The Big Interview on… Music

MUSIC and football. What else is there? Like football, music makes the world a happier place. So it was inevitable – essential, even – that The Big Interview would touch on music.

Like football, good music moves me, sometimes so much that I am carried out of my seat and on to a stage for a spot of karaoke.

Singing some of my favourite tunes is one of the great passions in my life and a number of my guests have joined in on The Big Interview, taking the mic to reveal their go-to anthems. We have learned that Eddie Howe likes to belt out A-ha; Hermann Hreidarsson has all the moves to be a convincing Elvis impersonator – and the white jumpsuit to match – according to Harry Redknapp; and Chris Waddle counts Mr Brightside and Billy Idol’s Rebel Yell among his karaoke repertoire.

And there’s more, more, more. Chris talked about performing on Top of the Pops alongside Spurs team-mate Glenn Hoddle, winning over everyone who saw them. Except Morrissey.

That just proves that the lines between football and music are blurred, which is hardly surprising – music is part of football culture. It always has been and, hopefully, always will be. Indeed, Ring of Fire was the soundtrack to Liverpool’s Champions League run in 2005, essential listening in the dressing room as the Anfield side went all the way to the final.

Not every team has had such good taste, of course, and we now know that Carlo Ancelotti tried to introduce a few Lionel Richie love ballads to Real Madrid’s match day playlist.

The Italian was often thwarted by his assistant Paul Clement, and Ancelotti’s choices would not have gone down well with another Englishman, Terry Butcher. He is a real music lover, and a metalhead who once sang backing vocals for Iron Maiden at a gig in Edinburgh.

It is a claim to musical fame which has been rivalled only by Gaizka Mendieta – now a headline act in his own right, putting on gigs around the world.

Those stories have now been remixed to create the second Big Interview clip show. So turn us up to 11, sit back and enjoy!

Subscribe To The Podcast ACast Apple Spotify Google
Steve McManaman Read Next Steve McManaman: What Makes a Midfield Read Next Steve Archibald: How to play centre forward