Paper seller's voice used for song

WITH a name like "Voice" he could hardly have a more appropriate job.

Michael Voice has become so well known on the streets of Edinburgh selling the Evening News his cry has been chosen to feature in a new song by a city band.

He will be recorded at his regular spot at the junction of Princes Street and Hanover Street shouting the traditional news vendor's cry. It will then feature on the band's new song Foot of the Walk.

Author Ian Rankin, a Saint Jude's fan who helped write some of the song's lyrics, came up with the idea of incorporate the sounds of the city into the song, on the band's forthcoming second album.

Among the other noises being considered are the firing of the One o'Clock Gun, Fringe performers and drunken revellers in bars along Leith Walk.

Mr Voice, 50, who lives in Portobello and has been selling the News for seven years, today said he was "delighted" to have been chosen for the part.

He said:

"The city centre's changed a bit but I think we'll always be here. If we weren't here I think we would be missed, especially among the older people who like to have a bit of a chat when they buy the paper.

"It's fantastic that the band have noticed us and see us as being important."

Members of the band are to walk around the city in the coming weeks armed with minidisc recorders to collect sounds.

As well as noises showing the positive noises associated with the city, such as the news vendor and Festival performers, they also want to capture some of the "seedier" aspects of the city.

Rankin is eagerly anticipated seeing how the noises and words he has written are brought together with music to form the album, and believes the Evening News seller will work well on the song.

He said: "They are a bit quieter now than they used to be but I remember in the 1970s all you would hear in the city centre was 'News, News, News' everywhere you went.

"I was quite excited when they came up with the idea of this concept album about Edinburgh that will show how intricate and complex a city it is.

"I can't think of any rock album that actually shows Edinburgh as it really is. The Proclaimers maybe sing about Edinburgh but not in this kind of way. That's something totally different."

Band members will be trawling through the streets of Leith Walk late at night to capture drunken conversations, arguments, football chanting, police sirens, chip shops and taxi queues.

Grant Campbell, 32, the band's lead singer and songwriter, said: "We want to get across the bipolarity of Edinburgh in whatever ways we can and I think this will work quite well because the Foot of the Walk late at night is a long way from the festival city you get during the day."

The album is expected to be released towards the end of this year.