…but Richard Thorncroft can, as his legendary long-lost single of the same name is released digitally today. UPDATE! The music video is now available too, and can be watched at the bottom of this post.

The track features in Mindhorn – the new film written by and starring Julian Barratt and Simon Farnaby and directed by Sean Foley – based on the life of Richard Thorncroft. The actor was the star of the short-lived detective series Mindhorn back in the late 80s, filmed on the Isle of Mann, and which led to the rise of long-running smash hit spin-off Windjammer.

When the show ended, Thorncroft attempted a move to Hollywood which unfortunately fell flat, before starting a brief assault on the pop charts. You Can’t Handcuff the Wind wasn’t a big hit, but it’s retained a loyal following ever since, and has been the source of a long-running joke behind the scenes with TVO regulars, as the guitarist in Thorncroft’s band looks remarkably like Stephen Evans. You can see this for yourself in the original music video, which we’ve linked below.

Second hand copies of the single have been fetching astronomical figures in recent weeks, and despite rumours of a Record Store Day repressing a few years ago, it looked like the song was forever to languish in obscurity. However, the track now features in the film adaptation of Richard’s involvement in a real life murder mystery recently.

The film, which also stars Essie Davies, Russell Tovey and Steve Coogan, is released in cinemas nationwide on 5th May, and that’s prompted the release of the single as a digital download, which can be purchased on Amazon, iTunes and other digital retailers, or streamed via Spotify and the like now.

TVO will be bringing you some exclusive Mindhorn content in the days to come, so keep on peeling…