| Top 10 England World Cup Songs | ||||||
| Title | Artist | Label | High pos |
Year | ||
| 1 | Back Home | England World Cup Squad | Pye | 1 | 1970 | |
| 2 | World in Motion | England World Cup Squad/New Order | Factory /MCA |
1 | 1990 | |
| 3 | 3 Lions '98 | Baddiel/Skinner/ Lightning Seeds |
Epic | 1 | 1998 | |
| 4 | This Time (We'll Get It Right) | England World Cup Squad | England | 2 | 1982 | |
| 5 | Vindaloo | Fat Les | Telstar |
2 | 1998 | |
| 6 | (How Does it Feel to Be)On Top... | England United | London | 9 | 1988 | |
| 7 | Top of the World (Ole Ole Ole) | Chumbawumba | EMI | 21 | 1998 | |
| 8 | The Great Escape | England Supporter's Band | V2 | 46 | 1998 | |
| 9 | We've Got the Whole World at Our Feet | England World Cup Squad | Columbia | 66 | 1986 | |
| 10 | Up There England | World Cup Winning Squad/ Cliff Portwood |
? | 66 | 1966 | |
We've uncovered compelling evidence that England are going to win the World Cup this year.
Remember '66? We don't either, but back then only Lonnie Donegan's 'World Cup Willy' troubled the public-not the charts. It was bliss. Not only did England win, but no footballers were involved on the record!
This year's tournament is the first since then where the whole squad hasn't been tempted to participate in a prophetic World Cup single release before a ball has been kicked.
So this year- All England need to do to win is keep their mouths shut!
Looking at World Cup competitions where England qualified for the final stages, it was Mexico 1970 where the jinx began. The whole squad released a record which admittedly struck a chord with the public. It climbed to number 1 and managed a 14 week stay in the top 40. It was called 'Back Home'. This is where the squad found themselves after Germany got their revenge in the quarter finals.
It took until 1982 to recover.
'This Time (We'll Get It Right)' sang the rather ambitious squad. It came second in the charts, but listeners to the record would find it hard to believe that their performance on the soccer pitch was even less dynamic than in the recording studio. Although unbeaten, they returned home from Spain after disappointing 0-0 draws in the second round. The lessons of the 'pride before a fall' title were not learnt for the squad's 1986 claim ' We've Got The Whole World At Our Feet'-sung to the tune of 'the Whole World In Our Hands'. Perhaps the original would have been more appropriate. The whole World Cup for England actually rested in Maradona's 'Hand of God', which picked up the trophy for Argentina after punching England out of the Mexico competition.
For the Italian tournament in 1990, the squad finally decided to enlist professional assistance. New Order and Keith Allen coached the team to the top of the charts with 'World In Motion'. Whilst most fans may by now have forgotten the words to John Barnes' vocals on the record, Chris Waddle and Stuart Pearce will forever take the rap for penalty misses which meant England lost to Germany in the semi-final. Gazza cried for all of us.
On Sunday 14th June 1998, there were 3 World Cup related tracks in the top 10, and six in the Top 40! This record could well be broken in 2002. Just a quick search of our database and the internet has revealed no fewer than fifteen world cup linked contenders this year. I'm just pleased that Scotland didn't qualify - only so there aren't any more records due, of course!
Sing When You're Winning?
Let's hope the pattern of 1966 is repeated -with one important alteration. After starting the tournament with a clean sheet - just when we thought it was all over - the World Cup Winning Squad went and spoilt it after the event with a double A side ' Up There England/You'll Never Walk Alone'.
In the unlikely event of an England victory this year, any label thinking of cajoling the squad into a studio should note that the record failed to make the chart.
The 'Keep Footballers on the Pitch' campaign starts here.
| On The Pitch | ||
| 1 | A Little Less Conversation | Elvis vs JXL |
| 2 | One Fine Day (ITV World Cup Theme) | Opera Babes |
| 3 | Standing Tall | Bubble & Deano |
| 4 | Over There | The Babe Team |
| 5 | We're On The Ball | Ant & Dec |
| 6 | England Crazy | Rider ft Terry Venables |
| 7 | Who Invented Fish & Chips? | Fat Les/Ricky Tomlinson |
| 8 | Carnival 2002 | Dario G |
| 9 | Smells Like Team Spirit | Sven's 11 |
| 10 | Goldenballs (Mr Beckham to You) | Bell & Spurling |
| 11 | Hey Baby (World Cup Remix) | DJ Otzi |
| On The Bench | ||
| Go England | England Boys | |
| Boom | Anastacia | |
| FIFA 2002 World Cup Anthem | Vangelis | |
| This Is For England | Sally Kettle | |
| World Cup In Our Hands | People United | |
| Tarantula (Remix)-BBC World Cup Theme | Faithless | |
| Three Lions 2002 | Lightning Seeds | |
| Love for Love United | Love United | |
| We're Coming Over | Mr Smash & Friends | |
| Here Come the Good Times | Irish World Cup Squad | |
| We've Got Goldenballs | V For Victory | |
| This Time (We'll Get It Right) | Svengland | |
We've mentioned all the 2002 World Cup songs that we know about, but if we've missed any, let us know and we'll endeavour to update the newsletter.
To get you in the mood for June 1st, here's a "really stupid" sumo wrestler football game courtesy of our friends at Graphico:
Pepsi Football
And here are some other web based World Cup songs...
www.footydance.com
www.psst.ukbands.net
www.england2002.biz
www.behililo.com
www.newworldcup.co.uk
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All information contained in this newsletter is © The Official UK Charts Company 2002. It is compiled by Paul Clifford, James Gillespie and Sophie Clark using data obtained from the UK Charts Online system.
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