Glad All Over: Beers at Abbey Road Studios and an FA Cup single

Club

15 Nov 2023

The list of artists to record at Abbey Road is a long and prestigious one. The Beatles, of course. Pink Floyd, Oasis, Radiohead. Amy Winehouse, Kanye West, Mark Bright, Lady Gaga. You may have noticed the odd one out.

In 1990, Crystal Palace’s FA Cup finalists sat on the set of a primetime entertainment show, prepared to go live to the nation. They were suited and booted – well, tracksuited that is.

These were players used to the public eye, but what they weren’t used to was a job as a performing artist. Now, they were about to belt out Glad All Over, their newly released single.

To celebrate the 60th anniversary (15th November, 1963) of the release of the iconic song by the Dave Clark Five, which has become an anthem for all those associated with Crystal Palace, Brighty took a stroll down memory lane to the heady days of 1990.

Having just beaten Liverpool in a barnstorming FA Cup semi-final at Villa Park, spirits were running high. The build-up to the showpiece event was already beginning, and Palace needed one signature item: an FA Cup single.

There was only one song it could be.

“We went to Abbey Road studios to record it,” remembers Bright. “It felt like: ‘What are we doing here?!’

“It took all afternoon – it was on a day off. It takes ages. You’ve got to do it again and again and again, and they lay it on top of each other to fatten it out so it sounds great.

“It wasn’t very good, and then I think Eric Hall – Eric ‘Monster’ Hall, who was the agent for us for the FA Cup – went out and got all these beers, and that loosened everybody up. Then everybody started singing it.”

Not to miss his opportunity, Bright had to experience what it was like to be a diva in the studio.

“The guy said: ‘Somebody is standing too close to the mic – yes, you sir at the front. Can you step back a bit?’

“I said: ‘Right, I'm not doing it. I’m not doing it.’ ‘Come on, Brighty!’ ‘No, I’m not doing it!’

“It was a great laugh. It was a good group. Anyone will tell you that when you have some success, promotion or a cup run or something, the team spirit just carries you through. It was just a great laugh.”

With the single in the can – industry term – Palace headed off to display their musical talents on primetime television. What could go wrong?

This time it was Derek Jameson on Sky, with the squad kitted out in their club tracksuits and given the task of closing out the show with their rendition of ‘Glad All Over’.

“It was live – I can just remember the tracksuits,” Bright says. “I remember having fun. We went on a couple of shows, and everybody knew all of the words. It was just fun.

“They just said: ‘If you’re going to sing it, you’ve got to sing it and punch it out’. We enjoyed doing those things the times we had the opportunity to do it.”

We point out that Bright is receiving more than his fair share of close-ups. “I’ve got the star quality, that’s why.”

Palace were soon turning their focus to the final itself – after all, the action on the pitch was the most important action – but the single itself helped the squad get into the right frame of mind for the game.

“Don’t forget, it was our first time and we had beaten Liverpool, so we were quite excited by it,” he explained. “It was all part of that build-up.

“Remember, in our day you used to watch the FA Cup from the morning and you would see all the build-up to the final, the coach trip to Wembley, the fans going through under the stadium.

“It was all part of what our history was watching the competition. You wanted to feel like it was your turn.

“I loved every minute of it. [Steve] Coppell told us: ‘Remember what you are here for, what you are trying to do. Get focused on the game.’

“It didn’t let us down.”

A glorious time for Palace on the pitch, but some experience off it, too. Bright just has time for one final appraisal.

“We sang it well, actually – our version has got a nice little ring to it!”

We’re not sure it will be replacing the Dave Clark Five rendition at Selhurst Park any time soon…

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