Shout For England

Album: Single Release Only (2010)
Charted: 1
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Songfacts®:

  • This song by English rapper Dizzee Rascal and English comic actor James Corden is a rap-updated version of the Tears For Fears hit "Shout" mashed-up with Blackstreet's "No Diggity." It adds an acid-house beat to the original tunes as Rascal spits lyrics of hectoring advice and support to the England football team in the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The collaboration was all pop mogul Simon Cowell's idea. A source close to the project told The Sun: "Simon has been sitting on this song and the idea for 15 years waiting for the perfect chance to get it in the charts. He approached Dizzee and then tied it up with James and everything came together yesterday."
  • The duo donated all their royalties from sales of the track to Great Ormond Street Hospital.
  • This song achieved the unusual chart feat of arriving at the top of the UK charts just two weeks after Rascal's own "Dirtee Disco" was also at #1. The previous act that managed to follow a chart-topping single with the next but one #1 (not counting singles that have returned to the top after being deposed) was over 20 years previously. In 1989 a pair of Jive Bunny chart-topping singles "Swing The Mood" and "That's What I Like" were separated only by Black Box's "Ride On Time."
  • Dizzee Rascal re-recorded the track with two new verses for a rush release in time for England's quarter final against Italy in Euro 2012 on June 24, 2012. The fresh content reflected the changes in England's line-up, with manager Roy Hodgson and the likes of Danny Welbeck, Joelon Lescott and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain all getting a mention.

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