Ossie's Dream (Spurs Are on Their Way to Wembley)

"Ossie's Dream (Spurs Are On Their Way To Wembley)" is a single by the English football team Tottenham Hotspur, released as a souvenir to commemorate the team reaching the 1981 FA Cup Final. It was written by Dave Peacock of Chas & Dave and produced by the duo. The song reached number 5 in the UK Singles Chart after Tottenham won the FA Cup that year.[3] It is still frequently chanted by Spurs supporters during matches. The B-side of the single is "Glory, Glory, Tottenham Hotspur".[4]

"Ossie's Dream (Spurs Are On Their Way To Wembley)"
Single by Chas & Dave, Tottenham Hotspur 1981 FA Cup Final squad[1]
B-side"Glory, Glory, Tottenham Hotspur"
ReleasedApril 1981
RecordedPortland Studios
GenreSingalong, Football
LabelTowerbell Records
Songwriter(s)Chas Hodges, Dave Peacock[2]
Producer(s)Chas Hodges, Dave Peacock

Background

The title refers to the club's former Argentinean player Osvaldo Ardiles, commonly known as Ossie. The premise of the song is that the Tottenham would be playing at Wembley in the final, and that it was a dream of Ardiles to play at Wembley. In his autobiography, titled Ossie's Dream: My Autobiography after the song, Ardiles said that the song is a 'true song' in that it was his dream to play at Wembley and that "reaching the FA Cup Final in 1981 was indeed a dream come true". However he also revealed that he was reluctant to sing the solo part and would have preferred the whole team to sing it. He was therefore initially unhappy about the recording but has since grown to be fond of the song.[5] According to Chas Hodges of Chas & Dave, they persuaded Ardiles to sing his solo part as "in de cup for Tottingham" even though by then Ardiles already knew how to pronounce "Tottenham".[6] He continued to deliberately mispronounce the name as "Tottingham", which would be the cause of ribbing by his teammate, and it remains a source of amusement many years later as revealed by Mauricio Pochettino.[7]

Composition and recording

The song was largely written by Dave Peacock of the duo Chas & Dave, who were both fans of Tottenham Hotspur.[8] Their manager Bob England, a fervent fan of the club, requested Peacock to write the song when Tottenham were having a good run in the 1980–81 FA Cup.[6] They first made a demo which was then sent to the Tottenham Hotspur squad. Soon after the team had beaten Wolverhampton Wanderers in the semi-final of the FA Cup in April 1981, the whole squad went to the Portland Studios to record the song.[6] The team recorded the song with uncredited vocals and instrumental accompaniment by Chas & Dave.[9] They also recorded the song for the B-side of the single, "Glory, Glory, Tottenham Hotspur".[6]

Chas & Dave were responsible for the production of the song. They finished mixing the songs in the early hours the next day, and the single was then quickly pressed and released in readiness for the Cup Final held on 9 May 1981. It was available for sale in North London within 48 hours of the recording, with the wives of Chas Hodges and Bob England delivering the records personally to shops around North London.[6]

Chart performance

The song first entered the UK singles chart at No. 45 on the chart dated 9 May 1981. It eventually reached No. 5 the week after Tottenham won the FA Cup, beating Manchester City in the replay.[10]

References
  1. "Chas & Dave / 81 Cup Final Squad / 80 Squad: Ossie's Dream". AllMusic.
  2. Nick Callow (30 June 2013). "Chapter: Is that a Record? Football Songs". Fantastic Football Facts. ISBN 9780753549902.
  3. Roberts, David, ed. (2005). Guinness World Records: British Hit Singles & Albums (18th ed.). Guinness World Records. p. 514. ISBN 1-904994-00-8.
  4. "Tottenham Hotspur F.A. Cup Final Squad 1980/81 Season* - Ossie's Dream". Discogs.
  5. Ossie Ardiles (5 August 2010). Ossie's Dream: My Autobiography. Corgi. pp. 111–113. ISBN 978-0552159180.
  6. Chas Hodges (October 2009). "Chapter 23: How do we Follow 'Rabbit'?". Chas and Dave: All About Us. ISBN 9781857828269.
  7. Law, Matt (8 January 2016). "Mauricio Pochettino promises to serenade White Hart Lane with Daniel Levy if Tottenham win FA Cup". The Telegraph.
  8. Chas Hodges (October 2009). "Chapter 27: I'm A Grandad". Chas and Dave: All About Us. ISBN 9781857828269.
  9. Paul Gambaccini, Tim Rice, Jonathan Rice (1 August 1991). British Hit Singles: Every Single Hit Since 1952. p. 282. ISBN 9780823075720.CS1 maint: uses authors parameter (link)
  10. "Ossie's Dream (Spurs Are on Their Way to Wembley)". The Official Charts Company.
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