Football and Music

I can’t find an answer to that question actually. I’ve searched around but there’s no explanation as to why Stoke City use “Delilah” to run out to. Any Potters fans reading this - help me out.

So then this week the Prediction League is featuring matches from the old 2nd Division. I decided to take a look music-wise too at the current leading contender to take Derby County’s and Mick McCarthy’s Sunderland slot as next season’s whipping boys.

Ah come on you are kidding yourselves if you think that Stoke will be able to mix it up there with the rest of them, once you get there you might as well enjoy the brief ride.

I do hope though that I am wrong and that Stoke City have a good few years residency in the top division, but I really can’t see it. These days you need mega rich backing and a ton of money - or take a risk at putting some huge loan debts on the club, to make sure that you stay in the toppermost league these days. I know they have a chairman with a bit of wedge, but not many of these big suits put their hand in their pocket to help out the club once they’ve got promotion. Case in point - Madejski at Reading who is still looking to get shut of the club.

This post isn’t about current footie politics though. The intention here is too look back at Stoke who were many years ago up there with the “big clubs”. But back then in their heyday Stoke were the biggest team when there were no big teams, just football teams.

In the 1930’s Stoke had this flying winger called Stanley Matthews, who started as an apprentice at the club.

A few years later they had a decent goalie named Gordon Banks.

I don’t know when these songs about the club were recorded, they sound very ’70’s.

First up - An instrumental called Theme For The A Team…    

No not them. This lot:

I don’t actually know if the song was done for the 1972 League Cup winning team, but as I mentioned when listening to the songs they sound like they were done around that time.

» The Potters - Theme For The A Team

The next one has lyrics:

» The Potters (Stoke City FC Supporters) - We’ll Be With You

EXTRA TIME: Since I mentioned it at the beginning I might as well add it:

» Tom Jones - Delilah

and related to that… one of my favourite duets:

»Space and Cerys Matthews - The Ballad Of Tom Jones

“…I never threw my knickers at you. / And I don’t come from Wales…”

UPDATES:
Thanks to a very bored today MickMills who found this on a Stoke City forum which talks about the roots of the song and some of the altered lyrics.
- Plus I found this Stoke FC Potters website page (links to the audio on there don’t work unfortunatel). It talks about a fan called TJ who gets up in the crowd and sings a changed lyrics version.

I think I put a curse on Arsenal and Liverpool after I posted their rap(s).
Let’s see if lightning strikes twice with the Mickey Mouse League Cup Final between the residents of White Hart Lane and Stamford Bridge.

When looking at something to post… especially with Spurs and their musical output I wanted to avoid the obvious clichés, but unfortunately it is impossible.

I did however, you’ll be glad to read - manage to find some stuff from Tottenham that wasn’t done by Chas ‘N Dave.
I know. A rare thing indeed.

Spurs fans themselves must be irritated by their musical history with these two.

(”Look there Mr Hodges and Mr Peacock… thank you for your dedication to the club, but please - can we get the Klaxon’s or somebody for next time…?”)

As for Chelsea - as you know they went through periods of doing nowt, but occasionally they’d wake up and go off and win something. Music-wise they don’t have much of a history. There was a period at the beginning of the ’70’s and then late 90’s - into the 2000’s that material appears.

So when I looked through my collection to find some appropriate tunes to post here I noticed that in 1972 and 1973 both teams had some decent songs recorded.

Spurs were on top form with winning the League Cup in 1971 and then 1973 season. As well as the first UEFA Cup in 1972 where they beat… Wolves.

Chelsea had won the FA Cup in 1970 and then the UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup in 1971, but lost the League Cup in 1972 to… Stoke.

In this era both clubs recorded and released some very memorable records. Sung by the teams, not by any musical artists and they ain’t arf bad… Geezer.

First up is Chelsea with one I’ve posted previously, plus a London medley done by the 1972 team:

» Chelsea 1972 Team - Blue Is The Colour

- They actually released an album of the same name. Here’s one of the tracks from it:

» Chelsea 1972 Team - London Medley

Next up is Tottenham (and Spurs):

» 1973 Spurs Squad - Tottenham Hotspur

Sadly no imagination with the naming of this next one either:

» ‘72-73 Tottenham Squad - Spurs!

* I may have got the titles/years mixed up when labelling the mp3's. If they are wrong let me know.

Sometime next week I’ll post more songs from the winning team.

In the not too distant near future the suits at the Premier League have their way and now every EPL match is played abroad. But the effect is felt on the local economies of some American cities after they fielded some of the matches.

Boston never recovered from hosting Wigan v Sunderland.
Atlanta was financially crippled after they got Reading v Birmingham and then West Ham v Middlesboro.

At first the impact of the league was instantaneous.
American soccer fans embraced this new craze and after studying the newly franchised BBC archives, they took to emulating their English counterparts with full vigour. In fact it became an obsession. They studied everything. Including the music.

Hoards of replica shirt wearing chav homies roamed the streets looking for some “bovver”. (Even though they didn’t know what it was. Some thought it was the half-time Bovril, others thought it was a new dance).

But eventually this new obsession ate into the culture and left some places in ruins. - There were only matches once every other week and none in the summer. What were they going to do the rest of the time ? What are they going to do with all these pies..?

——–
[SCENE]: An trash filled alley somewhere in Chicago.

A gang of red shirted, baseball cap wearing footie/gangstas enter from one end. They wear an emblem of an 18th century cannon.

From the opposite end of the alley others enter. They are wearing red shiny shell suits with stripes of white down each side. Their emblem is a fabled bird with something in it’s mouth.

The two groups meet in the middle and stare each other down. A kid separates from one of the posse struggling with an 80’s style boombox. He sets on an abandoned car and waits…

Bob Fossil suddenly appears.           “Holy shitsauce we’ve got outselves a rapoff !”

First to step up is the 1988 Liverpool team including Alan Hansen, Jan Molby, Ray Houghton and Mark Lawrenson:

» Liverpool 1988 FA Cup Squad - Anfield Rap (Red Machine In Full Effect)

One nil Liverpool.

Looking for an equaliser is the A Team …

» The A Team - Arsenal Rap

The score is one-all.

Liverpool come back looking to take the lead again:

» Brize-E And The Anfield Posse - Anfield Rap

Ooh did it go over the line..? There’s an appeal… and it’s just given. Dodgy decision there.

It’s Arsenal on the counter attack, they want to level the scores again:

» Steven North and the Flat Back Four - Gus Caeser Rap

…and they smash one into the back of the net with that WTF moment.

With only seconds to go Liverpool are looking for the winner and…

» Liverpool FC - Anfield Rap (Red Machine Dub)

Ah but it’s ruled offside ! No goal !

Fossil blows the whistle for full time and it’s a draw. Neither side won this one. In fact it’s embarrassment all round.

Your command is my wish Al !

And thank for your email which stopped the process of what I was planning to post. I’ll still be posting that later on but his message sent me on a journey of discovery today.
So again - Thank you. I have more footieandmusic gold from an unexpected place.

So courtesy of Al’s request pin your ears back and have a listen to this Romeo & Juliet/Football & Music story as told by Serious Drinking, which I found out on was their reply to the Cockney Rejects track “War on the terraces”.

» Serious Drinking - Love On The Terraces       » Lyrics

» Additionally Cherry Red Records had this:

Rowdy good-time rockers with an overtly humourous approach and a studiedly hedonistic (booze and football) lyrical bent. Line-up was Martin Ling (vocals), Eugene McCarthy (vocals), Andy Hearshaw (guitar), Jem Moore (bass) and Lance Dunlop (drums). Singles:
LOVE ON THE TERRACES (Upright UP 4)
HANGOVER (Upright UP 5)
COUNTRY GIRL BECAME DRUGS AND SEX PUNK (Upright UP 8 )

Albums:
THE REVOLUTION STARTS AT CLOSING TIME (Upright RPLP 3)
THEY MAY BE DRINKERS ROBIN, BUT THEY'RE ALSO HUMAN BEINGS. (Upright UPLP 7 )

Best title for an album ever.

But this is only the tip if the iceberg. As mentioned loads more about the band and their football/musical odyssey will be posted here.

Because of their devotion to footie, their lyrics and entitling of songs I am naming Half Man Half Biscuit as the official band of Football and Music.

(It works in a similar way to a shirt sponsorship. I’ve created a mockup of what a F&M/HMHB shirt would look like to the right there »

As I was purchasing some of HMHB’s output I noticed a few of the songs that had a this theme which I now “present”… geddit ? present… below.

- I remember this first one when The Chart Show always Fast Forwarded past it. I think it was because there’s wasn’t a video for it thought.

» Half Man Half Biscuit - Dickie Davies Eyes Trainspotter note - There's a line in the song: “Brian Moore’s Head (Looks Uncannily Like The London Planetarium)” which became the name of a fanzine for Gillingham F.C.

Next up is a bit of biting commentary (sic) from HMHB about a goalkeeping legend turned presenter, who after his ITV bosses saw him anchoring the Champions League coverage shoved him off to the late night highlights show.

» HMHB - Bob Wilson - Anchorman Sample lyrics: “Well I marvel at the things we find beneath the ground/ And that man can go faster than the speed of sound /But I still can’t get my head around/Bob Wilson, anchorman”

Here we have a sometimes Grandstand presenter, but known more for his commentating.

» HMHB - Gubba Look-a-Likes

» Some theme tunes from their programmes:

» A Tribe of Toffs - John Kettley Is The Weatherman