vocals with him for Paul Young’s Q-Tips at Bristol University. There was a period where I broadcast my show from a different university each week. The idea behind those shows was that I did my radio show, followed by a live set from such artists as the Tourists, the Photos, the Lambrettas and Nine Below Zero. The Bristol night was memorable for not only sharing a mic with the man who sang ‘Knock on Wood’, but also the terrible news that Led Zeppelin’s drummer, John Bonham, had died. The seasonal show featured Slade and was storming along at a rate of Wolverhampton (or whatever the Uni was called at the time) knots towards the inevitable Christmas finale when Noddy Holder announced a special guest that was going to sing ‘Merry Xmas Everybody’ with them. I’m not quite sure who I was expecting, but I wasn’t expecting it to be me. Well, this would be a moment, then. Sadly not. A chord was struck, the power went and the place was in darkness. My small but heartfelt groan of disappointment was drowned by the vocal lament of hundreds of equally disappointed West Midlands students, probably scarred for life by this musical
coitus interruptus
. How could the god of music, ‘Mr Apollo’, of whom the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band once sang, be so cruel? Would the chance ever come again? For those folk, like Dave Hill and Don Powell, only reading this book for the Slade bits, fast forwardto 1991 and then again to 2013, when at last I got to join the band on stage to sing one of the country’s favourite Christmas songs.
In complete contrast to the first debacle representing the country’s number one station, hosting
The Year of the Child
was a pretty smooth ride. The UN had proclaimed 1979 the International Year of the Child and this show formed part of the celebrations. It was organised by Major Michael Parker, now Major Sir Michael Parker, although I can’t remotely lay claim to the fact that my hosting the event helped steer a knighthood in his direction. With many military tattoos and the Silver Jubilee under his belt and Charles and Diana’s wedding yet to come, he was at the helm of this great occasion, which included some 10,000 young people from around the world, in a torchlight procession down The Mall. Hundreds more, technically known as ‘the Choir’, were squashed into the forecourt of Buckingham Palace, flaming torches in one hand and words in the other. I was hosting the event from a specially erected platform on Sir Aston Webb’s 1911 Victoria Memorial in front of Buckingham Palace, the façade of which he’d also redesigned in 1913. Do not for one moment imagine that this is mere architectural posturing. There is a point to it. Admiralty Arch was his too, incidentally. For many years I would go out with his great-niece, Alison Jenkins, and later become godfather to her delightful boys, Milo and Rawdon. The great news for architectural historians is that Aston Webb will re-appear, albeit briefly, a little later on. Anyway, on The Mall I kept the crowds entertained and abreast of the order of events, before announcing HM The Queen and HRH Prince Charles as they appeared on the balcony through the pall of smoke rising from hundreds of flaming torches. I introduced Cliff Richard, who was down to sing a few carols and whip the crowd into a seasonal frenzy. After a few songs he graciously invited me to come and join him at the microphone. I wondered how many artists, in that situation, being filmed, with footage going around the world and in the presence of the Queen and the Prince of Wales, would be happy to share the moment.We were invited into the Palace after the event and waited for HM to arrive. Cliff whispered, ‘I’ll bet she brings the corgis.’ Was he a seer and clairvoyant as well as the purveyor of hit songs? Clearly. In came the Welsh canine vanguard right on cue. We talked with HM about the magnitude of the event and the children losing time during the singing.
‘Oh,’ said Her Majesty,
coitus interruptus
. How could the god of music, ‘Mr Apollo’, of whom the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band once sang, be so cruel? Would the chance ever come again? For those folk, like Dave Hill and Don Powell, only reading this book for the Slade bits, fast forwardto 1991 and then again to 2013, when at last I got to join the band on stage to sing one of the country’s favourite Christmas songs.
In complete contrast to the first debacle representing the country’s number one station, hosting
The Year of the Child
was a pretty smooth ride. The UN had proclaimed 1979 the International Year of the Child and this show formed part of the celebrations. It was organised by Major Michael Parker, now Major Sir Michael Parker, although I can’t remotely lay claim to the fact that my hosting the event helped steer a knighthood in his direction. With many military tattoos and the Silver Jubilee under his belt and Charles and Diana’s wedding yet to come, he was at the helm of this great occasion, which included some 10,000 young people from around the world, in a torchlight procession down The Mall. Hundreds more, technically known as ‘the Choir’, were squashed into the forecourt of Buckingham Palace, flaming torches in one hand and words in the other. I was hosting the event from a specially erected platform on Sir Aston Webb’s 1911 Victoria Memorial in front of Buckingham Palace, the façade of which he’d also redesigned in 1913. Do not for one moment imagine that this is mere architectural posturing. There is a point to it. Admiralty Arch was his too, incidentally. For many years I would go out with his great-niece, Alison Jenkins, and later become godfather to her delightful boys, Milo and Rawdon. The great news for architectural historians is that Aston Webb will re-appear, albeit briefly, a little later on. Anyway, on The Mall I kept the crowds entertained and abreast of the order of events, before announcing HM The Queen and HRH Prince Charles as they appeared on the balcony through the pall of smoke rising from hundreds of flaming torches. I introduced Cliff Richard, who was down to sing a few carols and whip the crowd into a seasonal frenzy. After a few songs he graciously invited me to come and join him at the microphone. I wondered how many artists, in that situation, being filmed, with footage going around the world and in the presence of the Queen and the Prince of Wales, would be happy to share the moment.We were invited into the Palace after the event and waited for HM to arrive. Cliff whispered, ‘I’ll bet she brings the corgis.’ Was he a seer and clairvoyant as well as the purveyor of hit songs? Clearly. In came the Welsh canine vanguard right on cue. We talked with HM about the magnitude of the event and the children losing time during the singing.
‘Oh,’ said Her Majesty,