“Ah Dennis glad you could make it. I have some good news ! England have won the bid to stage the 2018 World Cup and they want you to sell hot dogs outside of Wembley.”

There are some World Cup Qualifiers coming up this Saturday and the following Wednesday (Sept 6th/10th) – in relation to it I want to post some official theme songs from previous tournaments.

- Note these are the official themes as sanctioned by the tournament hosts and not a song knocked out by other parties to cash in.

We are starting from 1986 in Mexico and a very curious tune which sounds a bit disjointed.
I can’t find any more information and I’m not sure as to who created it and sings it:

[See post to listen to audio] » Tema Mundail Mexico 86

» Forward four years and to Italia ’90… England’s best peformance (after 1966) to date.
This time we have Gianna Nannini and Edoardo Bennato, a couple of popular Italian singers who wail away on this one:

[See post to listen to audio] » Gianna Nannini and Edoardo Bennato – Un’Estate Italiana Video here

Finally for now it is the 1994 World Cup in which the then clueless septics hosted.
For their theme they did they went all patriotic (they always do though given the opportunity) and got Daryl Hall [of Hall and Oats] with The Sounds of Blackness and sang about their Gloryland.

This song borrowed from a traditional American song – the Battle Hymn of the Republic.
You’ve heard the tune. There are few clubs in England in which their fans sing a version of it; “Glory glory Leeds United…” See told you you knew it.
You’ll hear the glory glory part near the end:

[See post to listen to audio] » Daryl Hall and the Sounds of Blackness – Gloryland - Video in all its bombastic glory here

*BONUS* -> The USA being the poster boy from crass commericalism cashed in with a CD too. I think this was the first time a ‘soundtrack influenced by…’ was done. Don’t think was one for Italia 90, but I might be wrong.

Anyhoddles like many of the related CD’s released since the songs – apart from two – bear little relation to it’s supposedly linked subject. The saving grace of it though is those two songs on there which are footie themed are quiet listenable.
The soundtrack-type CD in question was called Soccer Rocks (sic) The Globe.

I’ve gathered together some of the tracks from the album, well not all of them… well I’ve precluded one of them which was a very well known song done by that child molester Mr Paul Gadd.

The Americans seem to be into him and it doesn’t look like they either don’t know about him or don’t care because if you go to a Ice Hockey game or an American football game you will hear them go up the glitter with that tune all the time. As mentioned I haven’t included it but have added all the others:

Click here to get it

- Coming up next: France’98, Japan/Korea2002 and 2006 Germany.