmaster Fresh Dude Crack Prince Heavy X (phew!), who one suspects is Matt Hackett, youthful broadcasting star at Commercial Radio, and I. M. Hammered, my shy and retiring colleague Nury ''Lai See'' Vittachi.
No self-respecting pop group can be without a percentage man, sorry, manager. So step forward studio boss Romy Diaz, head of hi-tech Musicad.
During rehearsals, Matt sounded so much like a soul brother that it became obvious that his sallow skin and red hair are some sort of weird genetic malfunction.
''Actually, both my parents are black, but the milkman was Scandinavian,'' he confessed.
Since Nury sounded least black he proved to be the logical choice as lead vocalist.
''It was a comedy record so I did it in the prissy accent of an English financial reporter,'' he explained.
''Yeah,'' added Hans. ''The dude actually plays himself, you know?'' But what about the little matter of noise pollution? A music critic writes: ''In their debut single, Public Enema reach new heights, almost posing a threat to the ozone layer. There's no two ways about it - you will love 'em or loath 'em. A question of Friend or Enema . . .''
