Author Archives: Paul

I’m not talking about the classic Bobby Womack album from which this was the standout track, I’m talking about Pam Ayres, this morning’s castaway on Desert Island Discs. I met her once at a recording studio and she was exactly as you’d want her to be. Warm, kind, clever and funny. The only surprise is […]

For the second time. To the same man. The first time round was in the late 60s, they were both nineteen and were perfectly happy for about thirty years. Then they moved to America and it all went wrong. My sister came home and her (by now, ex) husband followed a few years later. Gradually […]

I’m talking about cars because I’ve started getting very nostalgic about old cars I used to own. I’ve suddenly realised that I can see them all on Google Images. Identical models to the ones I once drove. Today I was getting misty-eyed about a 1974 special edition VW Beetle “Jeans” that I bought back in […]

Poor Simon Mayo. A talented, intelligent and exceptionally nice broadcaster whose Radio 2 Drivetime Show was enjoying record listening figures. But now it’s all gone horribly wrong. As part of the BBC’s initiative to get more women on to the primetime schedules, he’s been lumbered with Jo Whiley as his co-presenter. It’s a disaster but […]

Paul Madeley died last week. He was an astonishingly versatile footballer, enjoying great success throughout the 60s and 70s with Leeds United and England. At Leeds, he played in every position except goalkeeper. But what really set Madeley apart was his attitude and how different it was from other footballers even then. In 1970, Sir […]

On BBC Radio London around 1978, a great reggae show was hosted on alternate weeks by David Rodigan and Tony Williams. Whereas Rodigan was a trained actor – smooth, white and middle-class – Williams was Jamaican, grittier and more urban than urbane. As Rodigan moved on to fame, fortune and an MBE, Williams was left […]

If you live in Britain, I imagine you felt much better than you have for weeks. For the first time in a while, you probably got a decent night’s sleep. Yes, it’s been a great summer but the stifling heat and lack of wind had become almost unbearable. Last night we had some very welcome […]

I don’t mean return to the World’s Shortest Radio Show. I mean play a Gary Glitter trick. We all know what he did and because of the vile nature of his crimes, he’s been airbrushed out of pop history. I’m not condoning those crimes. In fact, I don’t think he can ever be forgiven or […]

Kenny Dalglish was knighted yesterday in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List. And not before time. He remains the greatest player ever to wear Liverpool’s famous red shirt. And as a player and manager he achieved more than his fellow footballing knights Geoff Hurst, Bobby Robson and Trevor Brooking put together. But it’s what he achieved […]

RIP Peter Stringfellow. For so long regarded as a naff figure of fun that it’s easy to forget that in the 80s he really was the epitome of cool. Stringfellow’s was the most glamorous nightclub in London and its eponymous owner a brilliant frontman. I met him because I worked there for two nights while […]