What is it about professional footballers and Luther Vandross? The dearly departed crooner has been name-checked by famous footballers so many times that we are beginning to suspect that this is some kind of football in-joke and that the public at large are being made fun of. Or maybe they're just trying to make us feel better, so that we can consol ourselves with the thought that although we don't earn £30K a week, at least we have a decent taste in music. Whatever the reason, it still comes as a disappointment that John Terry's favourite song is 'So Amazing', a Vandross number. We always felt that he looks a little like Sid Vicious, so we were hoping he'd pick out a classic punk number or similiar. But no, it's Vandross.
Terry and his Chelsea teammates have each chosen their favourite track for 'Players Top 20', a compliation album which was Angie Bray on Saturday and is surely destined for bargain bins across the nation. Most of the stuff on the CD is pretty innocuous, the standard R n' B that you'd expect is present and correct (Aailyah, Blu Cantrell and Usher) and there's a smattering of Hip Hop (Jay-Z) and nice light pop (Jamiroquai).
However, there are some selections that worry us a little. Joe Cole has chosen 'Gold' by Spandau Ballet. Nothing wrong with that, you might say, who hasn't grooved to that pop classic at a wedding or a student disco? Well, fair point, but Joe's chosen it because West Ham fans used the song as the basis for a chant they once sang about the dimunutive England midfielder, which betrays at best a distinct lack of imagination on Cole's part and at worst evidence of a rampaging ego.
Even more worrying is that the English contingent seem to have been 'out-cooled' by the foreign legion. Paulo Ferreria opts for Mylo, Asier Del Horno for Kings of Leon and Ricardo Carvalho picks the Stone Roses (that explains the haircut then), whereas Terry has chosen Vandross and Lampard goes with the huge handed Lionel Ritchie. Poor. At least Arjen Robben tries to re-dress the balance by picking Europe's 'The Final Countdown'. Ouch.
And what of Mourinho? Bryan Adams - Run to You. Again, a disappointment.
Image taken from Guardian Unlimited Football's 'The Gallery' and is the work of one Dave Elderfield.
