Soldiers on hit parade rations

ARMY pop group The Soldiers were hoping to give troops past and present a festive boost with the release of their debut CD.

But a touch of Scrooge-like stinginess from their record company means that it will be a hard target to reach.

The band — which features Failsworth-born Sergeant Richie Maddocks — pledged to donate money raised from sales of “Coming Home” to the Army Benevolent Fund, Help For Heroes and The Royal British Legion.

But it has emerged that as little as 3 per cent of the price of each CD goes to charity.

“Coming Home” has already gone platinum with more than 300,000 sales since its October release on Rhino Records, a subsidiary of major international label Warner.

The band has admitted that only 25p from each copy goes to good causes but state that this is clearly written on the back of the CD. This means that each charity is receiving just 8p for every CD sold and the percentage donated for download sales hasn’t even been decided yet.

“Coming Home” has so far raised around £75,000 and record industry insiders believe it could one of the biggest selling albums of the festive period.

The next single, “A Soldier’s Christmas Letter” will be released next month.