This piece came in from
The Cambridge Evening News
Hammers nail appearance on TV
THE youngest rock band in Cambridgeshire are set to become television stars and perform live on children's favourite Blue Peter. The members of The Hammers may only be aged between 1 and 12 but they are already staking their claim to follow heroes such as Blink 182 and Marilyn Manson to stardom.
Around a million viewers will tune into Blue Peter tomorrow to see The Hammers perform their self-penned debut single, When You Go Away, which was released last summer to raise cash for Histon Junior School. Vocalist Jordan Shipp, bassist Mick Smith, guitarist Matt Priest, all 12, and drummer Dan Smith, 10, will get the day off school for the show. They will drive down to London for their live performance along with their parents and Richard Rose, who manages The Hammers and teaches at Histon Junior School. Delighted Mr. Rose, who runs Cambridge-based R*E*P*E*A*T records, said: "We sent the CD into Blue Peter and their producer Helen Scott rang us up and invited us on.
"They are going to be playing live so it is all a bit scary. They are just back from a skiing holiday and it is a relief none of them have injured anything; if the drummer had broken his arm we would have been in trouble."
Drummer Dan said: "I am very excited and a bit nervous and hope I don't get anything wrong." Dan confessed he does not watch Blue Peter as much as he did when he was younger, but has made an effort to look his best. "I have got a new hooded top and a new shirt," he explained.
The Hammers already have plenty in common with Liz Barker, who presents the long-running show with Konnie Huq, Simon Thomas and Matt Baker. Jordan and Matt are both pupils at Impington Village College where 26-year-old Liz, who grew up in Oakington, went to school. Dan is at Histon Junior School and Mick is at St Faith's School in Cambridge.
In true rock 'n' roll style The Hammers are allowed star perks, but whereas most bands might demand endless supplies of alcohol, these young rockers have more innocent requests. "They are asking for a bucket of ice cream, a room full of balloons and a big star on their door saying The Hammers," Mr Rose revealed.
The Hammers have recently been back in the studio working on the follow-up to When You Go Away. .
And this from the pen of Daniel Smith, the Hammers drummer
We loaded the car the night before with the drum kit, guitars and amps. On Friday morning I woke up an hour early and we set off for London. It was a long journey taking more than two hours. On the way our car (with Mick, Matt and me in it) overtook the other car with Jordan, Mr Rose and Vicky from the recording studio in it. When we got there they were waiting for us and we all unloaded the equipment. We had to go and film the clip of us playing with the stuff we asked for – ice cream, balloons and a star saying The Hammers. Mr Rose played with the dog, Meg! Then we got a free lunch in the BBC canteen; I had two Snickers, two bottles of Dr Pepper, two packs of crisps and a small bread roll!
After lunch we had to rehearse the song loads of times before heading back to the dressing room where we watched TV and were given anything we wanted – I had some more Snickers and Dr Pepper and crisps, but they couldn’t find me another bread roll. After the dress rehearsal we started to get nervous as there was just an hour to go. Finally the time came, the countdown started 5-4-3-2-1 and the show was live on air! Meg the dog skidded on to our stage! Nervously we watched and waited for our turn, then Connie introduced us and we started. It all went well. Pretty soon it was time to pack up again as the studio was destroyed ready for the National Lottery. We drove home stopping only for chips and listening to loud music, and eventually arrived home, too excited to sleep. It was a PHAT day!