I asked Fredorrarci over at Sport Is A TV Show to help me out with a title for this post and a remark from him made me think – Are the players at fault when England crash out of the competition – or is it the associated songs that should be blamed ? Do we musically shoot ourselves in the foot before it all begins and does Capello/the F.A. actually have it right by not having an official song this time round…?

IT

We can’t point fingers at Joe public and their home-made attempts for this unintentional sabotage, it has got to be those that are in the industry. There’s your culprits. They have the easy access to a recording studio, they have phone numbers… These people should know better.

Today I present to you two sides to the argument. You decide if I’m wrong or right on this.

Tony ChristieWho ?   Tony Christie.

Originally famous for…?   Thanks to Peter Kaye this lounge singer got a second wind of fame when the comedian championed his 1971 hit Is This The Way To Amarillo. Christie continued to ride this wave of success for the World Cup.

What did he do in 2006 ?   Sung a reworded version of his biggest hit.

Wasitforcharidee ? No but ‘Is This the Way to Amarillo?’ was re-released the year before for Children In Need.

» Tony Christie – Is This The Way To The World Cup ?
Video
John Leyton
Who ?   John Leyton.

Originally famous for…?   Had a number 1 hit in 1961 with Johnny Remember Mebut more importantly: as well as singing Leyton got into acting and had a starring role as “Willie the Tunnel King” in The Great Escape.

What did he do in 2006 ?   A cover version of a Jeff Beck classic.

Wasitforcharidee…?   No.

» John Leyton & The Orients – Hi Ho Come On England
Video
Joe Fagin
Who ?   Joe Fagin.

Originally famous for…?   In 1984 he sang That’s Living Alright which was the them tune of the TV show Auf Wiedersehen Pet. The single reached number 3 in the charts.

What did he do in 2006 ?   A reworded version of the above song.

Wasitforcharidee…?   No.

» Joe Fagin – That’s England Alright
Video

– OR –

Jimmy Pursey
Who ?   Sham 69 (Jimmy Pursey)

Originally famous for…?   Sham 69 ? Do I really have to tell you ? Punk band who had hits with Borstal Breakout, Angels With Dirty Faces, If the Kids Are United, Hersham Boys… and so on. » Did you know: Jimmy has given up all rights to the Sham 69 name and is no longer with the band and is now solo. The band have a new lead singer and still tour.   Can you imagine going to see a band without the original lead singer ? Weird…

What did he do in 2006 ?   Virgin Radio’s Christian O’Connell was behind this. Listeners voted on which song should be released and a reworded version of Hurry Up Harry was the winner. Blur’s Graham Coxon was on guitar and Brian Blessed was in the video.

Wasitforcharidee…?   Yes. All proceeds went to the Teenage Cancer Trust.

» Sham 69 & The Special Assembly – Hurry Up England (The People’s Anthem)
Video
Wreckless Eric
Who ?   Wreckless Eric. (Eric Goulden)

Originally famous for…?   Had a minor hit in 1977 with Whole Wide World and the song never died. Since then it has constantly been covered and played by other bands and in the movies. The most notable was with Will Ferrell in the movie Stranger than Fiction, in the film he picked up a guitar and started to sing the song and then the original took over.

What did he do in 2006 ?   A reworded version of the above.

Wasitforcharidee…?   No.

» Wreckless Eric – Whole Wide World 4 England

I’ve chosen a select few here but there were more done by ‘celebrities’. As mentioned previously this is only skimming the surface of the many, many tunes that were put out there four years ago.
This year with the lack of an official song this number I’m sure will be doubled.

Additionally: I have some extra notes, a sort of postscript to the previous and to the above. Keep an eye on the Subs Bench for that. But before then I want to post something else World Cup ’06 related. One that blows everything else out of the water.

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