Shaun Ryder to release song for England’s Euro 2016 campaign

‘We Are England’ is Ryder’s second football song

Shaun Ryder’s band Black Grape are to release an unofficial song for England’s Euro 2016 campaign.

‘We Are England’ is being released this Friday {June 10) to coincide with the start of the football tournament held in France.

The single is being released under the band name Four Lions, as Ryder and Black Grape bandmate Kermit are joined by Paul Oakenfold and Goldie on the song. Oakenfold produced Happy Mondays’ 1990 album ‘Pills ‘N Thrills And Bellyaches’.

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It’s Black Grape’s second football song. In 1996, they released ‘England’s Irie’, featuring Keith Allen and Joe Strummer. It reached No 6 in the same year as The Lightning Seeds reached No 1 with their official England song ‘Three Lions’ with comedians David Baddield and Frank Skinner.

Earlier in 1996, Black Grape also released ‘Fat Neck’, a tribute song to Karl “Fat Neck” Power, a football prankster most famous for gatecrashing Manchester United’s team photo before United’s Champions League game against Bayern Munich in 2001.

The video for ‘We Are England’ will feature a cameo by author Irvine Welsh, who happened to be staying with Ryder’s manager Alan McGee on the weekend the video was being filmed. “Irvine is dancing in a football video,” McGee told Manchester Evening News.

Despite releasing a second football song, Manchester United fan Ryder has admitted he hates discussing the sport. He appeared on BBC1’s Room 101 in 2015 saying people who talk about football are “boring”.

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After reuniting for the 20th anniversary of debut album ‘It’s Great When You’re Straight…Yeah’ in 2015, Black Grape go on tour this November.

Black Grape will play:
Norwich Waterfront (November 11)
Cambridge Junction (12)
Minehead Shiine Weekender (13)
Liverpool O2 Academy (17)
Hull Welly (18)
Glasgow O2 ABC (23)
Edinburgh Liquid Rooms (24)
Aberdeen Beach Ballroom (25)
London Electric Ballroom (December 7)
Nottingham Rock City (8)
Wakefield Warehouse 23 (9)
Galway Roisin Dubh (22)
Dublin Vicar Street (23)

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