Danny Dyer on performing Blur’s ‘Parklife’ with Robbie Williams: “I just channelled my inner Phil Daniels”
Danny Dyer has spoken about his recent collaboration with Robbie Williams on stage at BST Hyde Park for a version of Blur’s ‘Parklife’.
The unlikely pairing came together midway through Williams’ set on Saturday (July 6), with Dyer singing the cockney spoken-words parts of the 1994 song, first made famous by actor Phil Daniels.
Speaking about the collaboration, Dyer told Radio X that he was approached by Williams during a recent Soccer Aid event.
“I was like, what? Are you sure about this?'” said Dyer. “And he went, ‘I’ve never been more sure of anything,’ So I said yes, and then I thought, ‘Oh now I’ve got to do it.’
“So, you know. I love the tune. I love Robbie and we done it. We done it. It was great. It was a real moment. I think it went down really well, you know.”
He added: “Once I started I was sweet. And I listened to the song a lot. You’ve got to prepare, you know and I just channelled my inner Phil Daniels.”
Dyer had also joined Williams during the show’s opening video sequence, in which the ‘Angels’ singer was seen marching backstage, flanked by the Football Factory actor, as well as Supergrass’ Gaz Coombes.
When asked if he was nervous about the team up, he added: “Oh God yeah. I can’t lie to you. This is well out of my comfort zone. I’ve done some nutty things over the years, I’ve done a lot of theatre of course… You know, I didn’t come on until about song seven and I went down there to have a look and you get a glimpse of about 65,000 people and of course it’s the ear pieces.
“And I didn’t want these ear pieces in, but they say you have to have them because of course there’s a delay and it was cutting out every two minutes and sometimes what you gotta do is just face the fear and do it anyway.”
Dyer also went on to praise Williams and said he’s “got some tunes in his locker that man.”
He went on: “He’s a very spiritual man as well. We all did the big huddle before the show. I was part of his band and you know, the dancers and everything and you’re like ‘Wow’.
“Sometimes these things come along and you’ve got to grab hold of them, you know? I’m doing some mad stuff at the moment. I’m on a mad run. I pretended to be a footballer at Soccer Aid and then I pretended to be a rock star.”
Remaining artists who are still set to perform as part of the series of BST Hyde Park shows include Stevie Nicks (July 12), Kylie Minogue (July 13) and Stray Kids (July 14).
Elsewhere, Williams previously revealed that he has “written loads of songs” for a new album and is feeling “full of purpose and loving life”.
The post Danny Dyer on performing Blur’s ‘Parklife’ with Robbie Williams: “I just channelled my inner Phil Daniels” appeared first on NME.
Damian Jones
NME
