Author Archives: Paul

Though I did think that Ian Paisley, who died yesterday, was already dead. His huge, thundering presence was such a big part of British life that I assumed his more recent silence meant he was no longer with us. It’s impossible to overstate how famous, or infamous, he was in the 70s and 80s. Think […]

So he took me along last night. It was the Hen & Chickens in Islington, a tiny venue holding no more than sixty people. The world’s most “inappropriate” comic was uncomfortably close so it was the only time I’ve seen the back seats taken first and the front row last. Frankie was trying out new […]

Great film based on the true story of London’s gay and lesbian community raising money for striking miners and forging a unlikely alliance. I remember all that very well, particularly the brilliant “Pits & Perverts” fundraising gig at the Electric Ballroom. It’s a funny, moving and faithful depiction of a very different era when people […]

I’ve always been fascinated by this song. Barry Ryan was a 60s teen idol who first found fame with his twin brother as one half of Paul & Barry Ryan. Then in late ’68, he stormed the charts with this. It was a stupendously histrionic production with which Barry’s vocals simply couldn’t cope. It’s all […]

And back in the mid 80s, he was part of a crew renovating Freddie Mercury’s house in Kensington. Freddie was throwing a huge party for his 40th birthday and needed everything finished in time. The builders worked round the clock managed to get it all done minutes before the guests arrived. Freddie was so grateful […]

Who died in New York this afternoon aged 81. Born in Brooklyn, she was the embodiment of the wise cracking New York broad and I loved her. I saw her fabulous one woman show one Sunday night in Shaftesbury Avenue around 1992 and I think that my date and I were possibly the only heterosexuals […]

Or more precisely, to the National Portrait Gallery with my daughter for the Virginia Woolf exhibition. She’s reading To The Lighthouse for A Level. I did too and loathed what I can remember of it. Still, I thought, maybe I was too immature to appreciate the true genius of Virginia Woolf. This might be a […]

…on a special 6 Music programme yesterday to celebrate what would have been the great man’s 75th birthday. Tributes were paid to Peel the broadcaster and Peel the human being but no mention of Peel the advertising voiceover. I worked with this incarnation in the 90s when his trustworthy tones were in great demand. And […]

76 in a 40 so I can hardly complain. In my defence, I was high up on the flyover over Staples Corner, causing no danger to anyone. But the Old Bill and a laser gun were waiting for me as I came down. When they asked why I was going so fast, I told them […]