Author Archives: Paul

I’ve a feeling he might have done. Interviewed about his political views, he famously said, “I believe very strongly in fascism. The only way we can speed up the sort of liberalism that’s hanging foul in the air at the moment is a right-wing, totally dictatorial tyranny and get it over as fast as possible”. […]

And do you know why? Because I was 2 years and 11 months old. Precisely the age Caitlin Moran was when she claims she first saw Kate Bush performing Wuthering Heights on Top of the Pops. On Desert Island Discs this morning, she remembered it so well. It was 1979, she said,(it was 1978) and […]

When Timmy Thomas’s original first hit the charts, there was a bit of strife in our family. My eldest sister had gone off to live with her boyfriend, without getting married first. Seems ridiculous now but in 1973, this was seen as the depth of bohemian depravity. In the heated discussions that preceded her departure, […]

Huge clamour for tickets to see Hamilton, the hit Broadway musical which transfers to the Victoria Palace theatre in London at the end of the year. I’ve been to the Victoria Palace before. Some time in the mid 80s, I saw Ray Charles there. At least I think I did. I’m sure I remember going […]

I’ve just finished AA Gill’s memoir Pour Me, a searingly candid account of the agony and indignities of alcoholism. But what surprised me was his admission that he believes in God. I had a similar shock when I discovered that Frank Skinner is a devout Catholic. These are two of the brightest, funniest and most […]

Not Bernie Taupin, not David Furnish but former England manager Graham Taylor, who died yesterday. For ten years between 1977 and 1987, theirs was one of football’s the most unlikely and successful partnerships. Elton John, a lifelong Watford fan, bought the club and hired Graham Taylor as manager. Taylor guided Watford from the Fourth to […]

I’ve always been a huge fan of The Kinks and Ray Davies. I treasure all those pink Pye singles that I’ve collected over the years. I nod whenever I see him (quite a lot) around Highgate or Muswell Hill. I went to see Sunny Afternoon long before it transferred to the West End but even […]

I used to have a fantastic Paul Smith reversible jacket. Dark brown suede one side, light showerproof mac the other. I had it for years until I generously and foolishly took it to the charity shop. Something I regret to this day. A reversible jacket is like a double A side single – two for […]

…was the surprise appearance on London’s streets of the old Routemaster bus. As the bus companies had to lay on extra buses this morning, a few of these 1960s icons were. They were a joy to behold, and not just for nostalgic reasons. Never was a vehicle so perfectly designed for purpose. With a conductor […]

…..that Tony Blackburn has been on air. He’s been written off so many times but still he bounces back. On Friday he began a new show on Radio 2, a year after the station sacked him for challenging a BBC story relating to the Savile enquiry. The corporation claimed, even though there was no record […]