The Saturday List #362 - My top ten namedropping list!

 First a quick explanation. The last list in this series was #499, you may wonder why the number has gone backwards? Well its entirely due to my incompetence. When I got to blog 361, I missed 20. I realised as I compiled the full list, that there was a 20 blog gap! So here we go.

Running a studio, doing acting, playing in a band, I've met a few celebrities. Here is my top ten namedropping list

1. David Soul. I always say he's the most famous man to use the studios. A true gent, back in the 1970's Starsky and Hutch was the most iconic cop show on TV. David moved to London and used the studios a few times. Always happy to have a selfie with customers and staff. 

2. Sir Tom Jones. The most famous British person to use the studios. He rehearsed for an appearance on TOTP with Chicane. When he came down, we were having building work done and our bathrooms were portaloos. I was mortified. Tom came in and asked for a tea and where the loo was. I profusely apologised for not having proper bathrooms. Tom made his visit, came back for his tea and said "Don't worry about the facilities, I've played worse toilets than that!". After that, we realised he was a decent, down to earth guy!

3. Stephen Fry. I appeared as an extra in a film called The Tichborne Claimant. Stephen Fry was a leading character. We had a good chat on the set. He was a funny guy, very friendly (I can't say the same about Brian May of Queen, who was on set as his missus Anita Dobson was also in the film).

4. Dickie Bird. The legendary cricket umpire was at a black tie dinner I was at. He was the guest speaker. After the speeches, I spoke to him at the bar. I am not really a cricket fan, but his anecdotes were brilliant. An honour to meet him

5. Jimmy Page. I was visiting my sister in Fort Lauderdale and we went to a bar she liked, in one of the local marinas. When I went up to the bar, there was a guy I sort of recognised, obviously a muso. I assumed he was a studio customer. We had a chat about guitars as we waited for our beers.When I brought the beers back, my sister said "I didn't realised you knew Jimmy Page". I felt like a bit of a muppet, but he nodded to me when he left!

6. Tony Blackburn. Tony lives locally. He has a child the same age as my eldest. Where the Harvester is in Mill Hill used to be a childrens soft play area called Wacky Warehouse. Tony would take his family at the same time I did most weeks. We'd sit there and talk about Soul music. Tony knows his stuff. He gave me several recommendations of obscure B-sides etc that were worth a listen. Sadly The False Dots were inactive, so I couldn't slip him a single!

7. The Archbishop of Canterbury and Mick Jones of The Clash. In about 1978, I found myself at Paddington Station in a queue for train tickets. In front of me was The Archbishop of Canterbury and behind me was Mick Jones of the Clash. As the Archbishop ordered his ticket, I looked at Mick and he looked at me. I said "When I got up this morning, I never thought I'd be sandwiched between you and the Archbishop of Canterbury". Mick giggled and smiled. 

8. David Bailey. The legendary photographer took my picture several times when I was doing child modelling. I have to confess I have no recollection at all of this, but my mum told me of this. My Mum didn't like him. At one shoot, she got chatting to his girlfriend, who she liked and then Bailey dumped her. My mum thought that he was not a nice man for doing that. 

9. Captain Sensible and the Damned. Used to be regular studio customers. I got on well with the Captain, as he shares lots of interests with me beyond punk rock. When I saw the band at Euston Station recently, I got chatting to Captain and I nearly missed my train. 

10. Amy Winehouse. Amy rehearsed at the studio for several years before she made it. She knew us all. I was tempted to put her first, but thought I'd save best until last. He was always lovely in our company and I cried when I heard she'd passed away. We sold her the guitar she played on her first TV performance. A blue Mexican Stratocaster.