It was the Scotland World Cup football song which was recorded in the unlikely setting of a bedroom in Arbroath.
Andy Stewart was approached by Edinburgh-based Rabble FC to perform on the song ‘Scotland Scotland’ after Andy Roxburgh’s team qualified for the 1990 World Cup in Italy.
Comedy verses
Stewart was persuaded to provide three talking comedy verses in cod-Italian, affected English accent and cockney.
He couldn’t make the recording session in Edinburgh following heart bypass surgery.
The Scottish singer and entertainer would go on to perform his verses from his sick bed with the help of a producer who had previously worked with the Electric Light Orchestra, Bill Haley and Gary Numan.
The Scotland football team had high hopes of doing well in Italy.
They had qualified for the World Cup tournament for the fifth time in a row.
Stewart was a successful recording artist, with international hits such as Donald Where’s Your Troosers? A Scottish Soldier, The Road to Dundee and Take Me Back.
He found further fame as the compere of BBC Scotland’s The White Heather Club, which ran for several years from the mid-1950s.
From the early 1960s onwards, he frequently and successfully toured Canada, the USA, Australia and New Zealand.
Stewart had moved back to retire in Arbroath which was his adopted home after leaving Perth aged 11.
He had become a chart star again at the age of 55 in November 1989 with the re-release of Donald Where’s Your Troosers? which had reached number 4 in the UK.
Unknown band
The re-release from Stone Records happened when BBC DJ Simon Mayo played the song on the Radio 1 Breakfast Show in November 1989 and then responded to requests for replays.
Stewart said: “It all just happened very suddenly, and very strangely.
“It’s one of these things that happen in showbusiness.”
Rod Buckle of Stone Records signed Rabble FC after being sent a copy of the band’s World Cup song.
A copy was then sent to Stewart in Arbroath who immediately expressed a desire to get involved with this unknown band.
Buckle was hoping the World Cup song would repeat the chart success Stewart enjoyed in 1989.
He brought in top producer Kenny Denton who flew up and recorded Rabble FC performing the song at Hart Street Studios in Edinburgh but Stewart had to undergo heart bypass surgery and couldn’t be there.
But the day after he came out of hospital he returned to Arbroath and completed the recording from his bedroom.
Denton took a digital tape recorder to Arbroath and recorded Stewart singing his verses in his sick bed.
He went back to London and married the tapes up.
This would be Stewart’s final appearance on a seven-inch vinyl single.
The record failed to repeat the chart success of Donald, Where’s Your Troosers? despite being played on Radio 1 by John Peel in May 1990.
The World Cup single also disappeared without trace although copies can go for up to £9.99 online.
The Scotland team also failed to hit the heights when they got to Italy.
Andy Roxburgh’s charges went out in the first round following defeats to Costa Rica and Brazil.
Final journey
Coming out of retirement in 1991, Stewart began touring once again.
He admitted: “I would need a psychiatrist to tell me just why I carry on.”
The night before he died in 1993, he was on the stage of the Usher Hall, in Edinburgh, doing his act with other artists to raise funds for the building of a children’s hospice in Scotland.
Stewart’s final journey brought the whole community of Arbroath to a standstill.
More than 500 mourners packed St Andrew’s Church following his death aged 59 and hundreds more lined the streets to pay their last respects to the all-round entertainer.
Scots violinist Ian Powrie played one of Stewart’s favourite pieces The Flower of the Quern, and the hymns included Amazing Grace.
Old friends mingled with TV and theatre personalities in the church including Jimmy Shand, Johnny Beattie, Moira Anderson, Bill McCue, Joe Gordon and Dixie Ingram.
Flags in the town were flown at half-mast and a piper played ‘A Scottish Soldier’ as the funeral procession made its way out of the church to a private service at the Parkgrove crematorium in Friockheim.
Jools Holland
The idea for Jools Holland’s Hogmanay Hootenanny came about in a traffic jam caused by Stewart’s funeral while the pianist, singer and founding member of Squeeze was on tour.
He said: “A strange but true story is that I was on tour in Arbroath when the idea for the Hootenanny was first mooted.
“We’d just heard on the news about Andy Stewart, who had been the face of New Year’s Eve in Britain throughout the 60s.
“It was his memorial and on the news they were saying to avoid Arbroath because there were traffic jams.”
When show producer Mark Cooper later called the musician asking about the possibility of a Hogmanay show, only one idea was in Holland’s head.
“I was touring at the time and said to Steve, my tour manager: ‘Go straight into Arbroath, I don’t care about the traffic, we’re having a cup of tea and we’re paying our respects’.
“It was like the baton being passed on,” said Holland.
Scotland Scotland (Raymond Gillespie)
Scotland, Scotland, we’re ready for Italy
Scotland, Scotland, for all ‘a the world to see
Scotland, Scotland, we’re in the game to score
So show us the ball, we’ll give you a goal, and score a hundred more
There’s a land in the sun and Italy is its name
And the people there is crazy and the football is to blame
The best teams in the world are there, the best that you can see
But all the rest are second best, there’s only one for me
Scotland, Scotland, we’re ready for Italy
Scotland, Scotland, for all ‘a the world to see
Scotland, Scotland, we’re in the game to score
So show us the ball, we’ll give you a goal, and score a hundred more
A West German striker found the mitre at his feet
The linesman’s flag was down he had the goalkeeper to beat
He paused, he aimed, he shot the ball a mile past the net
It struck a fan who then came on to score one with his head
Scotland, Scotland, we’re ready for Italy
Scotland, Scotland, for all ‘a the world to see
Scotland, Scotland, we’re in the game to score
So show us the ball, we’ll give you a goal, and score a hundred more
I’m a Sassenach goalkeeper out in hot Sardinia
I’ve stuffed myself with pizza and it’s put me off my beer
And now I’ve watched our full-back put his passback in the goal
You can hear the shout: ‘England’s out I’ll soon be on the dole’
On the march with Ally’s Army
Scotland’s most famous World Cup song was recorded by comedian Andy Cameron.
After qualifying for Argentina in 1978, Scotland manager Ally MacLeod whipped the nation up into a frenzy of believing the team could go all the way.
“We’re on the march wi’ Ally’s Army, we’re going to the Argentine.
“And we’ll really shake them up when we win the World Cup, ‘cause Scotland are the greatest football team.”
Cameron’s song ended up a Top 10 hit.
The doomed campaign which subsequently unravelled in such a hideous fashion was partially redeemed when Scotland beat Holland 3-2 in their last game.
Kenny Dalglish said: “We headed out to South America with the full support of the nation.
“Rightly or wrongly, as we made our way to Prestwick Airport for the long flight to Buenos Aires, our supporters had a real sense of optimism.
“Indeed, there was a genuine belief that we might just actually win the World Cup.
“Thousands upon thousands of fans lined the streets from Glasgow down to Ayrshire to wave us goodbye.
“Unfortunately, on our return a couple of weeks later, they all stayed indoors!
“I couldn’t blame them.”
Graeme Souness said in 2007: “All that ‘On the March with Ally’s Army’ stuff makes me cringe.
“And no, I definitely haven’t got a copy of the record.”
