Football and Music

I discover a track by this next band back in December and put it on my to post list but never got a roundtuit. (Pic illustration to the right).

Then in the middle of January I read an article on the Guardian website about Colchester United - currently anchoring the bottom of the old Division 2 - and reminded myself to post that one I found, because it involved Col U.   Forward to a week later and another article appears. This time about the band - who’s song I found which involves Colchester.

So now finally. Here it is !

In a minute. Got to go and do something…

No wait. Get it done. Get the bloody thing out there will you…

Right then so the Guardian article was about how Colchester United (who I went to see a few years back when they were still non-league) are a little club living the dream even though they are guaranteed relegation from the Championship at the end of the season.

Excerpt from the article:

… By Football League standards, Colchester are not a big club. By Championship standards, they’re food for minnows. Their superb front pairing of Jamie Cureton and Chris Iwelumo left for bigger clubs in the close season, because, as usual, Colchester were priced out of the market.

All of which goes a long way to explaining why they are languishing at the wrong end of the table. They are the sixth-highest goalscorers in the league - having scored four more than Bristol City - which tells its own story about their defence. You’re as likely to find clean sheets at Colchester as you are in a boys-only student flat: the last time they stopped opponents from scoring was in August. Boss Geraint Williams sought to rectify the problem by bringing in two new signings who made their debuts on Saturday: Phil Ifil from Spurs, and Chris Coyne, who left the implosion currently swallowing up Kenilworth Road.

And so to Ashton Gate. All around the ground, and in the programme, there were prominent adverts for the visit of Bon Jovi on June 25. Playing Ashton Gate must be a dream come true for Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora, but if they’d turned up five months early, they could probably have got a spot in the Colchester defence. Although you wouldn’t want wee Jonny at centre back, now I think of it.

Yet, remarkably, the new signings seemed to make all the difference. Coyne in particular exuded authority, and Virgo, alongside him in the heart of defence, was equally heroic, repelling everything that City threw at them. Indeed, the visitors had much the best of the opening exchanges, and even had the temerity to go ahead in the seventh minute. New signing Ifil’s crossfield pass was brilliantly cushioned by the head of Johnnie Jackson into the path of Kevin Lisbie. Never mind Bon Jovi, Rik Waller could have done a better marking job on Lisbie, who had time to stroll through on goal, darn his socks and make a cuppa before rolling the ball neatly past Adriano Basso in the City goal…

… The game itself was an excellent advert for Championship football, classic end-to-end stuff. City’s superb midfield held sway, their wingers were outstanding, but Colchester’s defence and attack were probably on top. If Bristol City played the neater football, the Colchester work ethic could not be faulted. Both sides had chances to win it, as well as decent penalty appeals turned down (United’s in injury-time, after a clear foul on Lisbie as he bore down on goal).

At the final whistle, the Colchester players celebrated like they’d won the cup, albeit a minor one named after a van or a brand of paint. They went over and acknowledged their fans graciously, although the travelling support was sufficiently small that they probably could have shaken them all by the hand and offered them a lift home.

With players of the calibre of McIndoe, Sproule, Marvin Elliott and Lee Johnson, City look well-placed to continue their promotion push. As for Colchester, I’m reluctant to burden them with the tag ‘too good to go down’, but, suffice to say, they’re good enough to stay up. For a club of their size, that is some achievement.

» Read the full article. Go on it’s worth a look.

Then as mentioned another (BBC) article here about the Colchester-based band who got signed to a recording contract… Is this a good thing though ? With all the record companies imploding and with t'internet being the place to spread the word nowadays... But I digress.

The band got signed to a label after their download only single made it into the charts.
See ! That's what I'm talking about. Radiohead did it. They've done it without any help. Why bother with a record company ?

The name of the band are Koopa and before this download single success they recorded, or to be more precise - re-recorded a single that another local Colchester band did back in 1997.

A punk band called Special Duties released a CD that was made to celebrate Colchester United’s appearance in that year’s AutoWindscreens Shield final.

- May I take a moment to congratulate everybody involved in this. Not for the footballing part, but for doing something that I talked about previously - for going into the recording studio and singing about their bit of success. They know that they will never get the opportunity to appear in a F.A Cup Final, they are realistic about it and celebrate (as the above article mentions) winning anything. Scarborough and Luton did. Your club can too with these tracks.

» Back to Koopa and Colchester and this cover version of the Special Duties song which included the strikers Jamie Cureton and Chris Iwelumo before they were sold:

» Koopa & Special Duties - Stand Up For Col U

Plus a lower quality version of their download only single which snagged them a contract:

» Koopa - Bag, Steal or Borrow

» Lastly we go back to the band who originated all of this and their epic opus celebrating Colchester United’s 1997 Auto Windscreen success. This one has it all - they even take us non supporters into consideration by sing-describing their progress through the rounds up to the final as well as sample commentary from some of the matches:

» Special Duties - Wembley ! Wembley ! Wembley !

Some quality footieandmusical crappiness there.

So the Africa Cup Of Nations is on right now…

Africa Cup Of Nations…

…

I’m sorry but I don’t have much interest in this although I know I should have. There are plenty of Premier League players taking part. Plus loads of football scouts down there too.

They say that America is slowly waking up to (soccer) football, but they are taking too long to open their eyes. The will eventually get on board and I can also see the USA challenging for that trophy - it’s in their nature to discover something and want to dominate and win everything. But at the moment Africa is the emerging nation which I hope after a safe and exciting World Cup in 2010 will probably have an explosion of talent similar to that of the South Americans and we’ll see players playing for teams dotted around the world. (We already do, but more so after the continent see for themselves the full soccer carnival.) Then eventually we’ll see an African country winning a World Cup. Which one I don’t know, it’s the same as with the Africa Cup Of Nations at the moment, any team could take it. There are no favourites or big teams when it comes to the final tournaments.

Music-wise, as I was reading of all the ACoN coverage I dug around to see if I had anything related and found a couple of things »

Roger Milla. The Cameroon player who brought African football to everybody’s attention.

In 1990 whilst watching Italia ‘90 we all named a 2nd team as our adopted team, one that we would follow (as well as England) throughout the tournament and keep an eye on their progress.
I chose Cameroon.

Suffice to say that as these outsiders progressed the more amazed and excited I was, until they faced England and Milla helped to give us that scare in the quarter finals.

He came back and played again in the 1994 World Cup and at 42 became the oldest player to score in a World Cup. Roger is now legendary in his country, they even issued a stamp of him:

… and I found a track by “The Rainbow Choir” which when you hear it is a bit weak and not befitting his status:

» The Rainbow Choir - Roger Milla Is My No9 Dream

There’s no info to be found on this mysterious Rainbow Choir. I actually have some more footie/musical songs by them, singing about different subjects and players. But as to who they are and what the deal is with these recordings I don’t know. I suspect they are just session singers - a studio group.
I’ll post more of their “work” another time.

Next up though is a genuine African group and two tracks covering soccer:

- Real Sounds Of Africa are a 12 piece band from Zimbabwe who have one CD available via Cherry Red Records. Their album Get Real was produced by that Brighton & Hove fan Norman Cook and includes this one:

» Real Sounds Of Africa - Soccer Fan

Not on this CD which is a shame because in my opinion it is one of the best footie/musical outputs I’ve found. Tornados vs Dynamos (3-3)… seriously, that’s what it’s called… is a 13 minute opus with the commentary to a Zimbabwean football match, played over a backing of chiming, humming guitars and a guest appearance by The Rev. Canaan Banana.

So sit back and listen to this match:

» Real Sounds - Tornados vs Dynamos

I was going to post something else and save this next one until the 5th round, but Jez posted a request in the comments and I saw who they are playing on Sunday so...

Spurs are cursed. Evidence of a curse is to the right, the musical act that’s closely associated with them. But it’s not just them who have brought this upon the club. Look at their history and you’ll see ex-players and managers who may at the time been successful at White Hart Lane, but afterwards they all seemed to have broken in mirror in the changing room or stood on a black cat.

Terry Venables for example. Had a moment in the sun after Spurs when he managed England, but ever since then he’s had some dodgy business dealings and his skills at managing teams diminished so much that he ended up wearing a tracksuit (not a pretty sight) as an assistant to the wally with the brolly.

More famously though there was young Gazza, who before the 1991 FA Cup Final was signed to play for Lazio the next season. Then in that final he put a horror tackle on Gary Charles (which pretty much ruined his life), followed by a very cursed 3 years in Italy. After recovering from a broken leg he was sold to Rangers and had a bit of an eventful time there too.

Lineker - One goal short of the record thanks to Turnip head. Then after Spurs he went to Japan to play for Grampus Eight, but his time there was injury plagued. Now he has to sit on the sofa and look at Shearer’s shiny forehead every week.

Who else…? Oh of course Hoddle. Goes without saying. Karma came back and bit him in the arse. Music and football wise everything after Tottenham turned to shit.

For Osvaldo Ardiles it was a similar time, management wise, that Hoddle experienced. His Spurs side played attractive attacking football, which every fan wanted to see, but this style ended up as “score more than you conceed.” Ever since then he’s never reached the giddy heights.

But for this post we are going back to his playing days and the beginning of the musical curse when two loyal fans volunteered to write and sing some tunes to celebrate their appearance in the 1981 FA Cup Final:

» Tottenham 1981 Squad with Chas ‘n Dave - Ossie’s Dream (Spurs Are On Their Way To Wembley

…and the B Side :

» 1981 Tottenham Squad - Glory Glory Tottenham Hotspur

Going for the hattrick with another final in 1991 but they couldn’t get rid of the “rockney” duo. In this one for the benefit of those unfamiliar with the club, they sing the history of the club:

» Tottenham Hotspur with Chas and Dave - When The Year Ends In 1

But it doesn’t end there ! On last Wednesday’s win against THEIR RESERVES ! Spurs scored 5, so two more in extra time from the scruffy beards:

» Chas ‘n Dave - Gertcha

(Spurs get a mention in this one)

» Chas and Dave - Rabbit Rabbit Rabbit Rabbit Rabbit Rabbit…

Although this year doesn’t end in 1, best of luck to Tottenham in the Mickey Mouse League Cup Final.

Spotted the following footie/musical news item :

Hard-up German football club seeks Doherty’s help
By Iain Rogers

BERLIN (Reuters) - A German football club struggling to avoid financial collapse has asked rocker Pete Doherty to help publicize their plight as he supported the side as a boy, Doherty’s manager and club officials said on Friday.

The lead singer of Babyshambles, famous for his relationship with supermodel Kate Moss and a series of widely-publicized drug problems, spent part of his childhood on a British army base near the western city of Krefeld and developed an affection for local club KFC Uerdingen, Doherty’s manager Adrian Hunter said.

Uerdingen Marketing Director Stefan Hoffmann said he was hopeful Doherty could help raise awareness of the former Bundesliga club’s difficulties and boost ticket sales.

Doherty had been invited to visit next week when he will be in nearby Cologne for a concert, he added.

“I know he has some affection for the club and he would be happy to do something if he has time,” Hunter said.

Uerdingen, which now plays in a lower regional league, was founded in November 1905. They won the German Cup in 1985, beating Bayern Munich 2-1 in the final.

Hoffmann said that Doherty, who was born in March 1979, had watched Uerdingen’s UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup quarter-final, second-leg against Dynamo Dresden in 1986 which Uerdingen won 7-3 having lost the first leg 2-0 in Dresden.

They were beaten 4-2 by Atletico Madrid in the semi-finals.

» Full article

This gives me a pisspoor excuse to post some stuff from his previous band:

» The Libertines - What A Waster

I wonder which particular player he was singing about… I know he wasn’t but I like to imagine it was.
Go on, I dare you to name whoever you are thinking of right now.

I’ve got Wayne Bridge v Croatia. Yes the hurt is still there.

Next up are some with a tenuous connection to footie. In my mind anyway.

» The Libertines - What Became Of The Likely Lads ?

That episode is on my wish list. I’d like to see it again. Plus the note-for-note remake done by Ant & Dec.

» The Libertines - Road To Ruin

TV journo’s: There’s something that you can play over a report about any struggling or facing doom club.

» The Libertines - Time For Heroes

Havant and Waterlooville I’m looking in your direction.

Look barcodes fans you are kidding yourself. It’s not the same football as Keegan walked away from when he was the England boss. It’s not the same Premier League that KK walked away from 11 years ago and again 3 years ago. He can’t resign in the toilet this time. He has to stay and face it. Can’t run away this time. The only chance of getting away this time is when he gets “mutuallly consented.” Which should be in only a few months time…

I really don’t understand why he decided to return. I think it is because he’s spent a few years out of the spotlight now and has maybe forgotten about all the scrutiny, the pressure, the expectation… which will be in triplicate now. But it is football. Like the clowns in the circus ring, like the Toreador in the bullring, the sawdust gets in your blood (and possibly in KK’s case - his head) and it’s something that you can’t leave behind.

Rolling out another cliché now - You can never. Should never. Go back. All right I admit that he presence might spurn a mini-resurgence and Newcastle might actually play better but they’ve got to realise that they are not that big a club any more.
KK will have only a couple of weeks before the transfer window closes and I can’t see any likely signings coming in so he’ll have to work with Big Sam’s squad. Newcastle are currently 11th in the table and at the time of writing still in the cup. But all this wasn’t good enough for their fans, they want to rollercoaster ride that Kev took them on last time which will include some alarming dips this time, trust me. Sacrificing your midtable obscurity just so you can see better football ? Strange wish to have.

For this season anyway Newcastle will have to post the excuse of rebuilding after a rocky start. Will the messiah be there at the end ? Will there be a relegation dogfight or challenge for a European Cup place before that. Only time will tell.

In the meantime back in time with a song by the Don Juans who half talk/half sing about when KK was first signed and they reminisce about the glory days (as usual… actually is there anybody still alive who remembers their last cup win ?).

» Don Juans - Wor Kev

Until I find his 1973 release this will be the last time I mention KK and the Barcodes.
There’s been enough mentions already.