Tom Hanks questioned his decision to make Turner and Hooch 2...

Divine Comedy top dog Neil Hannon has a word...

He's the man behind the theme music for Father Ted and The IT Crowd, he spent last summer singing about cricket, he's just written a musical and now his band, The Divine Comedy, have released their tenth studio album. He's been so busy he missed the World Cup final. So the big question is, where did Neil Hannon find the time to speak to us? [More]

South Africa's traffic lights were certainly unique...

We speak to the band ready to open the greatest show on earth...

They're South Africa's biggest rock band and they've been chosen to play alongside the likes of Black Eyed Peas, Alicia Keys and Shakira at the FIFA World Cup opening concert on Thursday. Which just so happens to be the day ToePoke arrive in Johannesburg. Cue 20 minutes over the phone with lead singer Kahn Morbee in a vain attempt to blag a ticket. Also known as an interview... [More]

Bet you have never seen this picture before...

We talk to the ex Fulham star about sexy legs, painting the town with Keith Moon and a slow boat to Oz. And Des O' Conner.

You may not be aware of this but England won the World Cup in 1966. Shocked? Look up the history books, it's actually true. People in this country really need to mention it more often. Another fact you mate not be aware of is that in 1982, former Preston North End and Grimbsy footballer - turned singer - Cliff Portwood recorded a World Cup single with members of the '66 winning team. However, due to a technical issue (somebody forgot to press record?) the song never seen the light of day. Until now that is. We speak to Mr Portwood about the re-mastered single and his almost unbelievable life story. [More]

'Any chance we can take that one again? I think I might have blinked.'

The biggest band from the North East since PJ and Duncan talk about festivals, South American Sunderland and that God damn beach ball...

When we were offered the chance to interview Detroit Social Club, we jumped at the chance. Finally, an opportunity for ToePoke to break into that lucrative American market. There are tonnes of people living there. There must be literally millions of them who would be interested in a blog that focuses solely on the great game of football.

So imagine our disappointment when we found out Detroit Social Cub actually hail from Newcastle. The only thing Detroit and Newcastle have in common is mass unemployment. And maybe The Metrocentre. Still, while our dreams of American domination may have died, we did at least discover that frontman Dave Burn was a good guy and a Sunderland fan living in Newcastle to boot. Hardcore [More]

Rik Mayall talks to us about the World Cup, loving Cliff Richard and giving it to the Queen...

ToePoke enthusiasts may remember that we somewhat annoyed Rik Mayall recently when we suggested his unofficial World Cup anthem Noble England wasn't exactly great. We were happy enough with his metaphorical slap on the arse through Twitter but the man himself decided to follow that up with actually speaking to us in person. Apparently celebrities used to do things like this back in the 80's. We were only to happy to oblige and he turned out to be a thoroughly nice chap as well as a bit...well...mental. [More]

The terrible effect of drugs. And Maradonna looks like he might be on something too...

We talk to The Football Ramble's Luke Moore about the the show's success, Pompey's bittersweet season and not being a friend of the stars...

Regular readers of ToePoke have probably deduced that football pundits are not exactly on our list of 'people we like'. They tend to be on our list of 'people we think are annoying buffoons, whose bland, cliched views on football offer absolutely no insight into the game we love.' They also dress badly and are not funny. So thank the good Lord for The Football Ramble. They are funny, knowledgeable and for anyone who has not heard their weekly podcast - just think of the exact opposite of Jamie Redknapp. Ok, they might not dress that well but hey, you can't have it all... [More]

'Man, it's so boring in this flat since we stopped being able to nick free WIFI from Costa Coffee next door'

We talk to Campbell from The Courteeners about being big in Japan, being in Belgium and being beaten by Big Brother...

Back in the late 70's, everybody who was anybody had a Ford Cortina. It was, by far, the coolest family hatchback that money could buy. If your dad picked you up from school in one of those babies, you were instantly one of the coolest kids in school, even cooler than Zammo from Grange Hill, and he was taking heroin at 13. But then Ford went and ruined everything by introducing a new model with a tarpaulin roof.

Almost over-night the cool Cortina kids were treated as lepers and were... [More]

'Watch yourself son, that hand of yours is a bit too low for my liking.'

The final part the magnificant Strachan interview is finally here. Ok, need to go and start preparing that Pulitzer Prize acceptance speech...

After a rather guarded beginning, Strachan’s mood seems to have lifted and I seize the opportunity to steer the conversation back to his days at Celtic. During his time in Scotland, he was often critical of the ‘product’ of the Scottish Premier League, bemoaning the lack of quality. Does he think this a real problem facing the game in Scotland? [More]

'Why is this fanny dressing like a cowboy when he comes from Scotland?'

Ok, you can stop holding your breath, part two of the Gordon Strachan interview is finally here...

During his managerial career in England, Strachan viewed the press with some suspicion but his off-the-cuff answers to questions posed on camera directly after a game often provided moments of real hilarity. ‘A quick word Gordon?’...’Velocity.’ ‘This might be a stupid question Gordon?’…’You’re right, it is.’ Two examples of the many one-liners he delighted football fans with over the years... [More]

A deranged Scotsman. And Gordon Strachan...

In the first of our 'interviews we did for other magazines that never got published' features, we speak to everybody's favourite Ginja Ninja...

Hard as it may be to believe, working at ToePoke is not a full-time gig. We have other day jobs which include freelance writing and pot-washing. And just as the pots don't always get really cleaned, sometimes our interviews don't get published. This, may we add, has nothing to do with our writing skills but everything to do with bad luck and editorial decisions made above our insignificant heads. And maybe occasionally to do with our writing skills... [More]