Fochabers Community Sing's cover of Sunshine on Leith is a hit on The Proclaimers' Facebook page
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A COVER version of Sunshine on Leith by The Proclaimers put together by the Fochabers Community Sing for a member's birthday has been viewed globally.
The Fochabers Community Sing, a virtual choir set up in lockdown by Lizzie and Bob Sharp, put together the song for Ken Reid, who turned 60 on November 27.
Ken's son lives in Leith and the song is one of his all-time favourites.
The Proclaimers liked the group's version so much that they decided to share it on their own Facebook page – where it has now been viewed more than 33,000 times and 'liked' 1300 times.
It was Ken's wife Kay Geldart who suggested the group sing Sunshine on Leith.
"We quite often dedicate songs to people," she explained. "I asked if we could have this one for Ken.
"The reaction was mind-boggling. Some of the comments are amazing – Ken has had birthday wishes from strangers all over the world.
"It has been entertaining watching the number of views rise and rise."
The Fochabers Community Sing was formed in August, after the Rockset Community Choir – formed in 2012 – had to stop meeting due to coronavirus.
The virtual choir sees Lizzie Sharp send videos of herself singing to the group's members, who copy and send their versions back. Lizzie then combines all the videos to give the effect of a choir.
She explained how the group came to be on The Proclaimers' Facebook site.
She said: "I wrote to The Proclaimers for permission to record Sunshine on Leith and they were more than happy. They asked if we would send them the final perfomance so that they could upload to their website and that is when the rest of the world heard about Fochabers Community Sing.
"The Virtual choir has received lots of kind comments from around the world, which is great. We continue to record songs and upload to social media when they are finished.
"This does not replace singing together in a social setting but it is at least something to try to keep folk singing through these hard times."
Lizzie has recently written to Dougie MacLean, with the group set to record one of his songs.
All recorded songs are available to hear on the facebook page Fochabers Community Sing 2. For more information visit www.sharpmusicservices.co.uk.
