25 years ago today Argentina and Cameroon kicked off Italia 90 (quite literally) and so began the greatest summer of this country's life. Whether better way to mark this auspicious date than to hark back to the sounds of that summer in 1990.
Those of us who were too young to remember Italia 90 haven't been let forget about it ever since.
When you try and insist you remember USA 94 in a vain effort to stave off pitying glances, the older generation just roll their eyes and tell you that was but a poor imitation. They give short shrift to the notion that because Ireland actually won a match in the USA 94 it ought to be placed on a par with the Italian adventure. Not a bit of it.
It is thus a source of wonder to us unfortunate souls. Just what was life like in Ireland that summer?
In this instance, one good way to guage the climate at the time is to look at the charts. Sometimes they tell you nothing about the state of the country but that is emphatically not true of the summer of 1990.
The Top 10 hits were played on the Larry Gogan Show on 2FM every week. Poor Kylie Minogue had to make do with fourth in the charts.
It was beaten out by 'Penney's Winning Team' with 'The team that Jack built' which contained some of the most seminal lyrics of a generation including
And when they start to play you're going to hear them say - that's the team that Jack built
Mick McCarthy - we'll make sure we have a party
Down from the top spot the week before was Liam Harrison's 'Give it a lash, Jack' which sounds like it was recorded on a deep fat fryer of some sort. The sentiment is all the more aggressive with the tune a completely different last orders style take in comparison to the midnight mass choir effort from the team that jack built.. the lyrics were a force to be reckoned with and offered a unique perspective into the inner workings of Jack's tactics board..
"Maradona, Maradona, keep him from the ball until he begs, look behind you for Diego, Mick McCarthy will bite your legs
Johnny Aldridge, showed the Maltese, that he hadn't lost his touch, he's holding back now, for the craic now, to the day we get revenge on the Dutch
Have you heard about Rudi Gullit, he heard his grandfather came from Skibereen, Poor oul Rudi he's inconsolable, he's dyed all his dreadlocks green"
And in top spot, with their first number one - The Memories with 'The Game' - a song that surely we all listen to at least once a week as a rule.. no?
Again Mick McCarthy gets a mention but it's the name of Cascarino that rolls off the tongue.. some of the other notable lyrics include
"Tony Galvin, Niall Quinn, Packie doesn't let them in, North of Ireland, South of Ireland, only one can go..
Ray Houghton, Liverpool, Ronnie Whelan So Cool"
This video is well worth at least an hour of your time, learn all the words again and roll into the office tomorrow wearing your oldest Ireland jersey and get a singsong going. Feck the begrudgers.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DGHQFm_iOlM
See also: Balls Remembers The Night Scotland Went Beyond The Call Of Duty To Help Out Ireland
Thanks to Killianm for yet another gem.
