It's All Fun And Games 'Til Someone Loses An Eye
Biography
The Hitchers released two LPs in the UK and Ireland 'It's All Fun and Games Til Someone Loses an Eye' (1997) and 'For the Want of Some Better TV' (1999). They are perhaps best remembered in the UK for the song 'Strachan' a kitchen sink opera wherein the protagonist is involved in an argument while simultaneously watching a football match on TV that features the Scottish footballer Gordon Strachan in an early 1990s Leeds United side versus an unspecified opposition (-though the studio recordings...
The Hitchers released two LPs in the UK and Ireland 'It's All Fun and Games Til Someone Loses an Eye' (1997) and 'For the Want of Some Better TV' (1999).
They are perhaps best remembered in the UK for the song 'Strachan' a kitchen sink opera wherein the protagonist is involved in an argument while simultaneously watching a football match on TV that features the Scottish footballer Gordon Strachan in an early 1990s Leeds United side versus an unspecified opposition (-though the studio recordings fade-out features a sample that suggests the opposition are the Birmingham club Aston Villa.)
Though the single did not chart on its release in summer 1997 (it was released, by a small new independent label Murgatroid –and distributed by Vital, as a double a-side 33rpm 7" vinyl b/w 'You Can Only Love Someone So Much…' and as track 2 of a 4-song CD EP) it received considerable airplay from prolific UK based DJs including John Peel, Steve Lamacq, Gideon Coe, Sean Hughes and Bob Geldof and is still occasionally heard on UK radio to the present day. It has been cited as one of the great "football songs" in the press and in online discussion/commentary.
The alternative A-side of the single 'You Can Only Love Someone' who's lyrical couplet comprises the entire lyrics of the song is notable in that it was nominated in the Best Irish Single 1997 category in Irelands Hot Press awards (won by 'A Life Less Ordinary' by Ash). The song was subsequently used in the movie 'Rat' (Universal Pictures-2000).
The Hitchers recorded a Peel Session at BBC Maida Vale 4 in July 1997.).[9] This was broadcast in November 1997 and repeat broadcast in February 1998. This session was re-broadcast again by Gideon Coe in February 2008 and May 2011.
While supporting The Divine Comedy at Mandela Hall, Belfast in June 1997 The Hitchers were recorded live and broadcast on the Steve Lamacq show.
Their 1997 Dave Fanning Session, recorded for RTE, was re-broadcast on the Dan Hegarty Show in 2006 as part of his 'Classic Session' series. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.