Kevin Campbell's Arsenal legacy: with Alan Smith, Lee Dixon, Paul Davis & Andy Cole
42:36 Share

Business taxes was stressing about all the time and all the money you spent on your taxes. This is my bill. Now business taxes is a TurboTax small business expert who does your taxes for you and offers year round advice at no additional cost so you can keep more money in your business. Now this is taxes into it. TurboTax get an expert now on TurboTax dot com slash business only available with TurboTax live full service.

Hi, this is Javon, your Blinds.com design consultant. Oh, wow. A real person. Yep. I'm here to help with everything from selecting the perfect window treatments to... Well, I've got a complicated project. No problem. I can even help schedule a professional measure and install. We can also send you samples fast and free. Hmm, I just might have to do more. Whatever you need. So the first room we're looking at is for... Shop Blinds.com now and get up to 40% off with minimum purchase. Blinds.com. Rules and restrictions may apply. Okay.

Hey, I'm Robert Vinlow and I'm from New York Times Games and I'm here talking to people about Wordle and the Wordle Archive. Do you all play Wordle? I play it every day. Alright, I have something exciting to show you. It's the Wordle Archive. Whaaaaat? Okay, that's awesome. So now you can play every Wordle that has ever existed. There's like a thousand puzzles. Wordle Archive. Now you can do yesterday's Wordle if you missed it. Yeah. New York Times Games subscribers can now access the entire Wordle Archive. Find out more at NYTimes.com/games

The Athletic FC Podcast Network.

The only way to score is, of course, to play with a hand break off. Hello, I'm Amy Lawrence. Welcome to a special episode of the Athletics Arsenal podcast Hand Break Off in honour of a much-loved Arsenal great, Kevin Campbell. A group of Kevin's friends from his playing days are here and it is my pleasure to introduce a quartet of proper legends.

Alan Smith twice won the Golden Boot as the best goalscorer in England, as well as delivering Arsenal's last European trophy. Lee Dixon, friend of this podcast from the very original days, played a phenomenal 619 games for the club over 15 years of service. Paul Davis holds a special place in the hearts of black Arsenal as a trailblazer and masterful midfielder.

Andy Cole came through the club's youth system at a similar time to Kevin before leaving for a hugely successful career elsewhere, particularly at Newcastle and Man United. As if that's not illustrious enough, also round the table is my handbrake mate and another Arsenal Academy graduate, Adrian Clarke, therefore making me the only person here who never kicked a ball for the club. For that, you should all be extremely grateful.

Yeah, there's a grand total of 1,179 Arsenal appearances sat around this table with messes. Cole Smith also responsible for 321 top flight goals. I'm not including myself in this, but what a

a squad what about my goals yeah well yeah that wasn't your forte was it Lee I did score you've just took them off the record I've taken it off I've taken it off look tonight I've just got to say tonight we are speaking to you from the Finsbury Park Picture House where we gather for this very special fundraising evening held in honour

as the late great Kevin Campbell. The Kevin Campbell Foundation is a charity that's been set up to honour some of the values and ethos that Kevin believed in, using the power of football to impact young lives. They'll operate principally as a financial partner, putting funding into football initiatives. Recently started new partnerships with the London Borough of Lambeth Council and the London Youth Games. Kevin's legacy will, I'm delighted to say, go on to help so many youngsters moving forward. So here we are then at

Hello, everybody. Thank you very much for coming. Let's just get this out of the way then, Lee. Yeah, come on, let's go back to the goals. You are a former member of Handbrake Off. How happy are you to meet us? I miss everybody. It was good fun, wasn't it, when we first... It's a few years ago now, isn't it? It is. I think it's maybe six or seven years ago. It was pre-lockdown. We actually went to a studio, remember that? Back in the old days, pre-Zoom. Yeah, I do, yeah. No, it was good fun and we talked, you know, usual sort of stuff.

football related, Arsenal related, a lot of laughs and jokes and rubbish. And I see things haven't changed. Not at all. It's much the same. Much the same. Right, we're here to have a little bit of a reminisce tonight, aren't we? Really. I know you're all good friends with Kevin. And I'm

Andy, let's start with you. I read your piece on the Foundation's website. You know, you're talking about how he was like an older brother to you. I think you were a couple of years apart, weren't you, in youth teams? We were, yeah. Yeah, a couple of years younger. Tell us about your friendship and how that worked, because it's quite unusual to have two rivals, you know, centre-forward rivals, you know, palling up. Me personally, I wouldn't call it a rivalry, due to the fact that Kev was a couple of years older than me.

I played one of the youth cup games with them the year I went on to win the youth cup and from then we just forged that relationship obviously I joined as an apprentice and Kev was an individual that was always there for me always trying to help me out back in those days doing jobs

You know, he couldn't drop me home as much as he would have liked to because I was too busy doing duties and doing the kit and things like that. But yeah, an individual for me personally, that held up a lot of time for me to try and help me develop, understand what youth team football was all about and just wanted me to be a better person, you know, which is very, very special. Yeah, he took you under his wing, didn't he? He did. Which isn't the norm really, is it? No, the crazy thing is when I was coming in today, I was saying to myself, you know,

When you become a professional footballer, you don't actually realise, but it's a selfish sport. You are actually a selfish individual in a team, you know, because ultimately once you're out of the team, I mean, as you love your teammates for what they are, once you're out of the team, none of your teammates really care because they're in the team. I mean, that's the way I view it. But just having the time spent with Kev, obviously being in the youth team and used to watch me quite a bit,

You know, and like I said, he used to pick me up in the mornings when I wasn't on duty. He'd drop me off, take me out on a few nights out. I met all his family and all those kind of things. He was very, very special. He had a lot of time for me. But in saying that, I was very, very fortunate at Arsenal. I think the majority of senior pros always had a lot of time for me. Yeah. So yeah, I was very fortunate that way. Brilliant to hear. Smudger, as a striker in the first team at the time, you'd have been well aware. Obviously, there was no...

no social media back then. You weren't hearing about Kev maybe in the lights that we're hearing about Max Daumann nowadays, of course. The hype maybe wasn't there, but you'd have been well aware, I guess, of a young striker that was banging in goals like he was. Yeah, because you do talk about it. Oh, this lad over on the adjoining pitch for the youth team who's tearing it up, scoring goals every week. So word reaches the first team and you're thinking, what's this lad like? And then, of course, he comes across to train with the first team and

And that's when you get a good look at him, you know, and everybody's interest to see what this lad's got, what he's like. And I always remember when George the gaffer would say, oh, you know, he'd tell one of the coaches, get Kevin over, get Kevin over. And Boldy and Rodders' heads would drop because they thought, oh, no, we've got to try today. You know, he's going to be bullying us. He's going to be making us work. And he certainly did that because he was trying to make a name for himself, wasn't he? Yeah.

But yeah, he was one of those lads that everybody took to straight away. He was raw, obviously, when he came across and he started training with us. The gaffer, you know, tactically wanted to get his feelings into him as a player and his movement and everything. But he soon took all that on board and became, you know, a very important part of the squad. Yeah, it didn't take long to make an impact, did it? In that 91 season, the title winner season.

Dave O, you know, he came in, didn't he? What an impact towards the season in particular. Yeah, Kevin and I go back way before that. So we grew up in South London. I grew up in Stockwell. We grew up in Brixton, which is like about a mile apart. But we didn't know each other. You know, obviously I'm about five, six years older than Kev.

And the rest. Yeah, they never let me forget that. But Kevin was a South London boy. I was a South London boy. There's a few of us. There's Michael Thomas, but I'm older than all of them, as everybody knows. But those guys coming through saw me in the first team and I was sort of somebody they could emulate and somebody they recognised.

I kind of knew that being in the first team. I knew these guys were coming. I heard the names, as Smud said. I'd heard these guys coming through. Cody was one of them. And I felt, I just felt close to them because I knew their background. Although I didn't know them, I knew their families had come from West Indies and I kind of knew the struggles that their families had because my family's had the same. So we had this kind of unique bond without even knowing each other. And then when Kevin came across the first team, and as Alan said, we'd heard about

Kevin's exploits in the youth team scoring plenty of goals. So when he came across, we were expecting big things and he delivered and he was hungry and he had so much personality and charisma, all these things that people talk about. But yeah, I and Kevin go back a long way before he got in the first team. And to see his rise into the team and to see what he's left behind now, I just feel privileged to have been

part of his life. Yeah, yeah. What was he like, Lee, to sort of face as a defender? Did you try and keep away from him? Well, it was strange because I don't know, for some reason, he always seemed to

be focused on the centre-halves and as Smudge said, Boldy and Tony, mostly Boldy but Boldy and Tony used to get it in training and when he did the 1v1s etc. And he never really, because he played in front of me a lot when we played in European games, he wasn't a centre-forward, he'd play him on the right in front. We used to play 4-3-3 when we played in Europe and

It was George's kind of thing, we'd change the formation and play him on the right. So he had a bit of a soft spot for me. He kind of looked after me and he was my kind of minder on the pitch. And if anybody was misbehaving, I'd sort of say, Kevin, I'm in a bit of trouble here. And he'd just like walk over and sort him out. And he was like, you know, he was the enforcer. And so me and him got on great. So whenever it was 1v1s or there was...

in training 8v8 or something he would tend to sort of go over somewhere else and I always if it came on my side I'd say come on we're mates go over there will you

And Boldy's eyes would light up when he started walking over to him. So me and him had a special relationship. I felt as if it was a special relationship. And you know what it's like being a winger. You kind of latch onto the full back and you try and make it a thing where you understand each other and you sort of take care of it. You're a pair, aren't you? Yeah, absolutely. It's one of those partnerships on the pitch. So I always had a soft spot for him and we always seemed to get on brilliantly well and

As a footballer, I think he was massively underrated, not by us lot and the team and the managers, but I think in general, in the early days, I don't think he got the recognition that he deserved. And later on he did, obviously, when he went to Everton and just...

smashed everything up when he was there and he was brilliant but I think overall he was he was for a full back to play behind him it was an absolute dream he never moaned you could tell him to you know close down do that he never used to you know

Ray Parlour would moan a little bit. He'd look over his shoulder, get any chance of you doing any work? Kev used to just go, no, you just do what you asked of him. And he certainly put a few years on my career by stopping me having to run everywhere. We've spoken a lot and it's such vivid memories about, you know, the player he was coming through and the personality that he brought. But there's something else I think is crucial that I would really like Andy and Paul for you to address. And,

We've got David Dean here and it's a story that he's very familiar with, but I'm sure you will remember the mural that was erected when the North Bank was being redeveloped. And it was quite a forward thinking thing to do at the time, which was cover up building work with something big and impressive. So it was all hidden away. You see it now at big five star hotels and big developments, but it was quite new at the time and had lots of pictures of fans to kind of

feel a bit like the impression of a crowd rather than just an end that was a building site. And of all the players and everybody who was around, I think Kev was probably the youngest of the black guys in the squad at the time. And he was the one who

who turned round to Mr. Dean and said, but where are my brothers? And noticed that there were no black faces in what was a homogenous image that was just used for the time. But that impresses me, you know, to have that character and to have that sense of almost activism, of standing up for things that are important at such a young age.

And that's something he carried through with him in his life. How much does that tell you about him and what was important to him and what he was able to do? So, yeah, I was there and I remember. So we were training on the high-speed pitch, weren't we? Yeah, I remember. And the mural was up. And to be honest, I didn't recognise what you just spoke about. And Kevin did and said it to Mr. Dean.

And Mr. Dean says, Kevin, you're right. And within a couple of weeks, it was all rectified. But you're right, Kevin, you know, for how much people talk about Kevin as, you know, a laughable guy, but, you know, he had that serious side that, you know, if something was wrong and he felt that something needed to be changed, he wasn't fearful of saying that. And the way he would do it as well, he wouldn't be aggressive. The person who's receiving it would know that

He's serious, but he isn't in an aggressive way. And he'll get the answer that he needs or get the action that he needed. In that case, he did. And to go up to a senior member at the club

as a young player and say that, that says a lot for Kevin. I think it was almost a jokey thing at the time, but serious as well. Do you know what I mean? You're like, where's the brothers and everything? And everyone's having a laugh and a joke. I don't know if Rocky was there at the time as well still, because he would have been somebody that would laugh and joke about it, but also pointed out something that needed changing. Yeah. And I think that's what was so unique about Kevin, because he had that jokey side, but, you know, he had that serious side as well. And that's a serious matter. And I think that's,

To be honest, I didn't recognise it. And I'm older than Kevin. And he recognised it. And I think Kevin done a great thing for Arsenal. He kind of recognised that, you know, there is a colour difference and there are differences because of our cultures. And I think he kind of relaxed the atmosphere around that. He jokes about things and he kind of brought people in. And I think that made us stronger as a group. We didn't ignore that we were different.

Do you know what I mean? I think that sometimes we can think, yeah, we're all the same, but actually we're not all the same. And I think Kevin kind of made that a norm and it kind of made us grow together. And I think we were a better team because of it. Kevin was very good with his mannerisms. Yeah. Very good. Like you said, serious subjects like that. He wasn't scared to voice his opinion. He would do it in a way whereby he wouldn't make anyone feel uncomfortable, but very forceful at the same time. You know, he always knew what he wanted.

and he would address it and if he didn't get what he wanted he would let you know that he's disappointed they didn't get what he wanted so um i said keep going wouldn't he yeah yeah you know what kev was like you know he just attack attack until he got it how important is it to have someone to kind of look up to when you're a young player coming through i mean i'm thinking now in the current team we've got miles lewis skelly and ethan monary who have come in this season and been absolutely spectacular

And how helpful it is to them to have Bukayo Saka, who's been there, done that, knows what it's like. And even Raheem Sterling, who might not have played that much this season, but I think is making it his business to look after those boys when they're coming through, particularly as black players who, you know, it's not always the same. Some of the challenges that Myles Lewis-Skelly has faced are

are a little bit difficult to comprehend. Do you feel that it's... How do you feel those guys are doing and do you think they're getting good guidance to come through? Well, for me personally, I loved it. I love just having the senior pros take time out for me, you know, sit down at lunch or whatever it may be and spend that five minutes with you and show that they're actually interested in you, you know, because when you're...

your dreams are to play in the first team and one day hopefully get there. To have one of the pros sit down and have that conversation with you makes you feel even better, makes you feel part of it. Because when you're at the bottom of the ladder as an apprentice, that's where the hard work really starts. And I just think that if those senior pros do not give you that time that you would like, you do feel a bit not involved. And I always said when I got to become a senior pro,

I would treat the younger pros and the apprentices just like I was treated by my senior pros. Some of them are what they are, but the majority of the senior pros that I play with are absolutely phenomenal. I always try to take that to me becoming a senior pro and speaking to the younger pros and trying to keep them in line or whatever it may be. Always making the time for those individuals. Because when you're a young pro or you're an apprentice, that's all you want.

You know, senior pro to take that little bit of time out to make you feel part of it. Because ultimately, you want to be where they're at. You know, that's where you want to be at. So the names you just mentioned there. So long as young pros, you want to take it on board because obviously society's changed and, you know, the way we've got have changed. So long as they want to take it on board, they want to listen to the senior pros who try and make them better. We want to come see you also. Come see you also. We want to come see you.

Pretty leads us nicely onto Myles Lewis-Skelly, doesn't it? I mean, he's given some trust this week, hasn't he? By Thomas Tuchel. Well, yeah, I mean, the way he pulled on that England shirt, at Wembley as well, I can imagine a lot of his family were in the stands, but he just took the ball by the horns, didn't he? He just looked like the player that he does for Arsenal, you know, and he'd stepped up a big step for that. And nothing seems to faze him. He's one of those players.

He's happy to take responsibility. I'm sure it's difficult to tell on the telly, but I'm sure talking to his teammates, he's not embarrassed to tell somebody something if he feels it needs telling. Beyond his years, yeah. And I'm sure Thomas Tuchel was impressed. They can't stop giving him the ball, can they, Dick? No. I mean, you worked on the game. I mean, what did you make of... Obviously, being a full-back...

I always watch full-backs more than anyone even when I'm doing comms I'm kind of like ball's over there what's he doing you know and I was looking at his position when he wasn't in the game when he was off the ball when he wasn't involved which wasn't a lot but I think he's

The fact that Thomas Tootle's asking him to do certain things, and we know he's happy in midfield, we know he's comfortable in doing that for Arsenal, but to do it in the two games that he played at Wembley, as Smudge said, under that amount of pressure, and to be able to switch his game to a regular full-back position and then go into midfield...

and release other players into positions and know what he's doing at that tender age. I thought he was slightly short of sensational. Yeah, he's great. As the guys have said, I first came across him about three years ago, and he came into the England under-17s as a 15-year-old. And I was on the staff and he was Ed and Sheldon's above the 17-year-olds.

And it was like, you know, you guys, you know, when you see a player, you know a player, don't you? I remember saying to myself, this guy, 15, it doesn't surprise you. If you've seen him play when he was a kid, he's a special talent, really special. You know what I like as well? He's actually got in the team by default. So injuries, if there was no injuries, we wouldn't know about him. You know, but he's got the opportunity and he's proved just how good he is.

not his strongest position he's a midfield player but he's played left back like he's played left back for many many years and when you're at that age what do you fear? Great thing as well is I can't think of another club in the Premier League that's producing these players you know another academy obviously Ethan Ranieri Bakayo Saka and now Miles

you know, to produce players of that level as well, you know, international level players. Ronier, he got a great goal for the under-21s, didn't he again last night, cutting in with that trademark curler. So yeah, three lads really, and Max Dahlman, you mentioned earlier, hopefully he'll make a good career for himself. Hats off to the academy for helping these lads on the way. It's not bad having a trademark finish when you're...

you know, just turned 18 about two days ago, is it? What about that? To ask the two strikers, how impressive is what he's able to do?

Yeah, I mean, it's like Bakayo, isn't it? He's cutting inside, Mo Salah the same, you know what he's going to do, but it's very hard to stop him. And he's doing it on a regular basis now. So obviously, as he gets older, he stays in the first team, opponents will do different things to try and disrupt him. But I think he's got a very good football brain. And he'll overcome that because he can go the other way as well. He can go down the right hand side on the outside.

So it'd be interesting how Mikel Arteta uses him when Saka is back. Because you think, oh, you can't drop him out of the team now. Got to ask you, Paul, while we've got you. Declan Rice. Twofold question. Do you think we'll see a midfielder, Declan Rice and Myles Lewis-Skelly, potentially in the next season? And on Declan, what do you think his best position is? Six or eight? See, as I start the question there, what is a six, what's an eight? No.

No, seriously. I'm glad you said that. I'm so old school. Someone's taking me, oh, he's a six. So what does a six do that an eight doesn't do? A six is not allowed to score goals, get in the box, you know. An eight is not allowed to defend. No, but what you're saying is in the old days, you're a central midfielder, you're an all-rounder. You could do a bit of both. You're better off asking Roy Keane that question. You'll get a feisty answer. Oh, 100%.

Yeah, but so I can see them both playing together in both things. It's a double pivot, you know, both do a little bit of everything. What's a double pivot? Well, it's a part of the low block, mate. He could stay at left back, couldn't he?

and still do his bit in midfield. I mean, look at Calafiora, you know, the way he does it. So he doesn't necessarily have to move into midfield. You know, the old inverted fullback and all that. That's another one for you, Coley. There we go, tick. The thing with the youngsters now, I do recognise they're having to take on a lot more information than I did at their age. I mean, I've been with some of the coaches giving themselves and thinking, Jesus,

When I was 17, I wouldn't be able to do all that. They're asking a lot of these young guys. There's different stuff and they're being instructed. I think we probably had, well, I probably had a lot. At the time, I didn't actually believe I had a lot of freedom, but I probably had compared to some of these guys. No one thought they had freedom under George, but now he looks like bliss, right? Yeah, well, yeah. Yeah, George may be not a good example. Yeah.

Talking of George, do you see any similarities between Mikel Arteta and George Graham's style of football? Yeah, because it's quite structured, isn't it? And he's been criticised for that when things haven't gone well, when we're not winning scoring goals. You know, from a discipline aspect, I mean, you know, I don't know what he's like within the dressing room, on the training ground, whether...

He's as tough and demanding as George Wood. I would imagine he is demanding. So, yeah, there are similarities. Most definitely, I hope he's as successful as George. That would be nice. Do you think he might need to loosen up a bit with this structured football? Or is that the way you have to go to win titles with your low blocks and your eights and sixes? If you're going to try and win the title, you've got to be free.

You have to be free. My time in doing it, you know, the manager always believed that you should have the opportunity to get it to your forwards, let them get on with it. You know, midfield players do what they do best, you know, but if you get it in wide areas or get it to your centre forwards, just let them get on with it. I mean, you guys at the back do your job. Now, when we was playing, when the manager made a decision, he would go down, he'd take off the centre half and put the centre forward on.

you know, to try and win the game. So you have to, you have to, if you're going to try and win a league at times, you just got to throw caution to the wind. Are you glad in a way that you played when you did, when it was this freedom? I mean, yes, it was organized and yes, you know, it was disciplined, but you didn't have to have 10 hour video sessions and being sent all these details about every tiny weenie thing that you have to memorize. It's almost like rugby, you know, or going out in the game, all the different types of things that have to be done a certain way.

Yeah, I don't know. I think it's a hard one to answer for me. For me, oh man, I wouldn't change...

When I played, the era I played in, I wouldn't change it for now at all. I agree. I think we had the best of it. We had the freedom, the joy of playing. Even though George was a disciplinarian, we had our time away from the club that was a little bit more free, as we've read about in the papers at times. But the actual fun of playing the game...

We did have a lot of fun and I think the players then, when we were playing, we enjoyed our football a little bit. I'm not saying they don't enjoy it, but there is a lot of stuff that goes with it now that you have to take on board. They do live in a very tight bubble. I don't suppose they look out of it and go, I wish we were like they were because they don't know what it was like. They only know the era that they're in. I think if you put one of us into a club now,

you know, it'd be like your eyes would pop out your head about what you're talking about. Yeah, but you'd get used to it. Well, you would do, but I don't think it'd be a lot of fun for a lot of people. Having said that, there's certain characters and part of my character would be part of that, I'd go, God, I'd love all that info. I'd love all that, all the strength and conditioning that they do now because I was always trying to be as fit as I could because, you know, I wasn't the most skillful player in the world, but I knew the game. I could read the game.

and I was fit. So I was like, what, what, what can I do to get little, you know, what, what injuries do I need? You know, nowadays the, the, the, um, the attention to detail and the physical shape of them. Now I would have liked that side of it for sure. But you still maximize what you had. I mean, I look at that stuff now and I'll tell you, I said to myself,

Would I prefer to have a Jaffa cake cup at half time? Or one of those so-called protein shakes? You had a Jaffa cake. I mean, would it have made me run any faster? Would it change anything in my game? And I look at someone and say to myself, no.

I don't think it would. Well, it wouldn't have made you score any more goals. There you go. Do you know what I mean? I think some players can take in more information than others, can't they? Maybe some lads today are giving it, but they probably disregard it when it comes to a Saturday, a match day.

Some players enjoy having all that info, but others, it's going round in their head. The best information I used to get from Chocky, Brian McLean, Coley, run fast score goals. Brilliant. Simple. Exactly. You can't see me, I'll score. You can't see me, I'll score. You can't see me.

I just want to take you all back to, you know, we're here because of Kev and when I think of him, one of the games I remember most was the Paris Saint-Germain semi-finals in the Cup Winners' Cup in 94 where he got the decisive goal and then played in the final. Great cross.

You surprised me, Lee. An assist. Well done. It's been a long time since Arsenal have won a European trophy. They've only won two ever, and that was the most recent one. Do you think it's something that the club needs? And do you think, I mean, you know, we're approaching this Champions League game against Real Madrid. It's massive for the club, I think, to have a game of this stature. How do they approach it? And do you think, you know,

Is it possible for a team who's not doing it all the time at the top level to win the Champions League? Yeah, I think so. It can be a bit of a release. Okay, we're not going to win the league, but let's have a good go at this. And they go into it as second favourites, don't they, by some distance, the lads. So,

It's one of those where obviously tactically they've got to be spot on in the Bernabeu. Everything's got to go right I think. You know defensively we've got to be spot on against that front four which can be frightening on the day but they weren't particularly a bit underwhelming against Atletico weren't they in the last round. So it is a winnable tie.

and beat them and it's game on isn't it I mean blimey but yeah I can't listen when we won it in 94 you wouldn't believe if somebody said they won't win another one again up until this point we've had our moments our chances haven't we but yeah I think the club of Arsenal stature needs a European trophy it's exciting isn't it I love it right we'll have to wrap things up I could talk all night couldn't you with this squad

Let's do a song to finish. That's tradition here on Handbrake Off these days, Lee. We did spring this on you just before we came on. So something Kevin Campbell themed would be... Don't ink mine. Don't ink mine. Yours is. Tell me what it is.

My favourite song of all time is... Your favourite song? No, it's related to Kev. It's my favourite song, it's not Kev's. I don't know Kev's song. Is it my song? Related to Kev. Any song you like. My favourite song of all time is, I was a bit of a rocker when I was growing up, was Meatloaf, Bat Out of Hell. So it just so happens that

Kevin springs to mind when those lyrics come on. I'm going to hit you with a highway like a battery and ram like a silver black phantom bike. That's Kevin. So that's my link. I'm back.

That's brilliant, isn't it? Right on the spot, that was. On the hood. I'm not singing it. Did he steal your smudge there? Super. Super Kevin. Super Kevin. When you asked about that, I thought it was a song that fans used to sing about Kev. That's the only one I can remember. Okay, so mine is, like, it goes back a long, long way. So there was a singer in America called...

Harry Belafonte, that many of your listeners... He's old, isn't he? And so he was, for those that don't know, he was an American singer back in the 50s, a black American singer who had a really strong voice. And he had a song that came out in the 60s and he called it...

So that was a song. But my nickname came from that song and Kevin gave me my nickname. So that song was called Deo. My nickname is Devo. So Kevin got that from that song. So that's my song that connects Kevin. It's lovely. Deo! He said Deo, he said Deo, he said Deo, he said Deo, he said Deo. I'd come and me one go.

my nickname pops that's brilliant that's enough I love that yeah that's brilliant that's my song yeah I'm not sure if it's the song title Money Talks can we remember it's Money Talks yeah

That was Kevin. That was Kevin. On a night out, Kev's on the dance floor. Okay. Boy, could he be. Oh, yeah, exactly. Wow. Yeah, shapes. Oh, shapes. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It was the first one on the floor. Yeah, coming off with a dab on and everything. Yeah, that always reminds me of Kevin. He did just sweat, didn't he? Oh, yeah, yeah. Always a dab on. I'm going to go for a song by Robert Owens called I'll Be Your Friend because sitting here with you guys who were...

close with Kevin and you can see how much it meant to be his friend and for him to be someone to share a lot in your life with just struck me. Supernova is obviously a massive star in the sky. Super Kev, champagne supernova in the sky. Someday you will find me, cobbler slide, in a champagne supernova, a champagne supernova.

In the sky

I think that's an apt one. One of your better ones, Clarky. And he loved the glass of shampoo as well. Shampoo. Absolutely brilliant. Thank you so much, guys. Alan, Lee, Paul, Andy for joining us. That is it, Amy. Thank you so much for listening to this very special episode of Handbrake Off. Also, a big thank you to Lorna Campbell and the Kevin Campbell Foundation for giving us the opportunity to chat to the guys tonight. Until next time, it's bye for now.

♪