But we here at F&M dare to ask and also dare to not only answer, but give you evidence too.

*ducks flying objects*

It’s been mentioned before on why he sings. Click on the above links to read more. For you lazy arses though to summarise:

“…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’….”

Then finally in 1974 (he was playing for QPR at the time) Venables could hold it no longer and released a single, a cover version of a song made famous by Emile Ford & The Checkmates and Adam Faith amongst others.

So how did this single do in the Top 40 ?

It didn’t.

He must have been furious with Keegan, who actually did bother the lower end of the charts. Once.

But like the original perm this never deterred El Tel and even though nobody listened, he kept on crooning.

So to his 1974 chart attempt… come on play through the pain… run it off now…

[See post to listen to audio] » Terry Venables – What Do You Want To Make Those Eyes At Me For [See post to listen to audio] » Terry Venables – Lucy

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.

As you many have guessed I’m taking a bit of a break. So in the meantime whilst it’s quiet and for something to do – I am throwing down the challenge glove…

This challenge was something started via Twitter when Sweeping The Nation tweeted with this comment a few months back.

The tweet, for those of you who can’t be arsed clicking on that link is for a video from Edward (Ed) Ball and his song: “Mill Hill Self Hate Club”, which I think tickled the lower to mid end of the charts in 1996.
What was significant about the video for his song was that there were a few well known faces including a Premier League footballer.

So from the suggestion originally by Sweeping The Nation, this has now become:

Now there are rules to this – the video has to be of a player who just pops up somewhere. He doesn’t sing, but instead tries his acting chops in these three minute mini-tales…plays…? fables ? …I can’t think of the right word at the moment.

Some examples of what I’ve found below. Can you add to these ? Leave a comment.

I’ll post these in the order of the year the song was released and start with Junior Giscombe.

You remember Junior ? He had that fantastic song Mama Used To Say which was a huge hit in 1981. A few years later he released a single Do You Really (Want My Love) which was als on the Beverly Hills Cop soundtrack.

The setting for the accompanying video was an indoor 5-a-side match at the local gym. Not very imaginative and reverting to type just because of the footballer they managed to get involved I think, or maybe it was because Junior was a friend or fan of this particular striker.. Who knows.

The plot for the video is that Junior is the subs bench and was pleading with his manager to get a game because there’s this girl on another bench who he wants to impress. By half time his team are 5-nil down and the boss gives these players a rollocking. A team which includes one Garth Crooks, late of Spurs at the time, now still a cub reporter at the Beeb…   As you can see from the screencap above old Garth doesn’t look too impressed at this bloke telling him what to do.

The 2nd half kicks off and Junior’s team are still getting mullered and eventually he’s given a chance.
Our hero steps onto the pitch… sorry gym floor and… well have a look for yourself:

Next we have the aforementioned Edward Ball, who was signed to Creation Records at the time and a big mate of the founder of the label Alan McGee, who you can see on the video. As well as him Ed got another mate of his to play guitar in the band. I don’t know if he actually played on the single or just appear in the video… anyway step forward Nick Heyward, late of Haircut 100 and one of the many lead singers who think they can break out on their own but end up in obscurity.

Our featured footballer this time is the Guardian reading Graeme Le Saux, who at the time was playing for the Jack Walker financed Blackburn Rovers, but a few months later moved to Chelsea.

The plot for this one is really simple – Ed is sitting in a caff (and occasionally playing with the band) waiting for his date to show. Whilst he’s there – for a good few hours – some people (McGee and then Le Saux) come and sit at the tables. Eventually his date turns up and it’s…

Now we have some bizarreness… It comes in the form of Dr. Alban (not a real doctor obviously) who you may remember from the early 90′s dance hit “It’s My Life” which was also used in those bloody (literally !) Tampax adverts. The bizarre doesn’t come from that but from another tune he did in 1999.

For this song he went the Ed Ball route and roped in some of his (Swedish) sporting pals – and what friends he keeps. In the video you will see Bjorn Borg and a footie player featured previously on F&M – Tomas Brolin.

In the clip below the good (non) Dr. Alban has hired a stretched limo and along with Borg and Brolin, they are all dressed to the nines in some white dinner jackets. Also in the video there’s some bikini clad birds in a swimming pool and err… You’d better just watch:

For this one it is back to a World Cup year (2002) and a silly decision by Keith Allen to once again flog this dead horse with a self-released tune. It was also a notable event with his daughter Lily (aged 15 at the time )making her first guest vocals and video appearance. The song, with Blur’s Dave Rowntree on drums, has a video shot in and around Soho in London. And to compete with Dr. Alban above it seems, there’s a bit of bizarreness in the form of Wayne Sleep wearing that protective gear that boxers use when in training. He can be seen pirouetting around the crowds in Carnaby Street.

The football representation in this case (because in the song there’s barely any mentions) comes in the form of that Sky Sports legendary summariser Chris “Kammy” Kamara, who is also name checked in the song.

Here now we have a 2004 video from a Spanish group who score some major points because of the player they got to appear in the video and what they got him to do.

The band is El Canto del Loco (The Song of the Madman).
In the video below it takes a nod to the Junior Giscombe clip. In this case it’s the lead singer of the band who’s at a bus station when who should walk in but Fernando Torres. He is accompanying a female (assumed to be his girlfriend) and whilst they are sitting waiting for the bus the lead singer catches the girls eye and the girl also spots him. Then they both have an out of body experience… No I’m not kidding here. Eventually the bus is ready to leave and the singer boards. We then see Torres and the girl approach the bus, Fernando goes in to kiss his video partner BUT SHE BLANKS HIM ! She must have been a clairvoyant and saw this trip that Torres took in the future.

Lastly for now and I can’t believe that I’m posting a Westlife video on here…

The premise for their pop music video – “Bop Bop Baby”… it hurts as I type that…. is that the boys are Musketeers are locked in a dungeon. There’s a girl (as always) which wanted to marry one of the boyband members – it’s not clear which, maybe all of them. But her Father is forcing her to marry the vilest man in the kingdom for cold, hard cash. That man is Duke Vincent – known more commonly to you and me as Vinnie Jones, who is well known to croon a few tunes himself.

As mentioned the lads are locked in an underground castle dungeon and singing some (slightly confusing) lyrics which really do not fit in with their situation:

“When I call you at home and he answers the phone
Or I get your machine and I don’t hear me”

Then suddenly help from outside and some unknown accomplice blows a big fecking hole in the wall, they escape, storm the wedding and proceed to beat the living crap out of Jones.
So the video does have some high points.

Those are the ones that I’ve found, but there’s got to be more out there. Do you know of any ?
If you spot any candidates please add a comment below:

This is about the younger Knowles who might not be familiar to you… until you hear the song.

Peter Knowles, along with his his older sibling would take up association football with Peter initially playing in the Wolverhampton Wanderers youth team before being called into the first team action.

In the few years which saw a relegation for Wolves until an eventual promotion back to the 1st Division, Knowles’ game flourished and this was recognised with a call up to the England U23′s squad.

In 1967, in a bid to raise awareness of “soccer” in the United States, FIFA set up a mini-league in with various teams from Britain representing different states. Wolves represented Los Angeles (to be known as the Los Angeles Wolves with Knowles featuring in the side which won this league.

Then in 1969 Knowles would once again return to play in the USA, this time for the Kansas City Spurs. It was on this trip which would start the beginning of the end…   …of his footballing career.

It was during this stay in Kansas that there was a knock at his door and instead of slamming it in their faces (as you normally do as soon as you see who it is), Knowles invited these people in because yes, he was interested to hear this good news.

Upon his return to Britain, Knowles made that he had become a Jehovah’s Witness convert, and said: “I shall continue playing football for the time being but I have lost my ambition. Though I still do my best on the field I need more time to learn about the Bible and may give up football.”

So the 1969-70 season got under way and Wolves won seven out of their first eight matches, but after the eighth day game of the season Knowles quit and walked away from football forever…

Wolves held a hope that he won have a change of heart and return, they kept his contract open for another 12 years but it was never to be.

Apparently he can still be found wandering the streets of Wolverhampton trying to convert others and has no regrets.

» In 1991 Billy Bragg released Don’t Try This At Home with a song on the album telling the story of the Wolves and England prospect:

[See post to listen to audio] » Billy Bragg – God’s Footballer

“God’s footballer hears the voices of angels
above the choir at Molyneaux
God’s footballer stands on the doorstep
and brings the good news of the kingdom to come
While the crowd sing Rock of Ages
The goals bring weekly wages
Yet the glory of the sports pages
is but the worship of false idols and tempts him not
God’s footballer turns on a sixpence
and brings the Great Crowd to their feet in praise of him
God’s footballer quotes from the Gospels
while knocking on doors in the Black Country back streets
He scores goals on a Saturday
And saves souls on a Sunday
For the Lord says these are the Last Days
Prepare thyself for the Judgement yet to come
His career will be over soon
And the rituals of a Saturday afternoon
Bid him a reluctant farewell
For he knows beyond the sport lies the spiritual”

Additional: A live version by Billy performed at Glastonbury in 1995.
For reasons unknown (I don’t follow rugby) he dedicated the song to Jonah Lomu.

Thanks to ED who suggested/requesting this a long time ago.
Also to e-rawk who named a few others. They will be coming up. Eventually.

As for the other Knowles brother…?
I’ve posted something about him previously and you know who when I say:

“Nice one _ _ _ _ _ , nice one son. Nice one _ _ _ _ _ …let’s have another one.”

[See post to listen to audio] » Cockerel Chorus – Nice One Cyril

You know that despite themselves, Spurs have done pretty well this season.
My evidence of this ? Well I’m glad you asked…

Despite the comedy stylings of Heurelho Gomes (who Redknapp doesn’t like) and despite Ledley King only able to play when the wind is blowing from the southeast at 2 knots. Even with Robbie Keane (who ‘urry up doesn’t like) being shipped off to the wilds of Scotia land, plus because of injuries it forced Jamie’s pappy to play Roman Pavlyuchenko, even though… you get the drift.

The players always know where they stand with old ‘arry. He’s not afraid to slate a player in public.
He will threaten to sell them or farm them off on loan but then do neither and then play them later on when injuries hit the players that he does like. But even then… Crouchy as we’ve seen for England, but at Tottenham he starts on the bench.

But despite all of this… They are currently 5th in the table, they got to the Mickey Mouse League Cup Final and I fully expect them to be in the FA Cup Final.

So then what music will I post in relation to Tottenham Hotspur ? What choices do I have ?

Well you know that when you think of Spurs and music it’s either Chas n’ Dave or: Chris and Glenn.
- or the God botherer with some solo efforts, which I’ve previously noted & will never speak of again.

But there are other Spurs tunes out there and for today’s output I’ve gone back in time to before Hodges met Peacock, back to 1971 when the team sang of their joy of err… being Tottenham.
[In '71 they won the League Cup, followed by the inaugural UEFA Cup competition (whatever happened to that) in which they met and beat Wolverhampton Wanderers in the Final.]

[See post to listen to audio] » 71/72 Spurs Squad – Hot Spurs Boogie [See post to listen to audio] » The 1971/72 Tottenham Squad – Spurs !

In the late 70′s Radio One used to play what Radio Two plays now. At the time it was all mainstream, safe middle of the road music, no risks taken. (The late great John Peel was still on, but was shoved into a late night slot and never talked about). The current Radio 2 has some of the DJ’s who were on 1 all those years ago and they are still playing the same stuff. -In another twenty years the DJ’s on One now will be… well you get the gist.

Back in the day the DJ’s on “Wonderful Radio 1…Two Seven Five and Two Eight Five…” were your mates, your chums and they all had nicknames such as ‘Diddy’ David and the ‘Hairy Cornflake’.

The first nicknamed DJ of Radio 1 (“The Happy Sound!”) was Ed “Stewpot” Stewart who was recruited from pirate radio to the newly formed BBC Radio 1 (“Beep Beep Yeah!!”) and eventually he got a Saturday morning show where he hung around with kids… no wait it’s not creepy, hear me out.

In fact in the 1970′s Ed Stewart’s Junior Choice was the most listened to radio show, plus he was on the telly presenting Crackerjack – the most popular kids game show.

You know those novelty songs like “Tie me kangaroo down, sport” or “I’m a pink toothbrush, you’re a blue toothbrush” or “Puff the magic dragon”… (Full list here)…well it was Stewpot who used to play these songs for little children who listened to them.

As well as playing these tunes Ed “Stewpot” liked to get together with a group of kids…no stop that, I told you it wasn’t creepy back then… and sing song with them.

One bad example is on You Tube:

But a couple of better examples – and this is where the footie and music comes in:

» Ed ‘Stewpot’ Stewart & Junior Choice – Back Home » Ed Stewpot & Junior Choice – Nice One Cyril

Extra Time: Related links to the excellent website Radio Rewind:

- Radio 1 > Ed ‘Stewpot’ Stewart
- Radio 1 > 70′s Jingles [Reg req.]

And Finally…

Stewpot, the man who adults trusted with their kids, stars with his daughter (who must be in her mid-30′s by now) in a public information film about the dangers of talking to strangers:

Ah those sleeves...

That’s what I should have called this place.

Football and Music… What was I thinking. Dull as ditch water.

A few of the Friendlies linked to the right there had some imagination when entitling theirs, so where was mine ? Nowhere.

I know it does what it says on the tin but if I called it “Diamond Lights”, people in the know and the people who remember would have known and found us.

Hang on has anybody registered tha… they have. Football and Music it stays then.

Where was I going with this…? Ah I can’t remember…

Oh about those two Spurs and England footballers, that Top Of The Pops appearance and that now iconic tune which down the years has constantly been sneered upon, but today I am going to call Parlay. It is about time that we finally recognise and celebrate this piece of footballing/musical history.

Yes yes it’s still crap. But for myself, I remember this 1987 number 12 hit… how many of you can boast of that… fondly and I say give them a break.

Yes they had rolled up sleeves in that ToTP performance, yes he had a mullet… Look please STOP.
If you look at other singing footballers of that era you will realise that compared to them, this one stands above all the others.

I submit into evidence M’Lud: A young Mr Gascoigne – or his chum – Jones, Vincent Peter.

So then if you had to choose between Fog On The Tyne or Woolly Bully or this one which would it be ?
(No don’t answer that.)

"A bit closer if you please..."

Looking back, what did the gentlemen themselves think ?
Well there’s no comments from the Hoddle, but the Waddle has spoken in passing about it.

He was quoted in an Observer article which was taking a look at the spiritual one not long after Spurs dismissed him after a dismal run. In this piece Andrew Anthony looked at if it was Hoddle’s arrogance (in relation to his ‘what you sow you reap’ comment which got him out of the England job) which pretty much doomed him in his managerial career.

Chris Waddle defended his old Spurs and England midfield counterpart:

“…Yet Waddle disputes the popular image of Hoddle as arrogant. ‘It’s not arrogance, it’s confidence. I know people a lot larger than Glenn. I think he’s down to earth. He’s not a centre of attention. He’s not Billy Big Time.’ Waddle thinks that Hoddle has an inner core of self-belief that protects him from the uncertainties that afflict most other mortals. He cites a Top of the Pops performance of ‘Diamond Lights’ – the embarrassing pop record the duo made together in 1987 – as a memorable example of Hoddle’s sang-froid. ‘I was petrified,’ says Waddle, ‘he was confident. He enjoyed it. He’s a positive guy.’

As to what Chris thought of the actual single – The Guardian’s Small Talk caught up with him in 2003, asking him first what music he was listening to at the time:

What was the last record or CD you bought?
“That would have been the Good Charlotte album [Small Talk later checks with its young, heavily-pierced cousin to discover it's that Nu-metal-type business]. I’m getting into them, and blink-182, New Found Glory, Bowling For Soup, that kind of stuff. But I can also listen to something like Simply Red. The only thing I don’t like is reggae and all this rap stuff.”

Odd that you and Glenn opted for the soft-rock balladeering of Diamond Lights, then. Any regrets?
“None at all, but I’m not joking when I say that standing on that stage was more nerve-wracking than taking that penalty in Turin. I’d sung in the bath and in the car, like everyone does, but to actually stand in front of millions of people on TV and do something you’ve never done at any great level before, well it was absolutely petrifying. It never amazes me how many people remember that record. I wouldn’t be surprised if someone did a cover version of it.”

Gazza, maybe?
“Oh no! Although it might be good if he covered it so people would finally realise that our version wasn’t so bad after all.”

Oh but it was, Chris. What impresses your two kids [boy 9, girl 15] more: Diamond Lights on TOTP, or your achievements as a footballer?
“Well they both spend more time going on about the fact that I once… well… I used to have a mullet.”

Did you really?
“I did, and when they see shots of me at Spurs or Marseille with it long at the back, they just can’t accept that mullets were in back then. I never regretted having one, before you ask. In fact it was funny that after I had mine done, 50% of professional footballers were sporting the same hair style. Same at Marseille, all the crowd copied that hair cut straight away.”

They’re a mad bunch! Returning to Diamond Lights, was there a follow up?
“There was, it was a song called (It’s) Goodbye. Quite fitting really ‘cos Glenn had just left Spurs for Monaco. In my opinion it was a far better song with a video and everything, but then Glenn moved to France and because of the tax reasons he couldn’t come back to promote it. It got shelved, which was a shame, because it was a lot faster and a much better record.”

Finally then to THE song:

[See post to listen to audio] » Glenn & Chris – Diamond Lights (320 Kbps) » Click for the Lyrics Eyes that freeze like ice Cold electric blue those diamond lights You were hard as stone Solid stone, for me The colours change rearrange my life Can’t explain so afraid tonight Hoddle: Darling i love you / Waddle: My diamond lights I’ll always want you Hoddle: Darling i love you / Waddle: My diamond lights I’ll always need you Oh darling Diamond, diamond lights Standing in the rain Cold electric sky no diamond lights Now i’m on my own So alone, oh darling The colours change rearrange my life Can’t explain so afraid tonight Hoddle: Darling i love you / Waddle: My diamond lights I’ll always want you Hoddle: Darling i love you / Waddle: My diamond lights I’ll always need you Oh darling Instrumental: Rocking guitar solo! Diamond lights cold as ice to me (cold as ice to me) Diamond lights cold as ice to me Hoddle: Darling i love you / Waddle: My diamond lights I’ll always want you Hoddle: Darling i love you / Waddle: My diamond lights I’ll always need you Hoddle: Darling i love you / Waddle: My diamond lights I’ll always want you Hoddle: Darling i love you / Waddle: My diamond lights I’ll always need you

And that ToTP appearance…

Thanks to the Cheesy Music blog for the additional info & lyrics.

Oh and it was Darren Stuart who mailed to request the reappearance of this song.
- And whilst you are at it: Don’t forget the T-Shirt.

Over in North America they have a pub-standard league known as the MLS, which until the arrival of a certain individual was ignored pretty much everywhere.

Now this league differs in the way that some players are signed for the teams. It is based on one used in another league – the NFL – and this is a draft system.

To shorthand it into one sentence: How this works is that new players are recruited from college soccer teams. So if you wanted to play in the MLS the route in first would be for you to get yourself into a college.

Now you are pondering on how a young chappie such as the one seen pictured above just before his Chartered Accountancy interview, would have done since the only route into soccer in the States is via academia. He would have got on very well actually. Because his talent would have been spotted and would have probably been offered a quote: “football scholarship” so that he could then attend a college to quote: “study” but everyone knows he’s there to split the defence with a pass and not infinitives.

I re-worded that last line about hundred times, I give up.

The perverse thing about that draft system is that the poorest performing team from a previous season get the best draft player first – and the best team get to choose last. This is designed so that there’s an even spread of talent, a level playing field if you will.
So imagine it like Walcott playing for Portsmouth – or Babel playing for Liverpool.   Oh.

That’s quite enough of the filler text. To the subject in hand:

Regarding a certain Paul John Gascoigne Esq, famous son of Gateshead, resident of the local nick as of late.

The year was 1990 – the height of Gazzamania – and it was a golden year for him*
With the single featuring Lindisfarne reaching number 2 in the charts, he followed up this success by releasing an album. But this was not your usual Long Player…

I doubt if we’ll ever find the reason for the curious choice of tracks on this album.

Reading the sleevenotes from the Geordie boy, he writes:

“When I was first asked to get together some special songs and very special friends for an album the difficulty was deciding what (and who) to leave out.”

One of the things he pretty much left out was himself. Choosing to include the singles, plus one additional song that he got his mates (at the time) to howl along with.

- And in the interests of decency names should be named: Kenny Lynch, Danny Baker, Anna Gascoigne (his sister), Michael Patto, Gary Osborne, Billy Laurie, Lem Lubin and Martin Kearney… but no Jimmy “Five Bellies”… Probably for the best.

[See post to listen to audio] » Gazza and Friends – All You Need Is Love

and because I’m feeling sadistic today have the 12″ version…

…. of Fog On The Tyne:
[See post to listen to audio]» Gazza/Lindisfarne – Revisited (12 inch version)

The rest of the album was filled with a medley from various artists including a soul, a Motown, an Elvis and finally a Gilbert O’Sullivan medley. Work that one out:

Away Man. Aw Ye Gan Oot ?

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

- Starting with England who’s fan (may or may not) will try to break the internets this coming Saturday with the away match against the Ukraine, then fall asleep in front of the telly the following Wednesday evening whilst Belarus slip one past the dozing defence.

England have already put qualification to bed last month but there will still be people who’ll keep one eye on these matches – especially the tabloid headline writers who will rub their hands at even the slightest slip up.

As to the music… because of the recent speculation, which even the Beeb saw the smoke surrounding a bloke who I think was considered for the England job at one point wasn’t he…

(I know the original song wasn’t about him, but there is a West Ham connection.)

This one was one of the many, many releases from 2006 to cash in on the World Cup.
I’m thinking that next year that number will be doubled.

The idea started off by Virgin Radio’s Christian O’Connell with profits from the single going to charity.
Recorded by Jimmy Pursey, it featured Blur’s Graham Coxon on guitar and Rio Ferdinand, John Terry, Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard and Wayne Rooney are mentioned in the song. It reached number 10 in the charts on the first week of release. » More info

[See post to listen to audio] » Sham 69 & The Special Assembly – Hurry Up England

[See post to listen to audio] » Sham 69 – Hurry Up Harry