The first star I had ever had a crush on….

….was Lynsey de Paul – petite, beautiful and immensely talented. So I was saddened today to hear of her sudden death. When she sang this on Top of the Pops, I remember thinking “Blimey, I’d dance with you”. Though I’m not sure a frizzy-haired kid, still at primary school, was the “somebody’ she had in mind. In real life, according to my friend Phil Dale who used to be her agent, she was loyal, smart and sassy – nothing like the “lonely wallflower” depicted in this famous song. She never married but was romantically linked with James Coburn, Ringo Starr, Dudley Moore and (inevitably) George Best. And yet – listen carefully at 3:07 – the lucky man who gets to dance with her is Ed “Stewpot” Stewart.