ONCHAN, Isle of Man,
June 7, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --
Legendary England cricket captain and Kaiser Chiefs
frontman accept BetStars challenge to rally England fans in Russia
A new version of 70s disco classic Rasputin by
England cricket legend
Freddie Flintoff and Kaiser Chiefs
frontman Ricky Wilson - backed by
the online bookmaker BetStars, and singing the praises of star
striker Harry Kane - was released
today.
(Photo:
https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/702691/BetStars_Freddie_Flintoff_and_Ricky_Wilson.jpg
)
The track, Rasputin Rebooted by The Stars House
Band featuring Freddie and Ricky, is a modern re-working of Boney
M's 1978 Number 2 hit telling the story of the England captain rather than the song's
original namesake, Rasputin, the Russian mystic famous for his
ability to predict the future.
The track premieres today on the Stars £100m Challenge homepage,
where fans can view the music video, starring Freddie, Ricky and
special guests, including Fay Milton
from Savages, at https://starschallenge.betstars.uk/. A thirty
second preview can be accessed here.
The new version features lyrics including, "There lived a
certain man in England long ago,
he was big and strong, he played football like a pro," leading to
the chorus, "Ha ha, Harry Kane,
England's greatest goal machine".
(Full lyrics below.)
The idea for creating an anthem sprang from a wager between
Freddie and BetStars during the filming of a recent advert for the
Stars £100 Million Challenge, which offers customers the
opportunity to win up to £100 million if they correctly predict all
64 win, lose or draw results of the World Cup.
Freddie said: "When I heard that England had no official anthem, I told the
BetStars team that I was gonna get a band together to create a
song. Naturally they bet that I couldn't get a star big enough and
talented enough to perform the song, but that they'd back the
production if I could. That's when I rang Ricky.
"It's a perfect choice for a football anthem this summer. It's
Russian, it's got all the noises, and all the dances - the only
dodgy thing is I'm in it. There's been some cracking World Cup
songs in the past and it would be nice to think that the fans will
get behind this one and sing it in the stands over in Russia. If they don't, Ricky and I will just
have to fly over there and get it going on the terraces
ourselves."
Ricky Wilson rose to fame as
leader of the Kaiser Chiefs, who took their name from South African
football club Kaizer Chiefs FC, the first club of ex-Leeds United
captain Lucas Radebe, and has since
added radio DJ and TV presenter to his resume.
He said: "Rasputin has such a great
chorus. The test for any song is imagining a group of football
fans singing it on the terraces. It worked with Ruby, Ruby,
Ruby and now it's working
with Ra Ra Rasputin. And
it's another
R: Riot, Ruby, Rasputin".
Christopher Coyne, Chief
Marketing Officer of Stars Interactive Group, added: "We love a
challenge, as do our customers. The anthem's been recorded and now
we're giving fans one last challenge: get the song going at
England matches this summer. It
would be great to see 100 million views of the video to match the
£100 million that's up for grabs."
The new version of the track was produced by William Rees from Mystery Jets and studio Das
Sausage.
Lyrics for Rasputin Rebooted, by The Stars House Band
featuring Freddie and Ricky
There lived a certain man in England long ago,
He was big and strong,
He played football like a pro,
Defenders looked at him with terror and with fear,
But to England fans he was such a lovely dear.
He could lead the frontline like a fighter,
Full of ecstasy and fire,
But he also was the kind of striker,
All teams would desire.
[CHORUS]
Ra Ra Rasputin,
England's got a goal machine,
He's Harry Kane and he's gonna
score.
Ra Ra Rasputin,
He's captain of the England
team,
He's off to Russia, to lay down
the law.
He could lead the line like a shooting star,
In the qualifiers he was really wunderbar,
When he was in the air, he was (so hard) to stop,
Just remember, Gareth, to get it in the box.
Meanwhile back home, England fans
forever,
Chant and call out his name,
After fifty years of misery for England,
No more shoot-out pain.
[CHORUS REPEATS X2]
[FINAL CHORUS]
Ra Ra Rasputin,
England's got a goal machine,
He's off to Russia to open the
score,
Ha Ha Harry Kane,
England's greatest goal
machine,
He's off to Moscow to lay down the
law.
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