A big band song composed by the staff on a specialist magazine, to mark the departure of a colleague, is flying up the online music charts.
The colleagues of advertising sales manager Manuel Battista of Emap Maclaren's Refrigeration and Air Conditioning penned "Hasta la vista, Manuel Battista" on Post-it notes during a lunchtime. It was then orchestrated and recorded in editor Andrew Bailey's home studio.
The wheeze has had an unexpected side-effect. As a result of Croydon-based colleagues visiting the website to hear the song, it is in the online chart at number 72, out of a field of 80,000.
The up-tempo number charts Manuel's rise to fame as company cycling evangelist and much-loved manager. The lyrics point out that in moving jobs he was "swapping his sharp leather saddle for the M25".
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"At this rate Manuel could find himself on Top of the Pops. He's got five weeks before it goes off-air. That would be an unusual leaving present. It's Barry Manilow meets the Wurzels," said Bailey.
Battista said: "I was gobsmacked. It's a fabulous song! They put it up on its own website, so the whole world can hear it.
Everyone was dancing to it in the office.
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They managed to summarise 15 years of my life in three verses, make it rhyme and set it to music. I was blown away."
Reflecting Manuel's Latin roots, the song has a touch of "Copacabana" about it. It can be downloaded from soundclick.com.
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