Famous People

Nellie of Vancouver suggested rather strongly that I should put the text of an email reply that I sent her on my blog. I looked at it and thought, "no, wouldn't read right without the rest of our conversation as background" so, instead, here is an amended version. The original was all about "Famous People From Mitcham", that's where I grew up. This version will include most of those people, because I met, or probably met, most of them at some stage. This is about famous people I have met. Well, in some cases, as you'll see, I didn't actually MEET them, but had some other contact over and above just, say, seeing them on stage somewhere.

1. 1964. Chas Chandler - Famous because: Bass player of the Animals, later manager of Slade and others. Place: Mitcham Carnival. Nature of Encouter: Getting sworn at. How: A friend and I had gone to the carnival because.....well, because that's what you do when you're 12 and there's a carnival. The Animals had gone there because, although they were now famous with "House Of The Rising Sun" blaring from every tranny for miles, they were, I guess, still playing gigs that were booked before anyone had heard of them. We had heard of them, liked them, but they weren't the reason we were there. I'm not even sure we knew they were going to be. Anyway, sneaking across the front of the little stage they were playing on, I happened to catch my foot in the the cable that connected (I can now reason) Chas's bass to the monitor. It came out. The bass went quiet. Chas got loud. This is a family blog so I can't tell you what he said. It was in Geordie, anyway, a language I didn't learn until much later, so I don't even really KNOW exactly what he yelled. Such was his eloquence, however, that the sense was perfectly clear, even to my 12 year old ears. Whatever he wished on me has not happened yet so there's not even a clue there either.

2. 1965 (ish). Ken Barrington. Famous because: Cricketer, Surrey and England. Place: Mitcham Cricket Green. Nature of encounter: Actually I think this happened more than once. Ken was a local lad, by now in the later stages of his career and he used to come back to Mitcham annually (I think) for testimonial and other fund raising cricket matches at his old club. Like most cricket watchers, he could not sit still for a whole game and neither could I or the friends I was with. So we'd all walk aroud the rope that acts as a boundary to the playing field. Someone always spotted Ken and wanted his autograph. I never got one; not that much of a cricket, or autograph, fan, but several friends did.

3. Eary 1960s. John Rostill. Famous because: Another bass player, this time with the Shadows. He was their third, from about 1963 on and was another local lad. For those that don't know (that would be the non-brits), the Shadows were, among other things, Cliff Richard's backing group. Cliff was the biggest pop sensation Britain ever saw until the Beatles came along (and he's STILL big!) so that made the Shadows quite a big thing, even BEFORE allowing that they were, in their own right, the biggest, and best, instrumental group to come out of the UK, like, EVER. Nature of Encounter: He probably sold me lightbulbs or something. How: Actually, I don't KNOW that I met him (I warned you this would happen, remember?). I only know that it was widely believed in Mitchamian circles for many years that John Rostill, before finding fame and fortune, had worked in Mitcham Woolworth's. This would have been in the late 1950s and/or very early 60s; roughly between the ages of 6 and 10 for me. I was in Woolworth's at least once a week through those years, either with my mother, buying lightbulbs or the U.P.O.'s* for which Woollies were famous, or on my own or with friends buying toys, caps for our guns, cheap birthday presents for relatives or just getting out of the rain. I reckon John MUST have sold me something, loads of times probably, but since his name badge didn't say "Future Famous Dude", I totally failed to notice.
*U.P.O's are Unnecessary Plastic Objects. The phrase belongs to singer Nancy Griffiths, I turned it into an acronym some years back and find it very useful. Be my guest.

4. 1967. Tony Blackburn. Famous because: A disc jockey, formerly on the Radio Caroline pirate station but, by the Summer of '67, absorbed into the warm innards of the Beeb Beeb Ceeb, Radio 1 where he achieved much wider fame. The butt of many jokes down the years for his lameness and uncoolitude, he was, for a time and very incongruously, something of a heart-throb with the young girls of the age. Where: Tooting & Mitcham Football Club, Sandy Lane, Mitcham. Nature of encounter: There was a charity 6-a-side tournament held every year at T&M, where I was a regular supporter. Some friends and I had gone and, because Tony was going to be there as a ribbon-cutting, fund-raising-celeb, a girl of our acquaintance who later acquired some claim to the title "My First Girlfriend" (there are other contenders, it depends on your criteria) had come along too; not for the football, you understand, for Tony. Well, Tony was on one side of the field, under cover in the stand (the "VIP box") and we were opposite, on the terraces. At a certain point (have I mentioned it was raining tigers and wolves?) it became clear that Tony was signing autographs. The girl in question produced a very pink autograph book and started to explain what a shame it was that there were no chivalrous gentlemen around who would go and stand in the rain holding a pink autograph book waiting for Tony Blackburn's autograph so that her life could be made complete. Well, she was right, no chivalrous gentlemen around. There WAS, however, one besotted muggins. And that's how I "met" Tony Blackburn.

I have a problem with the power cable on my lap-top and the battery's almost kaputt so that's gonna haveta be all for tonight. I'll try to finish this soon. By the way, I applied for a job today. Next time.