Super Tony

About

Super Tony is the twelfth track on Under the Radar Vol. 1, written by Robbie Williams with Kelvin Andrews, Danny Spencer, Richard Scott and Scott Ralph, and produced by Andrews and Spencer. It is one of the album’s most eccentric songs, blending playful cabaret rhythms with sharply confessional lyrics. The piece originated years earlier under the working title Cocaine, which Williams premiered on his online “Radio Rudebox” show in 2011 before reworking it for this release.

Musically, the song channels a 1960s music-hall spirit, full of swaggering horns, quick tempo changes and ironic cheerfulness. Beneath the humour lies a portrait of Williams during his hedonistic London years, when drug use and celebrity excess began to erode his sense of identity. He later said that Super Tony was his alter ego from that period, a figure shaped by ego, addiction and the desire to please others, describing it as “a jaunty, light-hearted look back at a time when I totally unravelled.”

The song’s bright, almost theatrical energy contrasts with its dark subject, producing an uneasy but compelling mix. Lyrical flashes such as “shovelling snow with the best of the worst” and “everyone trying to be someone else” show Williams’ gift for balancing humour and honesty while confronting self-destruction through satire.

“I am Super Tony, and it’s a moniker I gave myself while writing this song. It’s a jaunty, light-hearted look back at a period of my life where I totally unravelled and lost myself and my personality.”Robbie Williams

Super Tony closes the album’s more theatrical section with a wink and a warning, pairing irresistible melody with candid reflection on the perils of fame and excess.