John Barnes recalled recording World In Motion and The Anfield Rap in an interview originally published in November 2017.
Pay and the initial World In Motion line-up
Barnes said the England players chose £4000 to split between them instead of royalties. The former Liverpool man said: “We heard that royalties meant that if not one single was sold then there would be no money, so we went for the £4000 to split between us.”
He said only six players initially arrived to record the song: “At the very start, it was just me, Gazza, Peter Beardsley, Chris Waddle, Steve McMahon and Des Walker.” Barnes said the players were greeted by New Order and Keith Allen.
How the rap was created
Barnes said a rap was not originally planned for World In Motion, and that Keith Allen suggested writing one after some alcohol. The six players then held a rap-off. Barnes said: “We did the song, and there wasn’t even supposed to be a rap. But a little bit of alcohol was taken and we were just about to have a few more drinks and Keith said, ‘Let’s write a rap.’ So it was just written there and then and the six players had a rap-off to decide who got the gig.”
Asked whether he recorded his contribution in one take, Barnes said: “I was pissed. How does anyone know, we were all drunk and just did it. It’s not a hard thing to do, is it?”
Barnes’s injury during the video
Barnes said he was injured when the World In Motion video was being made, so his part was filmed at Melwood. He said: “I was injured when they wanted to do the video.”
The Anfield Rap filming
The Anfield Rap came two years before World In Motion. Barnes said Derek B walked out during filming of the Anfield Rap video because of the players’ lack of professionalism and the stick they gave him.
John Aldridge said in 2013: “We went down to the studios and tried to do all the singing and we were absolutely useless.”
