So as I write this, I've just had breakfast with Harry Redknapp, via a Zoom chat. What a lovely bloke he was too. One of my friends was given an on line breakfast Zoom chat for up to eight people with Harry as a birthday present. His sister in law won it in a Charity Auction. So at 9am, we all adjourned to Paul's house, had bacon rolls and at 9.30 Harry came on line for a chat. It was a really pleasant way to spend the morning. Harry knew Mill Hill from when his son Jamie was at Spurs and they trained at Chase Lodge. He mentioned that he loved the Good Earth, we all do. We were there on Thursday for my son's birthday. His view of the best England Player? Bobby Moore. He also told us of how he was next to Glen Hoddle when he collapsed at Sky Studios and how it was a close run thing. He said that everyone should do a first aid course. HE overran by 10 minutes and it was a real pleasure. A mate said at the end "Another name for you to drop!". So in light of that, I really thought I should compile a list of my top ten name drops.
1. Harry Redknapp, It would be rude not to start with Harry today!
2. Hank Marvin. Hank's son Paul was in the False Dots and Hank wrote the guitar lick for our song Not all She Seems. I could hardly play, when we had a rehearsal at his house in Radlett. Hank said "You don't need to play complicated riffs, the simpler the better" and showed me how a simple, six note descending pentatonic riff could transform a song. We still play it, although we lost touch with Hank when Paul left the band.
3. Lee Thompson. Lee has used the studio for many years and is a mate. He played Sax for us on Saturday, he's a great bloke. He's a great sax player, I think many don't give him the credit he deserves.
4. David Bailey. When I did modelling as a child, David Bailey regularly photographed me. My mum wasn't too keen but he was a great photographer and knew how to get a smile and giggle for a great shot. He also had a string of amazing looking girlfriends. I wanted to be a photographer.
5. Stephen Fry. There is a film called "The Tichborne Claimant", which starred Stephen. I was an extra, which was fun. I had a long chat with Stephen, who was a hoot.
6. Joe Corrigan. When I was at primary school, I really wanted to be a goalkeeper. I was a City fan and my hero was the great Joe Corrigan. I went to watch England at Wembley. My Dad knew someone in the FA and we got the best seats. When I went to get some fizzy pop, I was delighted to see Joe Corrigan in front of me in the queue. I very sheepishly tapped him and asked for his autograph. He unceremoniously told me to Fuck Off. I sort of assumed I deserved it and never held a grudge, not everyone has been told to fuck off by the great Joe Corrigan!
7. Tony Blackburn. I spent many a morning chatting to Tony about 25 years ago. His children are the same age as mine and we'd both take them to the Whacky Warehouse at The Green Man Mill Hill. We'd be having a tea and a chat about music. Tony has a brilliant knowledge of Soul Music and is always charming.
8. Sporty Spice. I used to be a member of David Lloyds fitness club in Finchley. I'd go three times a week and run 10k. My favourite machine was the second from the end. I am very superstitious and always gave to use the same machine. Sporty would always use the one on the end next to me. I'd never hassle her. We'd always smile and nod and do our workout. She'd do a longer workout than me, but one time we finished at the same time. As we were getting off, I casually said "How did you get on?" She said "I was feeling a bit tight today so not as well as usual". She then said "by the way thanks, I always run next to you as you never hassle me when we are running and let me get on with it, everyone else wants to chat and asks me to open their kids fete's". I said "Yeah, I have noticed." After that we'd nod and smile a bit more warmly when we ran next to each other,
9. Mike and Bernie Winters. They used to be customers of the Day of The Raj. My old Bass player Paul Hircombe had a Jack Russell terrier called Reg. Often we'd walk the dog together after a rehearsal, to chat about the musical arrangements. Bernie would always stop and ask Paul how Reg was getting on.
10. Michael Portillo. I once met Michael Portillo on a train to Edinburgh. I was going to Newcastle for work, Portillo was going to address the Scottish Tory conference. He was sitting on the table next to mine. I got chatting to him. I mentioned he'd been at school with my accountant. I told him that he should lighten up a bit in his presentation because he always came across as a miserable sod when he was on TV, whereas he was quite a nice bloke to chat to. I think he took it on board!
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