Carrick campaign turns into battle of the bands

Feb 26 2010 by Eric McGowan, Irvine Herald

THE campaign to save the historic Carrick clipper ship has turned into a battle of the ballads.

Rival songwriters from Sunderland and Adelaide have each penned a tune to boost their home cities’ hopes of recovering the 150-year-old vessel – currently lying on a slipway at Irvine harbourside.

Tunesmiths Pete Dodds and Paul Jackson are making waves in Wearside with their inspiring folk ditty ‘City of Adelaide.’

And Down Under, Oz singer songwriter Steve Foster is hoping to have his own splash hit with ‘Song for Adelaide.’

Both hope to raise cash for their respective campaigns through sales of the songs.

SCARF Chairman Peter Maddison – who famously occupied the ship for four days last November – said the Sunderland song would galvanise and excite supporters of the Wearside bid.

He added: “Every fight has got to have a campaign song to drive on supporters through difficult times, and that’s what we’ve got now.”

Paul and Peter knocked out the song in Paul’s studio and performed it for the first time a fortnight ago.

Paul added: “We’ve both got different styles and they come together with the Adelaide song – it’s got a lot of different influences.”

Adelaide crooner Steve Foster, best known for his song Forever Blue, said he was determined to help bring the ship back to Oz.

“It’s really our boat, he added. “It has our crest on it the same crest as the town hall.”

The Carrick currently lies on a slipway at Irvine’s Scottish Maritime Museum. It is scheduled for demolition with both the Australian and Sunderland campaign teams working against the clock to save it from the wrecker’s yard.