Duke Special sang backing vocals on A Thousand Years.
Steve: “I have known The Duke since long before he was The Duke, but a Belfast musician by the name of Peter Wilson. We were both musicians kicking around the Belfast scene in the early 90s, Peter with his band Booley House, me with my band Spontaneous Dog. How fitting then, that in the Spontaneous Dog reunion gig some years later, it was Pete that played keyboards – and extremely well at that. We always had a good laugh together.
His talent was never in doubt, but the vehicle for the talent was never quite right in those days. Then one day someone gave me a copy of the first Duke Special EP, Lucky Me and I couldn’t believe it. He had found the voice he was looking for, and it was just sublime. The records and live performances that followed were just fantastic, and his ascendency was assured… right up to the dizzy heights of sellout European tours and of course the holy grail that is playing on ‘Later with Jools Holland’. I was delighted for him.
We stayed in touch all those years, including some slightly manic nights out as our respective touring parties crossed paths in some European city (listening to The Duke tell Tim Robbins how brilliant he was in Team America was quite special).”
When this song had been recorded, it felt a good fit to ask Peter to sing on it, and we were delighted that he said yes. Long live The Duke.
