In most instances this is a bad thing… Because as you know if all the focus in on the chairman, it means trouble for the clubs.

This is not always the case, there are some club owners/major shareholders out there who’d rather not be in the spotlight, such as Randy Learner at Villa, Ellis Short at Sunderland and Stan Kroenke at Arsenal.

…And at the other end there are those who love the spotlight, such as Watford’s former chairman, now life president Elton John:

There are others who also can’t resist the glare of the lights, such as Simon Jordan formerly of Crystal Palace and Karren Brady at West Ham – and The Apprentice.

I could go on and expand on the above mentioned names but life’s too short for that…

Then there are some, in fact there are many who could be contestants in a very unfunny TV reality show.
At least in their own heads. These people when they first arrive, they always seem to be welcomed by the fans as the saviour of their club. But then things turn ugly…

Once again I could expand on what is a long list of chief execs who eventually became a liability but as I said, life is too short and anyway… 1) You are not here for that – and 2) the fine chaps over at cover this subject with aplomb, as Ron Manager might say.

But what I want to do is a mini-feature on two particular “characters” who always gained strong opinion from every quarter once their names are mentioned.

The first one passed away a number a years ago, but his reputation and antics are still remembered by all.

Stan Flashman

I can see a few of you nodding there. Ah yes. Fat Stan.

There was a period in the very late 80′s/early 90′s when Barnet F.C, with their manager Barry Fry and especially their own, the ex-ticket tout (could get you tickets for anything. Garden Party with the Queen ? No problem son) Flashman making the non-league and then league headlines.

Sometimes all the planets align and for Barnet in 1990 they gained promotion from the Conference to the Football League, but it wasn’t without some bumps along the way. There was a stormy relationship between Barry Fry and the owner, with Flashman repeatedly sacking Fry and then reinstating him soon after.

Fry recalls in his time at Barnet:

…”Actually, Stan could be the most generous man in the world one minute, but he was pure evil the next. He’d threaten to have you encased in a motorway bridge, things like that.” Fry chuckles. “I had nine amazing years with Stan, on the field and off. Together, we got Barnet into the Football League and it was an adventure from day one. Our first game against Crewe ended 7-4… and we got the four. Then we played Brentford and it ended 5-5.

“But Stan was a real bad loser. He’d threaten to break players’ legs if he didn’t think they’d played well. We had one lad, Harry Willis, and Stan came into the dressing-room once and said ‘Willis, you were hopeless today, you’ll never play for Barnet again.’ I said ‘yes he will, Stan, he’s playing against Watford in the Herts Senior Cup on Friday.’ And Stan said, ‘if you turn up on Friday, Willis, I’ll break your legs with a cricket bat.’ …”

But then things started to go wrong. Very wrong. There were financial irregularities at the club, the one that Flashman has saved from administration in 1985, but then in 1992 the money was gone. Players were not getting paid, the Inland Revenue wanted to take a look at the books…

Below is a YouTube playlist of The London Programme, this episode aired in April 1993 looked at the club and their plight. In the first minute of each clip the very rotund figure of Flashman is seen. In Part 1 he pulls up in his car and threatens a camera crew. In Part 2 Barry Fry is seen telling the players that the cheques that have bounced, Stan will come and pay them in cash after their match. Then in Part 3 Flashman resigns because of ill health and says he has sold the debt ridden club.

Our next subject is still looming VERY large on the horizon…

Ken Bates

Ah now your eyes narrow at the mention of that name.

Currently he’s the chairman of Leeds United as well as being co-owner, but there’s questions as to who co-owns it and where are these companies or individuals. Either the Channel Islands or the other tax haven in the Caymen Islands and a shell company…?

Things are always murky when Master Bates is involved and David Conn of the Guardian has done some excellent investigations which got them banned from Elland Road because of his coverage.

This is not the first time either that questions have been raised over the ownership of a club in which Bates has been involved. It happened previously 2005 with Chelsea and that was never really resolved.

As to Chelsea…

It was pretty much nearly the same story as Stan Flashman and Barnet at the beginning. The club were in serious financial trouble and were threatened with relegation to the Third Division.

Bates then came in and bought the club for a nominal sum of £1. After that he fought a long legal battle to gain the freehold of Stamford Bridge which he eventually won because the property developer who held a portion of that freehold went bankrupt after a mark crash. Because of this he was able to do a deal with the banks and get himself a bargain. Bates then reunited the freehold to the club.

In the years that Bates spent at Chelsea he attracted the headlines on many occasions, mostly because of his notes in the Chelsea programmes and disparaging remarks about some managers (including his own), players (including his own) and fans – mostly his own. What’s the word you use when describing Bates… ah that’s it. Gobshite.

He didn’t reserve it just to those groups either. He had battles within his own boardroom too:

During the 1990s, he was involved in a bitter dispute with Chelsea benefactor and vice-chairman, Matthew Harding, over the club’s future direction, which led to Harding being banned from the Chelsea boardroom. The dispute was ultimately only ended by Harding’s death in a helicopter crash in October 1996. Bates sparked further controversy by later describing Harding as an “evil man” the following year

But after this period of changes and success at Chelsea the threat of debt loomed once again over the club, but in 2003 he sold the club to Roman Abramovich, for a sum of £140million and made a £17million profit for himself.

As mentioned above Bates was investigated by the FSA for allegedly owning undeclared shares in Chelsea Village plc, but the case was eventually dropped.

Always end on a song…

Now there’s a couple of related Ken Bates and Chelsea songs, both will make you laugh/angry depending on how you view things. Hey don’t shoot me for these, I’m only the piano player.

The first one is from Mr Martini and after hearing… ah it’s got to be tongue in cheek.
Listen to the lyrics and especially the line: "Ken Bates I love you/won't you/answer my prayer. Next season just call me/and I'll be there..."
Plus there’s something about a stone being thrown by Ian Hutchinson…

This other track… from 1996, during Bates reign of terror and was done by a Canadian fan who dedicated the song to Chelsea.

Ah I really don’t want to post this… tell you what it will be here for a VERY LIMITED time… Uh I can’t fecking stand this bloke…

I have to go and clean myself now…

As I said don’t blame me. Just reporting the facts.

Chris needs your help. He’s got a song stuck in his head and it’s driving him mad.
He’s emailed me and I’ve drawn a blank. He’s been on every forum to ask and no joy.

Here’s a post from him on the WSC message boards:

“In 1970 when Back Home was the official England World Cup Song there was another song that got little airtime but sounded like the squad (although it could have been anyone) and the words included members of the ’70 England Squad passing about leading up to the words “Martin to Ossie and bang”.

Thats all I can remember and I have tried all the usual searches, tried posting this same question on numerous football websites and even emailed the homepage of a couple of old england players from back then…no replies of any relevence to date.

The Martin to Ossie words were reference to Martin Peters (Tottenham) and Peter Osgood (Chelsea) and I have posted the question on Chelsea and Spurs sites as well.”

Chris told me that the name of the song was “On The Ball” and as soon as you see that you think – ah, that song which Ant & Dec sang for the England/World Cup in 2002.

Well yes but…

The Ant&Dec song was reportedly a cover version of an old Arsenal chant/song, which is weird because Chris found more evidence about this record via this Japanese website which has scans of the record covers and/or labels of every footballing song released in 1970 (which I’d give my right arm to get hold of all of them) and on that page is a scan of a label of the song that (Chris thinks) he’s looking for:

Curious thing – the track was written by Harold Spiro who was a big Spurs supporter. He is credited as co-writer on the 2002 A+D England WC song.

A short while later Chris mailed again with some news…

“getting closer…

Someone on a Chelsea site has just pointed me to Discogs and someone on there has the record but with a different Catalogue number and release date a year too late…

I’ve ordered it although I’m waiting for him to get back to me, I think it could be a mistake with the date as the one in my pic says 1970 in small letters and 72 somewhere else.”

As he said Chris ordered it and a short time later…

“Oh mate I’m gutted…got the record and although very similar its not it and was released in 1971 obviously for the Arsenal double winning side back then…I don’t know if they were singing it before that and it influenced the one I’m after or if they got the idea from the one I want but it is very similar…”

So then there’s the question – Is that 1970 song by The Supporters one in the same as the one recorded for the Arsenal ? Because nobody has a copy of that 1970/Supporters single in their possession (and if anybody does speak/write in Japanese and could email that above site), we will never know.

Unless you can help.

Where is your old record collection ? Is it shoved away in a cupboard somewhere ? Drag it out and have a look through. You might have it.

- Until then have a listen to the 1971 (Arsenal) version of the song, as supplied by Chris:

…and because I’m feeling a bit vindictive today (for no reason) you are getting PJ & Duncan as well:

UPDATE:
After doing some thinking, and a quick discussion with Twohundredpercent via Twitter – I’m thinking there wasn’t a song released in 1970 sung about England, but it was in fact this song by The Supporters about the Arsenal double winning team.
He may have misremembered the lyrics and thought he heard Peters and Osgood, maybe it wasn’t.
These are my initial thoughts. More updates whenever.

And so as expected…

Very nearly wasn’t thanks to the post, the crossbar and of course… the pitch.

Which the commentator and pundit didn’t make all that many references to actually.

I think because it was a given.

Plus there were a few golden chances spurned: An open goal. Two penalties: Saved and scuffed.

But this final will not go down in history as an err… historic…one…

What will be remembered though is that Chelsea did a League/Cup double and to commemorate a track from the fine gentleman above, plus a couple of others thown in.

First though a quick bio:

Laurel Aitken waa born in Cuba of mixed Cuban and Jamaican descent, his family settled in Jamaica in 1938. After an early career working for the Jamaican Tourist Board singing mento songs for visitors arriving at Kingston Harbour, he became a popular nightclub entertainer…

… Aitken moved to Brixton, London in 1960 and recorded for the Blue Beat label, releasing fifteen singles before returning to Jamaica in 1963. He recorded for Duke Reid, with backing from The Skatalites before returning to the UK. He recorded hits such as “Fire in Mi Wire” and “Landlord and Tenants”, which led to a wider recognition outside of Jamaica and the UK. This cemented his position as one of ska’s leading artists and earned him the nicknames The Godfather of Ska.

…Aitken settled in Leicester with his wife in 1971. His output slowed in the 1970s, but in 1980, with ska enjoying a resurgence in the wake of the 2 Tone movement, Aitken had his first success in the UK Singles Chart with “Rudi Got Married”.

…In later years he performed occasional concerts almost until his death from a heart attack in 2005. After a long campaign, a blue plaque in his honour was put up at his Leicester home.

[See post to listen to audio] » Laurel Aitken & The Shed Enders – Zigger Zagger

Extra Time:

The theme ? Ska

I love this music and when I posted an England/World Cup song by The Skatoons the other day, I started to look for more footie & ska music connections. Then with some perfect timing… I received an email about another England/WC/Ska song, which I’ll be posting in a few days.

Let’s get started with…

It is common knowledge that there’s a couple of ska tunes associated with Chelsea. I’ll be featuring one of those below.

What is probably lesser known…

- That there was a ska tune done in relation to Pompey which after you hear it you’ll wish that you didn’t, but as is with the tradition here I must report what I find. Even if it causes some pain.

As you will discover, everything about this is wrong. The naming of the band, the fact that it’s a re-worded version of ska tune more associated with another team (which I’ll expand on below) or especially with the subject(s) of the song.

What was the act called ?   Krap Not ‘Arf.

What’s wrong (apart from it being a crap name) with that then ?   They named themselves after Pompey’s home ground – but they put it backward AND missed out a letter.

What was the tune they covered ?   Tom Hark.

What was the re-worded version about ?   Their previous manager, plus his assistant at the time and their promotion from the Football League First Division to the Premier League in the 2002/03 season.

[See post to listen to audio] » Krap Not ‘Arf – ‘Arry and Jim

I’ll post the original below, but first…

I’m not going to get into which team can claim original ownership of this tune now, I’ll look into that at a later date. Let’s just say for the moment that Chelsea are one of the clubs that are associated with the follow ska tune:

[See post to listen to audio] » Billy Bluebeat – The Liquidator

The Originals…

As mentioned above with the Pompey song they did a cover of Tom Hark, which was not originally done by The Piranhas, but theirs is in fact a cover of a 1950′s tune. I’m posting the Piranhas version here and Any Major Dude With Half A Heart will explain where this one first started.

- The footie team that is actually associated with this song is Brighton & Hove Albion and one of these days I will finally get around to telling their story. But for now:

…and the original version (unless Any Major Dude… knows any different) of The Liquidator:

After the final has played I’ll post some more ska music for the winners.
Obviously I’m hoping expecting that it will be … because I’ve got bugger all for … .

If you like this then you’ll enjoy…

- Marco On The Bass: A musical life dedicated to a love of 2tone, ska, reggae, soul and rock steady.

A recommended purchase…

- The Trojan Ska Box Set
[Amazon UK link]
[Amazon USA link]

I’ve got nothing at all to say about Chelski. Nothing. I’ve said in the other post that I really don’t think, unless their back four go to sleep, Aston Villa will exact any revenge for their 7-1 drubbing inflicted upon them by the Blues the other week.

The Stamford Bridge lot are on form and even with the distraction of the Chase For The Title™ this is only one match before the run in gets really interesting.

To abitofmusicthen… and a couple from a couple of Chelsea legends (if you are reading this in London then it’s pronounced ‘leg – ends’). The first track, with an introduction from his colleguage Alan Hudson, is a cover version of a popular song at the time.

[See post to listen to audio] » Peter Osgood – Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep [See post to listen to audio] » Ron Harris w/players & fans – Chel-Sea of Blue

I’ve already got some songs lined for the team who I think will win the cup, so they’d better…

A couple of weeks ago I was puzzled to as to why there was a sudden interest in this Pat Nevin post. As you can see to the right it’s No. 1 on the popular posts. So I did a quick google and found out why.

Take today’s subject for example. If you read his questions and answers in Shoot you would have seen that he listened to Joy Division and read the NME. No, Pat Nevin wasn’t your usual footballer.

Nick Dunmore from Fisted Away posted a comment about reading a story of Nevin asking to be subbed so that he could get to the ICA in time to catch The Cocteau Twins. It might have been an apocryphal account that he read, but part of it was actually true:

“…as the team [Chelsea] prepared for a friendly with Brentford – the same night that New Order were playing at the Royal Festival Hall. For someone who’d never seen Joy Division play live, a plot emerged. “I’m not re-signing unless you take me off at half time,” he told the manager. Nevin got to see the gig, and the rest is the stuff of legend.

- Quote from a great article via Is This Music? An independent music magazine from Scotland.

As you will read in that above article Nevin eventually got in contact with the late great John Peel and they became great friends. After he retired from playing Pat ended up in the media and talking about football, but he still finds time for his other passion in which like John Peel he supports and encourages new music. Last year he was at the In The City event in Manchester. [Picture above taken by Katy B, in which he was in conversation with the ex-Cocteau Twin Simon Raymonde. » More photos here.]

The good people at Scared To Dance also knew of Pat Nevin’s love of indie music.
Scared To Dance is a monthly club night in London playing indie pop, post-punk, C86, jangle pop, Sarah, Postcard, new wave and protopunk. They are at the King's Cross Social Club, 2 Britannia Street, London. Admission is FREE.   » MySpace page.
They invited him to be a guest DJ and on Friday 19th March he was there with a box of his favourite records. – See the photos here.

Just before the event Pat talked to Mirror Football about how he originally got into indie music and his friendship with John Peel. Plus there are a few YouTube clips of some selected tunes.

After discovering this Pat Nevin DJ event I contacted Scared To Dance via Twitter and asked if they could send me Pat Nevin’s playlist from that night. They had posted a link to a (partial) playlist on Spotify [here], but this service is not available in every country. They very kindly emailed me his playlist and I’ve been busy collecting together every song listed.

If you have the time – Listen to them via You Tube:

- Link to playlist - Or if you want… Every song in mp3 format, 155mb zip file here.

If you can’t be arsed going through all that I’ve selected a couple of tunes to feature here.

The first one is from his playlist at the Scared To Dance night. On the above is the single, but in the Mirror Football article he mentions a different version:

Pink Industry – Don’t Let Go
Pat says: “Pink Industry were led by Jayne Casey, who was in the Liverpool band Big In Japan, then Pink Military. I’ll be playing the remix by Iain Broudie. I’m playing this mainly because nobody will be able to find it! It’s brilliant and really obscure!”

There’s another track which he talks about on that article which didn’t make the final playlist:

The Fall – Blindness
Pat says: “Specifically, it has to be the Peel Session version, which is miles ahead of the one on the Fall Heads Roll album. I first saw The Fall in 1982, when they had the Hex Enduction Hour album out, and they keep on producing. They’ve always had so much going on under the noise, which is a theme of the stuff I tend to like.”

“It’s not a word I use often, but Mark E Smith is kind of a genius and a bit of a poet as well. He’s been doing it so well for so many years, and so many people have tried to copy him.”

All fantastic… Some great music and what looks like a great night. I hope he does it again.

If you are ever in London on the last Saturday of every month try to visit Scared To Dance.
As mentioned admission to the club is FREE.

Website at: www.scaredtodance.co.uk
MySpace at: myspace.com/scaredtodanceclub

Don’t really need to introduce you to the man who said those now famous words…

… But I’m still going to because I like to fill in some space before I post the music.

The son of a Afro-Surinamese migrant and his mistress, Ruud Gullit started playing and developed his football skills on the street. In 1978 he signed for (the now defunct) HFC Haarlem by the coach and former West Brom player Barry Hughes. In his time there he scored 32 goals in 91 appearances. Then in 1982 he moved to Feyenoord and Ruud played alongside Johan Cruijff. The season after they won the league and cup double plus Gullit was named the Dutch Footballer of the Year. There was another move in 1985 when he signed for PSV and bagged 46 goals in 68 league appearances as well as another Footballer of the Year award.

By now, with his international performances also gaining attention, it was AC Milan who came calling in the form of that shrinking violet Silvio Berlusconi who paid a then record fee for him. Gullit slotted into a team that already had his compatriots Marco van Basten, Frank Rijkaard, along with Paolo Maldini and Franco Baresi. More success came to him and the club when they won their first Scudetto in 9 years. In the following seasons Milan won back-to-back European Cups.

With his playing career and himself slowing down Gullit was signed to Chelsea by Glenn Hoddle, initially to play as a sweeper but eventually moved into midfield where he started scoring goals.
A year later Hoddle would leave to become another disappointing England manager and Ruud was appointed as the player-manager. Then a season later he led Chelsea to their first major trophy in 26 years when they won the FA Cup.

That first time as a boss was the highlight of his management career because after this…   well let’s get to the tunes shall we ?

Winding back to 1984 when Ruud was the darling of the (Dutch) game. Feyenoord had won the double plus Gullit had won his first Footballer of the Year award. He was in the papers all the time and he could do no wrong.

Then the big fan of reggae music did what every other footballer does when this spotlight is shone upon them. He released a single:

» Ruud Gullit – Not The Dancing Kind

A turgid effort but it didn’t matter to his fans, one remark I spotted said:

“This actually made the top 10 in the Netherlands, but Ruud was so popular back then that a record of him farting would have made the top 10 too.”

In 1987 a Dutch reggae band who Ruud had befriended (he had even occasionally played bass with them) released a single in praise of the dreadlocked midfielder:

» Revelation Time – Captain Dread (live) - Video

Sample lyrics:
"He runs like lightning / Thunder when he kicks the ball / Don't try to stop him / Natty dreadlocks a go pass them all
Captain dread / Captain dreadlocks at the ball / Captain Dread, natty dread /Bongo natty dreadlocks in full control"

In that same year Ruud had won the Ballon d’Or and in his acceptance speech he brought attention to South Africa’s apartheid regime.   Via an article in The Times:

The gesture was intended to raise awareness. It certainly raised eyebrows. Ruud Gullit, 25 years old at the time, had just been named European Footballer of the Year and, on receiving the award, he dedicated it to the world’s most famous political prisoner. “This is for Nelson Mandela,” declared the Dutchman, then of AC Milan. “In Italy,” Gullit recalls with a smile, “that made a big stir. There wasn’t such an activism about apartheid over there.”

Then in 1988 he got together with the Revelation Time band to record a single, once again to raise awareness of what was going on with South Africa:

» Revelation Time (feat. Ruud Gullit) – South Africa

So what has Ruud been up to lately…?
He’s been named as the president of the joint bid by Belgium and The Netherlands to host the World Cup in 2018 or 2022.
Other bidder they are up against include England, the USA, Australia, Spain/Portugal, and Japan.

Plus I’m sure he will be on some pundit couch for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa – In which he wants to see Holland win ugly.

Screencap from his Funny or Die video Attack Cardio with Vinnie Jones

…and who is happy to retain this hard man image because it keeps getting him work in such box-office-busters/Oscar ignored classics such as Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties, Mean Machine, EuroTrip, The Big Bounce, She’s the Man, Night at the Golden Eagle, Swordfish, and X-Men: The Last Stand.

Jones, Vincent Peter says himself about this:

“Puffy faces, beer bellies – I can’t afford to go that way. For the parts I play I’ve got to look respectable, lean and mean.”

I have to say though… look at those hamster cheeks in that Funny or Die video.

- Looking back on his footballing career and his opinion on that was:

“I’ve always felt that people put me down, and I’d fight back. I played football 15 years, and nobody gave me any credit, and they never will do.”

He still plays – Probably doesn’t get credit or much attention for a team he plays for at his new gaff called the Hollywood All Stars Football Club who a few months back played the Sirens of Soccer in a charidee match:

Taking us back in time now before the bar fightin’ and the Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels breakout role. But after his high tackling and knacker grabbing playing days.

It was a transitional period in which Vinnie tried a few things out. When he was still playing there was that “Soccer Hard Men” video and Jones liked that time in front of the camera so he began to pop up on various TV shows, such as the UK version of Gladiators. Also around then he went into the recording studio and football and music, who as we know should be two strangers that pass in the night. But unfortunately they ran into Vinnie Jones.

A couple of his single releases plus a few choice cuts from his (thankfully) one and only album:

[See post to listen to audio] » Vinnie Jones – Crazy Games [See post to listen to audio] » Vinnie Jones – Wooly Bully [See post to listen to audio] » Bad, Bad Leroy Brown (With Jools Holland) - Video [See post to listen to audio] » Vinnie Jones – Shake A Tail Feather

Oh those pearls of wisdom...?

It seems that Mr Jones has a testicle obsession. Not just with grabbing Gazza’s, he also can’t stop talking about them.

Be it with a spoken intro on Joss Stone’s 3rd album:

[See post to listen to audio] » Joss Stone/Change – Vinnie Jones Intro

…or when playing a character in the movie Snatch:

[See post to listen to audio] » Vinnie Jones – Shrinking Balls (spoken audio)

(Vinnie old mate you need to talk to a psychiatrist.)

Additionally: If you go to the News Page on the Hollywood Allstars FC website you’ll hear a looping dance instrumental with an audio sample of the former hod carrier saying: “Who the fcuk are ya ?” – and he answers his own question with: “The greatest football team in the world.”   At least that’s what I think it says.
Again Vincent old bean….make an appointment.

Ah since it’s Crimbo go on then

He can’t act. He can’t sing. He went a long way.

You want to listen to all the tracks on that album ? Seriously ?

Go on and click on Vinnie’s derrière below to continue:

The Bayern cover versions last week and now this. Yes I do hate you.

Ah I betcha know who and what is coming next.

To be fair to them the actual team wasn’t involved, which is a good thing.

There are many similarities between the Sunderland one and this one: Both are obviously fan created.
Both songs give a shout out to players from a certain period, and both of them have been vandalised.

Also to protect their own identities, whoever came up with this used some kids to sing the lyrics.

Named and shamed in this song:

Dennis Wise, Robert Di Matteo, Frank Leboeuf , Gianfranco Zola and the boss at the time...Ruud Gullit.

(Just four players and the manager ??)

Firstly the hacked, fluffed up version and then the original:

[See post to listen to audio] » Chelsea FC – Walking In A Chelsea Wonderland [See post to listen to audio] » Walking In A Chelsea Wonderland (original)

To even things out after that – listen to this synth medley of Chrimbo tunes:

[See post to listen to audio] » Unknown – Winter Wonderland

I see you body poppin’ over there…

Another run out for Dagenham Dave and his penchant for belting out the occasional tune.

I don’t have anything to add what I previously wrote so I’ll repost the quote from an article about him:

“… He’s [Venables] not new to crooning. As a nightclub owner he used to treat the punters to a regular SingalongaTel, and as a teenager he sang with band leader Joe Loss. At 17 he had to choose between football and singing. “I won the week’s talent contest at Butlins, and was invited back for September. I said to [the manager] Tommy Docherty, ‘Look, I’ve won this competition, I need to go back in September, if that’s all right with you’, and he said, ‘No you can’t do that ’cause you might be in the team’. It was a good way of finding out if I was in the team, really. Hahahaha! If he’d said, ‘Go and sing the song’, you knew you was in trouble.”

It mentioned about him recording tracks for an album but I’ve not found any further evidence.

One thing that is evident from his musical ventures that El Tel likes big band and swing. Defiantly sees himself as a Frank Sinatra type.   Update: Just remembered that he appeared as Antony Newley on Celebrity Stars In Their Eyes in 2000.

[See post to listen to audio] » Terry Venables – I’ve Got You Under My Skin

- Next we have a short video: Venables and Robbie Williams who are guests with Jonathon Ross.
At the time Williams was plugging the swing album he had out. Ross shows everybody an appearance by Terry and the QPR team on the Russell Harty show in 1974. In the clip we can see Venables serenading his teammates and we can see some very embarrassed and bored looking face in there:

Sadly that is only a glimpse of the song. I don’t have the full version by him, so here are some others:

» Betty Hutton – What Do You Want To Make Those Eyes At Me For (1945)

» Emile Ford and the Checkmates -What Do You Want To Make Those Eyes At Me For (1959)

» Ray Peterson – What Do You Want To Make Those Eyes At Me For

» Johnny Earle – What Do You Wanna Make Those Eyes At Me For