VIDEO: Freddie Flintoff and Ricky Wilson record England World Cup song - a cover of Boney M's Rasputin
Is this a future England World Cup anthem?
A new version of Boney M's Rasputin by England cricket legend Freddie Flintoff and Kaiser Chiefs frontman Ricky Wilson has been released.
The track, Rasputin Rebooted by The Stars House Band featuring Freddie and Ricky, is a modern reworking of the 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.
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Hide AdThe 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".
Kaiser Chiefs frontman Ricky Wilson in the video for the World Cup song
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.
Flintoff 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.
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Hide Ad"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".
A version of this story originally published on our sister title, Lancashire Evening Post