Football has a long history of producing singles of dubious quality.
Who can forget Ossie Ardiles singing the line “In the Cup for Totting-ham” with cockney duo Chas and Dave and the Spurs squad on Top of the Pops in 1981?
Aberdeen were following in the footsteps of annoyingly memorable cup anthems when they recorded The European Song at Northsound’s King’s Gate studio.
Scottish singer/songwriter and composer Harry Barry from Uddingston wrote the track for the 1983 European Cup Winners’ Cup final against Real Madrid in Gothenburg.
The Northern Lights of Old Aberdeen was recorded as the B-side.
No stranger to the recording studio
Harry was a prolific writer of jingles and his back catalogue included playing the drums and singing on the adorably optimistic Ally’s Tartan Army by Andy Cameron in 1978.
Jim Leighton, Alex McLeish, Willie Miller, Gordon Strachan, Mark McGhee, Eric Black and John Hewitt all featured on The European Song which remains a fans’ favourite.
Leighton, McLeish, Miller and Strachan were no stranger to standing in recording studios with headphones draped around their necks looking like Band Aid.
They were part of the Scotland squad which joined forces with Gregory’s Girl star John Gordon Sinclair to perform We Have A Dream before the 1982 World Cup in Spain.
The song reached number 5 in the UK charts but couldn’t inspire Scotland to progress beyond the group stage despite winning the opening match 5-2 against New Zealand.
Would they be returning to the Top of the Pops stage before Gothenburg?
The European Song was launched on April 28 1983 which was 10 years to the day that Willie Miller made his first-team debut for Aberdeen against Morton at Cappielow.
Demand for the Dons’ record release was so great that queues started forming at Newmarket Tapes in Aberdeen Market where staff were busy taking advance orders.
Shop owner Avril Summers said: “We cannot cope with demand.”
The shop’s initial order was 5,000 copies before they asked for more.
Artwork delay caused problems
The draw back?
The sleeves and labels were delayed in Liverpool and eventually reached the Cardiff pressing plant of Spartan Records on Thursday May 5.
Production manager Rick Gaskell told the Press & Journal: “We are well under way and will start pressing in a few minutes.
“There should be at least some copies up north this weekend.”
A van left the Cardiff factory for Aberdeen with the first batch of 15,000 copies of the seven-inch single on white vinyl in cardboard boxes on the Sunday morning.
Some distributors even drove to Wales to collect boxes of the record in person from the manufacturers to help meet demand even faster.
The arrival of the single led to massive queues of customers at record stores on the Monday morning and all 55,000 copies of the single were eventually snapped up.
Lyrics like “We’re gonna do it for you!” helped get the blood flowing and Aberdeen returned triumphant from Gothenburg following a 2-1 win over Real Madrid.
But despite the local appeal, the call from Top of the Pops was never forthcoming.
A sea of red and white scarves
A special full orchestral arrangement of The European Song was among the highlights of the Last Night of the Aberdeen SNO Proms which took place at the Music Hall.
The Evening Express on May 23 read: “Someone at the Last Night of the Aberdeen SNO Proms 83 remarked that red and white must be the official colours of the Scottish National Orchestra. And no wonder.
“An area, packed with gaily dressed promenaders, was a sea of red and white scarves when the orchestra launched into a special full orchestral arrangement of Harry Barry’s European Song.
“The Music Hall took on something reminiscent of the terracing at Hampden after the Dons’ Scottish Cup victory with red and white flags and scarves waving throughout the hall.
“One keen Dons’ fan even danced round the gallery waving red and white streamers.
“Yes, it was quite a night.”
Leighton, McLeish, Miller and Strachan returned to the recording studio with Scotland for the 1986 World Cup song Big Trip to Mexico which peaked at number 86.
Fergie took charge of Scotland following the sudden death of Jock Stein in Wales in 1985 but the big trip was followed by a customary sharp exit at the group stages.
However, not all football records in the 80s were awful singalongs by players in blazers.
Paul Gascoigne enjoyed chart success with his rendition of Lindisfarne’s Fog On The Tyne while Glenn Hoddle and Chris Waddle served up 80s kitsch with Diamond Lights.
World Cup music started going out of fashion in the 2000s despite the success of songs like New Order’s World in Motion and Three Lions by the Lightning Seeds in the 1990s.
Was there still a place for the squad single?
The Dons were approached about the prospect of releasing an updated version of The European Song to mark Uefa Cup success under Jimmy Calderwood in 2007.
Aberdeen at the time had the chance to make the last 32 after being drawn in Group B along with Panathinaikos, Lokomotiv Moscow, Atlético Madrid and FC Copenhagen.
There were plans to re-release the song
The Dons had talks with Harry Barry about his plans to release the song if Aberdeen could defeat Copenhagen in the final group game and qualify for the knockout stage.
Barry said: “I’m sure it would have sold 155,000 if the extra copies had been available.
“There seems to be a real passion for European football again among the Aberdeen supporters and I’m sure the song would be well received.
“I’ve lost count of the times I’ve been asked to release it again by fans and, with the 25th anniversary of Gothenburg approaching and the club going well again in Europe, this would be a good time to do it.
“If there was support for the idea, the whole project could be completed within three weeks.
“Obviously the club’s input would be important and it would be good to involve different samples or perhaps the players if they were keen.
“The lyric that was released in 1983 was slightly different from my original version and I have ideas about how it could be adapted for this season.”
Aberdeen qualified for the last 32 following a 4–0 victory over Copenhagen.
The European Song wasn’t re-issued and the European campaign hit a bum note when Aberdeen were drawn against Germany’s Bayern Munich and lost 7-3 on aggregate.
Barry died suddenly at the age of 66 in 2013 as he celebrated 50 years in music.
The legacy of the man who marched with Ally’s Army in 1978 and Fergie’s Red Army in 1983 lives on through his extensive back catalogue of songs and jingles.
European Song Lyrics
(Song by Harry Barry)
We are the Dons from Aberdeen
And we’re the finest that’s ever been
And we’re gonna do it for you
And we’re gonna do it for you
McLeish and Miller and Strachan too
They’ll lead us forward and take us through
And we’re gonna do it
We’re gonna do it
We’re gonna do it for you!
We’ve taken our team into Europe
Yes we have, Oh yes we have
All the way every night and day,
Singing a European song
Oh all the way every night and day,
Singing a European song
We can sing, and we can play
And Alex Ferguson, he knows the way
And we’re gonna do it
We’re gonna do it
We’re gonna do it for you!
Conversation