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Topics: England, Euro 2024, Football World Cup
Jack Kenmare
Keith Allen, the actor and comedian who wrote popular England anthem 'Vindaloo', has revealed he still makes a five-figure sum from the song every year.
It will go down as one of the most played songs in World Cup history.
Ahead of the tournament opener in 1998, the trio behind British band Fat Les – Blur bassist Alex James, comedian Keith Allen and Pink Floyd bassist Guy Pratt – created a song that was initially written as a parody.
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But the catchy tune become an anthem in its own right. Soon, it would reach number two in the UK singles chart, only being beaten by a song that was voted the greatest World Cup tune of all time, 'Three Lions 98’.
So how much does Allen earn from the song, more than 25 years on? Speaking in a recent interview with the Telegraph, the 70-year-old was asked if he still gets royalties from his involvement with football-related records.
"Oh God yeah, a lot, probably about £20,000 a year," he said. "I mean, I get more money from Vindaloo [1998 UK Number Two by Fat Les] than a lot of things.
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"I’m always earning money off Vindaloo. The song gets used for all sorts of things and various campaigns. In fact it’s going to be used for one for Deliveroo."
Allen added: "Guy Pratt played bass on it and he’s earned more money from Vindaloo than anything he’s ever done with Pink Floyd."
The popularity of his song doesn't come as much of a shock to Allen. “The thing about ‘Vindaloo’ is that it is what I call a close proximity tune," he told PA.
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“It is not sung in stadiums. You don’t get 60,000 people singing ‘Vindaloo’, but you do get 20 million people in pubs singing ‘Vindaloo’.
“It is a pub folk song. That’s what it is. So as long as we have got pubs you will have ‘Vindaloo’.”
He added: “We knew immediately that it was going to be big because it ticks all the boxes.
“But the most coveted thing about ‘Vindaloo’ is it captures that unique England sense of humour. And the video certainly captures that.
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“It is very quintessentially English and I think people like that.”
'Vindaloo' will no doubt be played on repeat ahead of England's European Championship campaign in Germany this summer.