21. The Who - Baba O'Reilly

In 1997, Fever Pitch was released.  Nick Hornby added a romance and a narrative to his original novel in order to make it work as a film; and, just as importantly, he added a soundtrack.  Now, The Who are quite possibly the most over-rated classic rock band of all time, having churned out for the most part a load of tosh that was either bland or just plain pompous.  But there're enough diamonds in the rough for a creditable Best Of... album and the one I have on record somehow fails to include Baba O'Reilly.  If you know it, you'll know that iconic intro... you probably don't know (I didn't until I looked it up just now) or care that Pete 'It was research' Townsend played it on a Lowery Berkshire Deluxe TBO-1 organ using its marimba repeat feature.  Credit to Pete for the finger-work and credit to Nick Hornby for using this at the point in which the film's main character Paul, as a young boy, prepares to go to Arsenal for the first time on his own.  As he looks at himself in the mirror, tying Arsenal scarves around his wrists, anticipation and excitement emanating from the expression on his face,  Baba O'Reilly hits the emotional notes of this ritual more perfectly than any other song could; and thus, on so many similar occasions from then on, I played this song in my head as I donned a red and white scarf and made my own way to Arsenal games during those glorious first ten years of Arsene Wenger's tenure that followed the release of Fever Pitch.

I first met Nick Hornby as he emerged from the toilet of The Gunners pub, where me and Dalboy were watching the away game to Werder Bremen in the 1/4 final of the UEFA cup in 2001.  I say met, I merely said hello and shook his hand and hoped that he'd washed it before coming out.  The second time I met him was in a facsimile situation to the final scene in Fever Pitch, in which fans take to the streets outside the ground to celebrate a league title win.  This was 2004, as opposed to 1989 in the film, and again, Dalboy and me had watched the match against Spurs in a local pub (The 12 Pins in Finsbury Park) in which we sealed the title having not lost a league game all season.  To celebrate the 'Invincibles' title, we headed down to Highbury to join in the drinking and singing and there he was, as if appearing in his own film, which I pointed out to him in my drunken revelry, and I got him to sign my season ticket that day.

Despite a gradual falling out-of-love with football (and to an extent, a falling-into-animosity towards it) and an eventual overwhelming indifference to Arsenal by about 2015, none of my current feelings detract from the nostalgic joy I extract from the memories of hundreds of games I attended from 1987 until that time, nor the emotional investment I had in Arsenal for all those years.  Such was my devotion to the Arsenal, that the first time I watched Fever Pitch, Jen kept turning to me at moments in the film to say, 'That's so you, that is.'  The similarities to the main character were numerous and uncanny and best summed up when, on this first viewing, both he and I reacted in exactly the same way to a crass comment made by (ex-Spurs manager and co-commentator during that famed Liverpool-Arsenal match) David Pleat a few minutes from the final whistle.  With Arsenal 1-0 up and needing a 2nd to win the league, he says, 'Although Arsenal aren't going to win the Championship, it is somewhat poetic justice that they have a result on the night.'  As I probably did in 1989 as well, I shouted at the screen - in tandem with Colin Firth, who plays Paul in Fever Pitch - FUCK OFF PLEAT! Our anger was soon assuaged, as Michael Thomas scored Arsenal's 2nd moments later and the 'unbelievable climax to the league season' sent us wild and jubilant in a way football did again and again for many years after.