A Cumbrian man inspired by his sportsman dad has created a World Cup rap to raise money for charity.
Gareth Yates, 48, of Ulverston, released his England anthem ‘Get Stuck In’ last week, and said he was inspired to create the song after seeing music help his dad David Yates in his battle against Alzheimer’s.
He said he is hoping the song will help get people in the mood for World Cup season and all the money raised from downloads of the song will go to Sport United Against Dementia.
Gareth, who is a junior coach for his son Ivan’s football team – Ulverston Rangers U14s – has written and recorded the song with the help of his family, friends and Baz Allcock, of Stereo Field Studios.
Gareth’s dad David has been battling Alzheimer’s for the past 10 years, alongside Parkinsons and prostate cancer.
David was a keen sportsman and footballer in his younger days. He was also a cricketer with Ulverston Cricket Club in the Cumbrian League well into his 70s.
He also coached Ulverston Cricket Club juniors, Cumbria Cricket’s U11s and U12s and junior league teams over the years.
Gareth said that David, who will be 82 in August, has benefited greatly from music in his battle against Alzheimer’s.
He added: “He was a keen sportsman and he loves music. Because he loves it so much it’s been the one thing that has helped him escape his battle.
“These diseases weigh quite heavily on the person and their families, but he listens to the music and it helps him to forget what’s going on and really that’s why I went down the route of creating the song.”
Gareth said he first started writing the lyrics for the song around 12 months ago.
He added: “I wrote some lyrics for the song with my dad in mind. I started off with ‘get stuck in’ because that’s the chant everyone uses on the side of a junior football pitch.
“I wrote the lyrics over a few months, it took me a while to settle on some. But I wanted it to include a verse referencing Wembley in 1966 because that’s what my dad grew up with and he remembered them winning the World Cup then.
“I then sat on the song for a while and wondered whether I should do something with it. I haven’t got a musical bone in my body, I’ll get up and dance, but in terms of singing and playing a musical instrument, it’s all totally alien to me.
“But I spoke to a couple of people who work in the production and music industry and they said go for it.
“This was a couple of months ago and I thought well time is tight now before the World Cup, so I either do it now or never do it.”
Gareth said thanks to his brother-in-law Paul ‘Tosh’ Storey and another relative, the song was able to come to life.
He added: “Luckily for me, I have a relative, ‘C’ who used to do a bit of rapping. So we sat down with my brother-in-law Tosh and we made it fit ‘C’s style and Paul sang the chorus and I added some vocals too.
“When we thought we’d got something, we went to Stereo Field Studios and Baz Allcock helped us put it together.
“I had no expectations for the song, but I thought at least we’ve done something that’s a new experience and we can hopefully raise a little bit of money for Sport United Against Dementia.”
The trio have now created a modern rap track with an 80s influence. It features electric keyboard and synths and is filled with football references.
Gareth said that the song has already received a wave of support from people locally and on social media.
He said: “I am proud of it, it’s something that I never would have normally done and I didn’t think I’d ever do, I’m defintely out of my comfort zone, but that’s why I’m proud of it.
“Everyone has got behind me with it and I think around Ulverston as soon as I released it on Facebook the numbers of people reading my post went mad.”
‘Get Stuck In’ by The Skerdiddlies and can be downloaded on Apple Music, Amazon Music, Spotify and other music platforms now.
You can listen to the track below.
