Children Of Lir

BONO, GAVIN FRIDAY and Maurice Seezer have recorded a version of T. Rex’s ‘Children Of The Revolution’ for Baz Luhrman’s new movie, Moulin Rouge.

Premiering in Cannes during the summer, the turn of the century drama stars Nicole Kidman, Ewan McGregor and Kylie Minogue.

“There’s all sorts of mad stuff on there, like ‘Pride (In The Name Of Love)’ being done by Nicole Kidman and a cha-cha band, and Ewan McGregor singing ‘Like A Virgin’,” Gavin Friday laughs. “The soundtrack’s coming out during the summer on Interscope, and will also include covers by Beck, David Bowie and Madonna. We’re in very, very good company!”

Who’s the bigger Marc Bolan fan, him or Bono?

“The way it worked in the ‘70s is that I bought all the records, and he nicked ‘em off me! I’m sure if you checked under his bed there’s a big pile of scratched T. Rex 45s belonging to yours truly.

“There are two mixes – a ‘Bohemian’ one and a ‘Hermaphrodite’ one, which is gay handbag done by a heavy metal band. There are some hysterically high vocals that are going to upset the neighbourhood dogs, and a few other surprises that I’ll let you discover for yourself.”

The recording took place shortly before Bono jetted over to Miami for the start of U2’s Elevation tour.

“It was a lot of fun,” Friday continues. “T. Rex was always Eddie Cochran hanging out with Phil Spector, so we gatecrashed the party. We recorded it in our own studio, got Biff from Windmill Lane to mix it and that was pretty much that.”

Next up for Friday is a trip to Los Angeles as part of Hal Wilner’s Harry Smith tribute.

“He’s organising a series of shows, which are being recorded for DVD and live album release later in the year. This one’s taking place on April 25th and 26th in UCLA, and features people like Beck, Tom Waits, Lou Reed, Maria McKee and Kate and Anna McGarrigle. I’m doing something with Mary Margaret O’Hara and, hopefully, Eric Mingus Jr.