Story behind GCB song ?

[GB10]

Morning fellow blades can't wait for this afternoon..
Watching a clip of the 1993 cup game with Man U I think I notice from the kick off there was no GCB song and it dawned on me how why and when did it start ??
Despite being a ST holder for 14 years now prior to that I had a period where attendance at games was patchy ... And my memory is rubbish
So whilst it's probably a black mark in the bladey bladeness test for which I apologise .. Please can someone help me out .
Many thanks enjoy the game !

 

[boo radley]

It was sung in the early Bassett era at least. So way before that game. May not have been recognised by the club but the fans were singing it.

 

[HighfieldBlade]

Yes, I think it was the Bassett era when it originated. When it first started, from where I was standing on the Kop, I couldn't make out the lyrics. When the word "Woodbines" was sung it sounded to me like "Woodward" or "Windmill" or something like that.

There was also an additional "Na-na naah naah naah na-na, oo-oo-oooo-oooooh" at the end of the song, which has been dropped from the modern version.

 

[SwissBlade]

It was sung in the early Bassett era at least. So way before that game. May not have been recognised by the club but the fans were singing it.

I’ve got a T shirt at home which I bought from the bloke on the corner of Bramall Lane and John Street to commemorate the 2-0 “Sunday pig roast” on November 17th 1992, I bought it at the very next home game after the win. On the back it has the lyrics to the GCB (with Maggots not Magnet)

So the song undoubtedly goes back further than 1992.

 

[ourbob]

Got a mate who brought this to the lane with his mates,but also I think Rotherham had a hand in this as they used to hang about with them.

Will ask him the year later it started,if he can remember.

 

[Tyler Durden]

It started at a 3-1 win away at Stoke in 1985. Thats the account I've heard.

 

[HighfieldBlade]

I’ve got a T shirt at home which I bought from the bloke on the corner of Bramall Lane and John Street to commemorate the 2-0 “Sunday pig roast” on November 17th 1992, I bought it at the very next home game after the win. On the back it has the lyrics to the GCB (with Maggots not Magnet)

Some interesting T-Shirts came out around that time. There was the 'Jurassic Pork' one and 'The Deane Machine' (from Terminator) for example.

 

[boo radley]

I’ve got a T shirt at home which I bought from the bloke on the corner of Bramall Lane and John Street to commemorate the 2-0 “Sunday pig roast” on November 17th 1992, I bought it at the very next home game after the win. On the back it has the lyrics to the GCB (with Maggots not Magnet)

So the song undoubtedly goes back further than 1992.

I remember siging it in the promotion season under Bassett, 89/90

 

[dingledog]

Annie's Song" was written as an ode to Denver's wife at the time, Annie Martell Denver. Denver "wrote this song in July 1973 in about ten-and-a-half minutes one day on a ski lift" to the top of Ajax Mountain in Aspen, Colorado.

So it definitely is no older than 1973.

 

[dingledog]

The provenance of the song is unknown but its origin is often claimed by Sheffield Unitedsupporters.[1] It has been claimed it was first sung by the Blades during Sheffield United's first match of the 1985-86 season in Division 2. This was a Blades 3-1 away win at Stoke City's Victoria Ground on 17 August 1985. Fans of Rotherham United F.C. have also claimed that the song originated with them.[2]

Wikipedia.

 

[HighfieldBlade]

I bet every video on Youtube of Annie's Song has a "UTB" comment on it.

 

[FleaPitBlade]

I thought the tale was in one of Bob Socks modern literacy classics but can't find it.

 

[SUFC Handsworth]

I first heard GCB chant at Oldham early part of 84/85 season (2-2 if memory serves near riot when Cockerill and Bolton got sent off... George Tyson might have been ref). I have heard Blades say they heard it in at least the season before!

 

[PeteBlade]

The provenance of the song is unknown but its origin is often claimed by Sheffield Unitedsupporters.[1] It has been claimed it was first sung by the Blades during Sheffield United's first match of the 1985-86 season in Division 2. This was a Blades 3-1 away win at Stoke City's Victoria Ground on 17 August 1985. Fans of Rotherham United F.C. have also claimed that the song originated with them.[2]

Wikipedia.

It would have been nice for Rotherham to write a song about us.

 

[EddieColquhoun]

There used to be a large group of Rotherham Blades. They were the first I heard singing it in the mid-80s. The words then were "like a night out in Rotherham". As the song grew more popular, they got shouted down on this line.

 

[ZoneManWilf]

Definitely used to hear it in the mid 80s (85/86 ish) as a young kid on the kop. Took me a long time to work out all the words...

 

[BanbridgeBlade]

Yes, I think it was the Bassett era when it originated. When it first started, from where I was standing on the Kop, I couldn't make out the lyrics. When the word "Woodbines" was sung it sounded to me like "Woodward" or "Windmill" or something like that.

There was also an additional "Na-na naah naah naah na-na, oo-oo-oooo-oooooh" at the end of the song, which has been dropped from the modern version.

I still sing the extra oooo-oooohs

 

[Deleted member 1486]

It being sung at kick off is a relatively new thing isn't it? Maybe that's why you didn't hear it on a compilation of clips?

 

[Silent Blade]

I first heard GCB chant at Oldham early part of 84/85 season (2-2 if memory serves near riot when Cockerill and Bolton got sent off... George Tyson might have been ref). I have heard Blades say they heard it in at least the season before!

Yes George Tyson was the ref. He was also the ref at that infamous Oldham v Wendy match in 1980

 

[Treeton Blade]

Notts County away in the mid 80s is the first time I heard it, I remember telling myself to remember it, on the off chance I would be posting on a forum 30 years in the future.

 

[Rodley]

Oooh to Oooh to be Oooh to be a Blades Fan

 

[Russ]

Oooh to Oooh to be Oooh to be a Blades Fan

Don't forget the slight pause after "a"!

 

[MobileBlade]

First time I heard it was at Derby County in mid-80s. We lost.

 

[MobileBlade]

Notts County away in the mid 80s is the first time I heard it, I remember telling myself to remember it, on the off chance I would be posting on a forum 30 years in the future.

What was the score

 

[FTPE]

This section is a fantastic read, I literally knew none of it.
So if the "like a night out in Rotherham" part is true,do we know if any of the other words have altered with time?Other than the great maggot debate!?

 

[Bert]

It's a crap miserable dirge. Bert's never liked it. Especially when it's orchestrated at kick off.

 

[SwissBlade]

Some interesting T-Shirts came out around that time. There was the 'Jurassic Pork' one and 'The Deane Machine' (from Terminator) for example.

Yeah, think it was the same people doing them all. I got one with Gazza on it with some funny shizzle on the front, the back was the mars logo with "10 mars a day makes you too fat to play" wrecked that one after i'd been swimming in the river at Froggatt, cycled home without my t shirt on and it fell into the chain. #badtimes

 

[vorpal blade]

Yes 'Night out in Rotherham' was what I first remember and I think that lot stood on the John Street Terrace.

 

[SouthEssexBlade]

Yes 'Night out in Rotherham' was what I first remember and I think that lot stood on the John Street Terrace.

There was an advert on Hallam that used the tune and similar words, I seem to re-call and it was definitely the Rotherham Blades on John St that modified the advert to night out in Rotherham. As more began singing it, Rotherham got dropped.

 

[Bob Socks]

It was sung well before 1985. In the late 70’s early 80’s the Rotherham (Parkgate) Blades used to travel with us, sometimes they’d have a full coach and meet up with us. It was deffo them who started it., the original line was,

“Like a night out in Bournemouth.” We played Bournemouth in 1981, and I don’t think we’d played them in years, I thought it was earlier, but it must have been after 81, if it was our song, I’ve got a feeling the Rotherham Blades ‘Borrowed’ it.