"Anfield Rap (Red Machine in Full Effect)" was a song released by members of

Liverpool F.C. Liverpool Football Club is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in Liverpool, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Founded in ...

before the 1988 FA Cup Final against

Wimbledon F.C. Wimbledon Football Club was an English Association football, football club formed in Wimbledon, London, Wimbledon, southwest London, in 1889 and based at Plough Lane (1912–1998), Plough Lane from 1912 to 1991. Founded as Wimbledon Old Cent ...

The song reached number 3 in the UK Singles Chart. The song was co-written by Paul Gainford, Liverpool midfielder Craig Johnston, rapper

Derek B Derek Boland (15 January 1965 – 15 November 2009), better known by his stage name Derek B, was a British rapper. His most commercially successful releases were "Goodgroove" and "Bad Young Brother" in 1988. Biography Born in Hammersmith, Lon ...

and Mary Byker from Gaye Bykers on Acid. The song was met with mixed reviews; the tune has become a cult classic among Liverpool fans, but critics often cite it as one of the worst sports songs of all time. Liverpool would go on to lose the final in one of the biggest upsets in the history of the competition.

Style

The song is a parody of a number of hip hop tracks, notably the intro from

LL Cool J James Todd Smith (born January 14, 1968), known professionally as LL Cool J (short for Ladies Love Cool James), is an American rapper and actor. He is one of the earliest rappers to achieve commercial success, alongside fellow new school hip ho ...

's " Rock the Bells" and Eric B. & Rakim's " I Know You Got Soul" (which sampled the opening drum roll from

Funkadelic Funkadelic was an American funk rock band formed in Plainfield, New Jersey in 1968 and active until 1982. As one of the two flagship groups of George Clinton's P-Funk collective, they helped pioneer the funk music culture of the 1970s.John, ...

's "You'll Like It Too"). The song also featured the guitar riff (and the Ahhhhh-ahhhhh-ahhhhh element) from " Twist And Shout" by

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

who hailed from Liverpool.

Participants

The track featured John Aldridge and

Steve McMahon Stephen Joseph McMahon (born 20 August 1961) is an English football manager, former professional footballer and current television pundit. As a player, he was a midfielder from 1979 to 1998, most notably playing for Liverpool in the late 1980s. ...

, who (along with Gary Ablett) were the only native

Liverpudlian Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

s in the regular line up at the time, making fun of the accents of the other players. The other players featured were

John Barnes John Charles Bryan Barnes (born 7 November 1963) is a former professional football player and manager. Often considered one of the greatest England players of all time and one of Liverpool's greatest ever players, Barnes currently works as an ...

, Bruce Grobbelaar,

Ian Rush Ian James Rush (born 20 October 1961) is a Welsh former professional association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football), forward. He is regarded as one of the best strikers of all time and one of the best Welsh playe ...

, Craig Johnston, Kevin MacDonald, Gary Gillespie,

Steve Nicol Stephen Nicol (born 11 December 1961) is a Scottish retired professional footballer who mainly played as a right back and occasionally played in other positions across defence and midfield. He played for the successful Liverpool teams of the 1 ...

, Ronnie Whelan, Alan Hansen,

Ray Houghton Raymond James Houghton (born 9 January 1962) is a former professional Association football, footballer and current sports analyst and commentator with RTÉ Sport. As a player, he was a midfielder, notably playing for Liverpool F.C., Liverpool w ...

, Jim Beglin,

Nigel Spackman Nigel James Spackman (born 2 December 1960) is a former professional footballer and English Manager (association football), football manager, and is a sports television pundit. As a player he was as a midfielder from 1980 to 1998, notably for Li ...

, Colin Bridge and Jan Molby, along with manager

Kenny Dalglish Sir Kenneth Mathieson Dalglish (born 4 March 1951) is a Scottish former association football, football player and manager (association football), manager. He is regarded as one of the greatest players of all time as well as one of Celtic's, Liv ...

. One verse of the song was performed by then- ITV football commentator Brian Moore. There were also archived voice clips from the club's former manager

Bill Shankly William Shankly (2 September 1913 – 29 September 1981) was a Scottish association football, football player and Manager (association football), manager who is best known for his time as manager of Liverpool F.C., Liverpool. Shankly brought su ...

References

External links

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Official Liverpool Site Article
1988 singles Liverpool F.C. songs Association football songs and chants 1988 songs {{1980s-single-stub