The death of Kevin Keegan yesterday, from cancer at the age of 75, prompted a spate of tributes from former teammates, admirers, and even royals – and gave fans an excuse to revisit the highlights of a truly singular figure. There were the goals, of course, but also the dafter memories – chief among them the much-memed clip of his 1996 rant against Man United’s Sir Alex Ferguson (“I will love it if we beat them!”). What got less of a mention was the brief period of time when Keegan tried to be a pop star.
You read that right: King Kev released a handful of singles in the 1970s and early 1980s. And they sound... about as good as you might expect. He was still in his footballing pomp when he attempted to make the perilous transition from scoring bangers to recording them: it was in 1972, shortly after he made the leap from Scunthorpe to Liverpool, that he released his debut single “It Ain't Easy”. A cover of a forgotten song by Merseybeat band The Fourmost, “It Ain’t Easy” largely failed to make its mark. Keegan said he wanted to make it “specially for his young fans”, and that it was the most exhausting achievement of his life. He could sing well enough, but the naff, plodding four-on-the-floor beat makes “Blue is the Colour” sound like Steely Dan.
