After a long absence, MORE FAMOUS PEOPLE

The apologies for my long neglect of this blog are, I know, wearing thin. I am therefore not going to make any more - so there.

Before the two posts about poor L'Uther, I was boring everyone with my encounters with famous people as suggested (sort of) by Nellie Of Vancouver.

We were in 1967, I believe, and had just met Tony Blackburn. Oh wow, how could you all have waited so long to see who's next???

Wait no longer, gentle readers, for, with a new simplified format, here is the continuation.

1968. Les Gray and the rest of MUD. "Who?" I hear the non Brits in the audience asking. Well, some years later, about 1971, I think, Mud became quite the pop sensation. They were part of the same Chinn & Chapman stable that gave the world The Sweet, to name but three. Hits like "Tiger Feet", "The Cat Crept In", "Lonely This Christmas" and "L'L'L'Lucy" abounded for several years. Back in '67, though, they were a struggling local group, playing, among other things, school dances. That's how I met them. They were a wannabe psychedelic group back then; they ALL were. Their first single for CBS was even called "Flower Power" ! It was pretty poor and sold both its copies at Thorpe's Record Bar (qv). I was a wannabe too at the time (we all were), but I was a wannabe drummer. I had the sense of rhythm (still do) but not the dexterity (still don't). Anyway, one sad, best forgotten night, I actually got to play their kit for a while, in front of about 20 people in our school hall. We were the "support" act (mostly to make them feel important I think, for we served no other purpose). Our school dances were odd affairs, mostly because we were a boys only school and, although the girls' school were invited, only about six usually showed up and the whole point was to hear the band (note the singular) and get to the pub before it closed. The only converstation I remember was with the drummer (natch, although his name escapes me) and it wasn't so much a conversation as it was a warning concerning what would happen to me if I hurt his drums. I didn't. That was the only success that night.

There are probably more in between but the next one that comes to mind is......

1976. Rolf Harris. This is one of the biggies. Both because Rolf is genuinely famous just about everywhere and because I actually did meet meet the man, FOUR times, and had a conversation with him each time. Wow, so close to greatness.
I was staying in a hotel in Newcastle-Upon Tyne where I was working for the week. Rolf and his TV crew were staying there too, while shooting an episode of a TV show where Rolf went to primary schools and sang and painted with/for the kids. I never got to see the Geordie episode, though I deliberately watched the show when I could in the hope that I would.
Our meetings took place over breakfast. The first morning, Monday, I went into the restaurant of the hotel to see that a long table had been put together down he middle of it and about 16 or so people were all having brekkie together. I paid no real attention. The waitress warned me, though, in her best Geordie, that my "Full English" might "tek a mite langer" because they were "Jest afta tekkin a big orda y'see pet",and she pointed knowingly at the big table. When I looked where she pointed, I saw a very familiar face - Rolf - smiling back at me, presumably having heard the waitress. I smiled back, like you do, and stuck my head in my book.
Some while later, the crowd at the big table had thinned to just Rolf and a couple of producer types, everybody esle having gone off to set up the day's shoot. I could hear the jokes passing back and forth and laughed at something I'd heard. Rolf shouted over something like, "Bring yer coffee over'ere sport, no good sittin' over there on y'r own". So I did. Sat there with them for another 20 minutes or so before we all trotted off to work. Same thing the next three days.
Now, Rolf has taken some flak down the years for things like "Two Little Boys", "Stairway To Heaven" (yes, he covered it) et al but let me go on record as saying he was the nicest, funniest, humblest and definitely friendliest celebrity I could ever wish to meet. I'm sure he doesn't remember me from Jan '76 in Newcastle but, if I should ever run into him again, he's the ONLY one on all this list whose memory I would feel comfortable enough to jog. Fair play to you Rolf, you're a true star.

More soon
Dyve out.