Straight out of the building sites of Bromley, Kent come YOUNG STANLEY. In amongst the tunes penned as the potential soundtrack to England’s World Cup 2006 campaign sits ’4-4-2’ their anthemic and uplifting anthem.
YOUNG STANLEY are five builders: along with Jay there’s Rod and Paul Aylen, Mark Snelgrove, and Mark Duffin, who plays drums on the record – a bricklayer, two carpenters, a plumber, plus a jack of all trades. Affectionately named after young Stanley the son of brickie Jay (who is bouncing about at his dad’s feet and providing me with stiff competition for his attention), they have come up with a song that they hope will inspire the men in white shirts all the way to victory in this summer’s tournament:
“It’s Rod’s baby really, and we’re all along for the ride” explains Jay, who takes time away from building work on a Lord’s house in St. John’s Wood to speak to W&H.
After discussing the fortunes of the national side during their lifetimes, it was Rod who came in one day with his acoustic guitar and blew away the rest of the group with ‘4-4-2’, an encapsulation of their conversations and collective thoughts on the heartbreak and disappointment since ’66.
The universal simplicity of Rod’s lyrics makes this spellbinding anthem into an instant singalong – literally so as the hook line urges us to “Sing it for England!”
“If Rod could manage England as well as he wrote our World Cup song, we’d breeze it, I tell ya” Jay continues “It’s a classic!”
In terms of its universal appeal, he more than has a point: “I mean, I’ve only ever known Rod as a carpenter, so to write something like that….I mean, he was in little bands when we were kids, but to write something like this…” It’s clear that the other lads were similarly bowled over by the tune. So how did it get from the building site to the recording studio?
“The F.A. were more than interested” Jay reflects: “They wanted the song, but they couldn’t get their heads around five builders singing it. They wanted somebody famous………”. In the end the record was made with a local producer. They must be glad of their decision to stick with the song, putting out the record themselves?
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“We’re all 40 year old men, builders, our lives had been mapped out. Now we’re shooting videos, and talking to magazines. We’re just gonna enjoy it”.
The video? This I had not seen: “Oh yeah, haven’t you seen it? You must, it’s brilliant! I’m sat there in my sitting room with the wife, and you know the builder’s bum thing? The kid kicks the ball at his arse well, that’s me! My arse - live on the BBC. I mean, have you seen the video….?”
Underneath the banter, this bricklayer has slight cause for concern. Would the strength of their Bromley identity detract from the record’s sense of national pride, aversely affecting the unity it aims for?
“We don’t want this to be a regional thing, I mean, you’re a Northerner aintcha…?” Jay continues, not questioning that patently obvious fact, but my opinion on his original concern. Was the record too ‘Lahndahn’?
I am quick to assure him that, on the contrary, the simple strength of this three chord hook-driven tune is its heartfelt celebration of national pride. It achieves the near-impossible task of uniting a nation by hitting us all in the heartstrings.
“So you’re all maaa-ad for it up there then are ya?” is the instant response, straight back at me, and flowing with laughter.
You could say that Jay!
http://www.myspace.com/youngstanley
http://www.singitforengland.co.uk/
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