Fat Les was a British

band Band or BAND may refer to: Places *Bánd, a village in Hungary *Band, Iran, a village in Urmia County, West Azerbaijan Province, Iran *Band, Mureș, a commune in Romania * Band-e Majid Khan, a village in Bukan County, West Azerbaijan Province, I ...

consisting of Blur bassist Alex James, actor Keith Allen, and artist

Damien Hirst Damien Steven Hirst (; né Brennan; born 7 June 1965) is an English artist, entrepreneur, and art collector. He is one of the Young British Artists (YBAs) who dominated the art scene in the UK during the 1990s. He is reportedly the United Kingd ...

Vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

on their

singles Singles are people not in a committed relationship. Singles may also refer to: Film and television * ''Singles'' (miniseries), a 1984 Australian television series * ''Singles'' (1992 film), written and directed by Cameron Crowe * ''Singles'' ...

were provided by Keith Allen (all), Alex James ("

Vindaloo Vindaloo or vindalho is an Indian curry dish, which is originally from Goa, based on the Portuguese dish carne de vinha d'alhos. It is known globally in its British Indian form as a staple of curry house and Indian restaurant menus, and is often r ...

"),

Lily Allen Lily Rose Beatrice Allen (born 2 May 1985) is an English singer-songwriter and actress. She is the daughter of actor Keith Allen and film producer Alison Owen. Her music career began in 2005 when she made some of her vocal recordings publi ...

("Who Invented Fish & Chips?"), Andy Kane ("Who Invented Fish & Chips?"),

Lisa Moorish Lisa Moorish (born 16 January 1972)A life on the edge
(Miranda Sawyer, ''

("Naughty Christmas (Goblin in the Office)") and various choirs ("

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

").

Background

James and Hirst first knew each other when they were students at

Goldsmiths College Goldsmiths, University of London, officially the Goldsmiths' College, is a constituent research university of the University of London in England. It was originally founded in 1891 as The Goldsmiths' Technical and Recreative Institute by the Wor ...

, but became friendly when they and Allen met at the

Groucho Club The Groucho Club is a private members' club formed in 1985 located on Dean Street in London's Soho. Its members are mostly drawn from the publishing, media, entertainment and arts industries. The club has rooms on several floors, including thr ...

. In May 1998, while discussing the forthcoming

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...

, Allen and James had the idea of creating an unofficial World Cup song, and formed Fat Les (named after a woman they knew). They were later joined by Hirst when they asked him to create artwork for them. Fat Les created the unofficial

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

national

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

anthem "

" with

Guy Pratt Guy Adam Pratt (born 3 January 1962) is a British musician. He is best known for his prolific work as a session bass player, working with artists including Pink Floyd (also David Gilmour and Nick Mason), Roxy Music (also Bryan Ferry), Gary M ...

and then brought in the singer Andy Kane. The song reached number two in the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

. In the music video, the three band members featured alongside

Paul Kaye Paul Kaye (born 15 December 1964) is an English comedian and actor. He is known for his portrayals of shock interviewer Dennis Pennis on ''The Sunday Show'', New York lawyer Mike Strutter on MTV's ''Strutter'', Thoros of Myr in HBO's ''Game of ...

Rowland Rivron Rowland John Rivron (born 28 September 1958) is a British writer, comedic actor and television personality. Early career Rivron played the comic character "Dr Martin Scrote" on the Jonathan Ross chat show ''The Last Resort'', and also played Scr ...

Ed Tudor-Pole Edward Felix Tudor-Pole (also known as Edward Tenpole, though he introduced himself as "Ed" on several episodes of ''The Crystal Maze''; born 6 December 1955) is an English musician, television presenter and actor. Originally gaining fame in th ...

Matt Lucas Matthew Richard Lucas (born 5 March 1974) is an English actor, comedian, writer, and television presenter. He is best known for his work with David Walliams on the BBC sketch comedy series '' Little Britain'' (2003–2006, 2020) and '' Come Fly ...

and

David Walliams David Edward Williams (born 20 August 1971), known professionally as David Walliams, is an English comedian, actor, writer, and television personality. He is best known for his work with Matt Lucas on the BBC sketch comedy series '' Little B ...

, and appearances by Allen's children

Lily ''Lilium'' () is a genus of Herbaceous plant, herbaceous flowering plants growing from bulbs, all with large prominent flowers. They are the true lilies. Lilies are a group of flowering plants which are important in culture and literature in mu ...

and

Alfie Alfie may refer to: Theatre and film * ''Alfie'' (play), a 1963 play by Bill Naughton * ''Alfie'' (1966 film), a film based on the play starring Michael Caine * ''Alfie'' (2004 film), a remake of the 1966 film * ''Alfie'' (2013 film), an Indi ...

. Later in 1998, they recorded "Naughty Christmas (Goblin In The Office)", described as the 'Official Christmas Record', together with

Joe Strummer John Graham Mellor (21 August 1952 – 22 December 2002), known professionally as Joe Strummer, was a British singer, musician and songwriter. He was the co-founder, lyricist, rhythm guitarist and co-lead vocalist of punk rock band the Clash, ...

on guitar, Rivron on drums, as well as Matt Lucas and Paul Kaye, and features vocals by

Lisa Moorish Lisa Moorish (born 16 January 1972)A life on the edge
(Miranda Sawyer, ''

with

in the background. Fat Les also starred in a comedy show with Kaye, Matt and John Thomson in ''You Are Here'' broadcast on

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

on 30 December 1998. In 2000, Fat Les recorded an official theme for the England football team at

Euro 2000 The 2000 UEFA European Football Championship, also known as Euro 2000, was the 11th UEFA European Championship, a football tournament held every four years and organised by UEFA, the sport's governing body in Europe. The finals tournament wa ...

tournament held in

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

and the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, with a rendition of the

hymn A hymn is a type of song, and partially synonymous with devotional song, specifically written for the purpose of adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification. The word ''hymn'' ...

". It was again fronted by Allen, with

Michael Barrymore Michael Ciaran Parker (born 4 May 1952), known by his stage name Michael Barrymore, is an English actor, comedian and television presenter of game shows and light entertainment programmes on British television in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s. Th ...

making an appearance. The track was credited to Fat Les 2000. According to Allen, in choosing the hymn he wanted to "crystallise some kind of English culture" and to reclaim it from the Right. The song was recorded at

George Martin Sir George Henry Martin (3 January 1926 – 8 March 2016) was an English record producer, arranger, composer, conductor, and musician. He was commonly referred to as the "Fifth Beatle" because of his extensive involvement in each of the B ...

's AIR studio at a cost of £50,000 with a full orchestra and four choirs: the

London Community Gospel Choir The London Community Gospel Choir is Britain's first renowned contemporary "performance touring, inspirational gospel choir band", fusing gospel with multi-genres of music, including pop, soul, jazz, R&B, and classical. It was founded in 198 ...

New London Children's Choir The New London Children's Choir was a children's choir which rehearsed at Highgate Primary School in North London and, latterly, All Hallows, Gospel Oak, giving singing opportunities to members aged seven to eighteen. Members were from London and s ...

, Syncopeters and

London Gay Men's Chorus London Gay Men's Chorus is a gay choir that was founded in 1991 by a group of nine gay men. The group now has around 150 singing members at any one time and almost 300 members in total. Introduction With a widely varying repertoire from class ...

. For the

2002 World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams organized by ...

, they recorded "Who Invented Fish and Chips", which features Lily Allen in her first credited recording and video. In 2012, Fat Les changed their name to "Fit Les" and recorded "The Official Fit Les Olympic Anthem". Alex James left the group while

Rowetta Rowetta Idah (born 5 January 1966, in Manchester), also known as Rowetta or Rowetta Satchell, is a British singer. She is best known for her work with the Happy Mondays, recording and touring with the band from 1990 and recently reforming with th ...

Happy Mondays Happy Mondays are an English rock band formed in Salford in 1980. The original line-up was Shaun Ryder (vocals), his brother Paul Ryder ( bass), Gary Whelan (drums), Paul Davis (keyboard), and Mark Day (guitar). Mark "Bez" Berry later joined t ...

fame joined the lineup along with producer Matt Eaton.

Discography

Singles

References

External links

Vindaloo sung by a crowd of England Supporters during the European Championships in Portugal 2004
{{Authority control English pop music groups British musical trios Telstar Records artists Parlophone artists