making it through the John Barry Seven

“I really love this place, it has made a happy man very old.” “The food is great here, a million flies can’t be wrong.” “Quiet please, you’re not here to enjoy yourselves.”

Dr. Jim Marshall OBE who founded the British amplification company Marshall, has died at the age of 88. Now there was a man who made a difference fifty years ago when he started the company. It just grew and grew, and got louder and louder. Sadly we did not manage to film him before he…

This month, I shall mostly be doing – editing. Ah the Fast Show lives on. No interviews scheduled for a while as we try and catch up on the backlog armed only with a bottle of copydex and an old razor blade – well not really, ok it is Final Cut and a library of…

One interview this week with Dave Cooper who played Farfisa in a Sixties group based on the south coast. In those days they had to allow four hours from leaving home to getting to the Marquee Club, such were the roads. He says he watched a bloke there play the guitar with his teeth and…

The Last Waltz Lyricist Barry Mason walked into a men’s toilet and standing next to him was a builder whistling “The Last Waltz”. Barry, very proud, turned to the man and said “I wrote that that song”. The builder looked at Barry and said “No you didn’t – Les Reed did”. Barry replied “Ah, but…

Michael Jackson at Wembley Jackson played an unprecedented seven sell out concerts at Wembley Stadium on the BAD tour summer 1988 putting him in the Guinness Book of World Records. Demand was such that there could have been another seven but Brent Council had capped the number of concert licenses for the Stadium at 8…

This week we have planned a session with Les Reed – doyen of songwriters

another busy week with four interviews scheduled to take place – well we got three done; Peter Jamieson with whom we discussed EMI’s structure worldwide pre and post his becoming their youngest MD as well ashis side of how the NOW! series came into being – the most successful EMI happening financially since the Beatles,…