Jubilant Scotland fans give chart boost to 70s disco anthem
CHILDREN IN NEED singles have soared to the top of the music charts year-on-year ever since the first number one by Lou Reed in 1997 with the hit Perfect Day.
From S Club 7 to Gareth Malone’s choir, Jess Glynne and Peter Kay’s All Star Band, the charity singles have raised millions of pounds for the cause ever since.
But this year’s single could be beaten to the top spot by a song which last topped the charts over 40 years ago, all thanks to the jubilant singing of the Scottish national football team.
The Seventies disco classic Yes Sir, I Can Boogie, by Spanish duo Baccara, spent a week at number one in 1977.
But Scottish football fans have now adopted the song, and are helping it to climb back up the charts, in a tribute to defender Andrew Considine – who was only called up to the national squad for the first time this year.
Five years ago Considine dressed in drag and boogied to the disco hit with his pals for his stag do. The video was then reportedly played on his wedding day. And now the song has become the team’s unofficial anthem, after the players were seen bouncing around to the tune after securing a place at the European Championships, their first major tournament in 22 years on Thursday.
The song is now biting at the heels of the Children in Need single – a rendition of Oasis’s Stop Crying Your Heart Out, by BBC Radio 2 Allstars – sitting firmly at number two in the itunes chart.
The charity single features big names including Cher, Kylie Minogue, Robbie Williams and Paloma Faith, with the backing track performed by the BBC Concert Orchestra.
Commenting on the single, Kylie said: “Children in Need is such a special charity and so loved by everyone,
‘All the people of Scotland let’s get together and get Yes Sir, I Can Boogie to number 1, would be a fitting tribute’
including me. It was a privilege to take part in this recording with so many amazing artists.”
But following last week’s win against Serbia, Scotland fans took to social media to encourage others to download and stream the 1977 hit to try to get it to number one.
“All the people of Scotland let’s get together and get Yes Sir, I Can Boogie to number 1, would be a fitting tribute,” one fan tweeted.
But they will have to wait until the UK Official Chart is announced on Friday to find out if the charity single has been pipped to the post.