A Newcastle band has had its big break after soaring up the online singles chart this week.
Geordie band Hassle shot up the Amazon and iTunes singles charts to seventh place earlier this week, rubbing shoulders with the likes of Kate Bush, Beyonce and Calvin Harris.
Their new single ‘Life is For Living’ remixed by KGEE, who has worked with the likes of All Saints and Jessie J, has also topped the online-retailer’s reggae chart.
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Steve Nicholas, 51, from Newcastle, is the band’s lead singer and founder and currently works as a cleaner in a hostel.
He told The Northern Echo: “We have been doing it for years but I’ve worked all the time and you think it’s just going to be some sort of hobby.
“When something like this happens when you get a bit older you think this should have happened twenty years ago, why’s it just happening now!
“We have been getting lots of radio plays, even in places like Greece and Brazil which have helped it up the chart and then DJs have been playing it in clubs as well so that’s been great.
“I was laughing my head off because Kate Bush was number six and we were number seven the other day. I was actually glad I wasn’t ahead of her but even to be near Kate Bush in the charts is ridiculous because she's a music icon.”
The song, Life is for Living, reached first place in the Amazon chart on Wednesday, ahead of Calvin Harris’ Stay With Me and Beyonce’s Break My Soul.
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Steve, who plays alongside bandmates Tony English and Dave Donaldson added: “We have had stuff out before and we play lots of bars and stuff like that but nothing has ever done this well.
“I would like to think this would help us along, but I’ll not be quitting my job just yet.
“It makes me really eager to get in the studio and keep going.”
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