Alex James has claimed Vindaloo once out-earned Blur’s entire catalogue during England’s 2024 Euros campaign.
The Britpop legend previously revealed that he was saved from going bankrupt with the royalty money from his 1998 football anthem Vindaloo, which was released under the name Fat Les and co-written by Alex, Keith Allen and Guy Pratt.
And he’s now given an inkling of just how lucrative it is.
Speaking to the Daily Star, he said: “If England do have a good run, it’s incredible how much the song gets listened to. When England got to the European final (in 2024), I think it out earned the whole Blur catalogue in that accounting period.”
He went on: “I mean, it’s bonkers because it’s not like they’re singing it in Scotland. But when you think Blur – nine albums and global (reach), Fat Les – one song and very much limited to England, that’s bonkers!”
The bassist compared the popularity of football anthems to Christmas classics.
He said: “They’re like Christmas songs; the same songs come round every Christmas, guaranteed. Mariah Carey she’s set for decades to come – it’s like Christmas every two years.”
Although Vindaloo was never an official England anthem, its success led the FA to approach Fat Les for Euro 2000.
Alex recalled trying something more ambitious that didn’t quite pan out how they hoped: “After seeing how lowbrow we could go, I thought it would be good to try something highbrow, so we did Jerusalem with a symphony orchestra and five choirs. I think it’s the most expensive record ever made. But they didn’t seem to connect with people in quite the same way as jumping up and down being silly did.”
Alex – who was speaking to promote a series of Pukka Pies presents BRITPOP parties to launch the brand’s new Chicken Vindaloo pie – believes one iconic moment changed football music forever.
He pointed to John Barnes’ legendary rap on World in Motion: “I think John Barnes’ rap on World in Motion is the turning point in football songs because it was the most dreadful, ghastly sub-genre of music. Every time there was a World Cup, or even an FA Cup final, there was an accompanying football record, which sometimes were kind of brilliant, but not in very good taste.”
For Alex, the magic of Vindaloo lies in its simplicity and its roots in terrace culture: “We’ve always had this kind of tradition of people singing at football matches together. It doesn’t happen anywhere else and it’s a wonderful thing to be a part of.”
He described the track as a patchwork of familiar chants: “Vindaloo is just basically the equivalent of cooking with leftovers, a bunch of pre-existing football chants all stitched together with that one note chorus going, ‘we’re going to score one more than you’. I didn’t expect people would still be singing it 30 years later.”
