Songwriter / music industry
During a visit to the West End this afternoon I walked the length of Marylebone High Street, stopping off at several of the area’s independent boutique outlets. I heartily recommend this corner of the city, just yards away from the mainstream bustle of Oxford Street.
An invigorating evening at the IET London, Savoy Place, WC2, courtesy of UK Music and their annual summer party. So many from the music industry and politics were on hand to network and hear speeches from UK Music Chief Executive Tom Kiehl, UK Music Chair Tom Watson, Culture Minister Chris Bryant and award-winning songwriter Michelle Escoffery.
A marvellous evening at the Phoenix Arts Club following an introduction to the energised music business event that is Quizwar! Definitely for lovers of a madcap approach to testing your knowledge of pop, rock, and industry insider information. Let alone daring to meet the challenges of the lyric karaoke, Japanese horse racing, and wheel of fortune rounds.
A proud moment last night as Ben received a special presentation from the Mayor of Croydon. 15 cadets from across the Borough and the Army, Navy, Air Force, Police and St Johns’ Ambulance, had been selected for the Greater London Cadet/Young People Awards.
Class hit songwriter and musician Graham Gouldman performed in Beckenham last night as part of the annual ‘Arts at St George’s festival. Graham, accompanied by an excellent acoustic trio of Iain Hornal and Keith Hayman, and Dave Cobby, delivered a marvellous set of hits including songs he had written for the Yardbirds (Heart full of soul, For your love), The Hollies (Bus stop, Look through any window), and Herman’s Hermits (No milk today).
I travelled into town today for lunch at St Pancras with one of my oldest friends, Chris Lawson. I have known Chris since we met at our first day at North London Poly in Holloway Road in September 1977. Having not seen him for some years, it was a pleasure to hear of his respected work in photography and training horses, plus to remind ourselves of our previous adventures sharing flats in the 1970s and 80s!
I enjoyed a very pleasant few hours at Cherry Lodge Golf Club in Biggin Hill, as members gathered for the combined Clare Yonge Memorial Golf and Beckenham Sports Club Days. Over fifty players and members of Clare’s family ensured a moving memorial event to our former President and the sun suitably shone throughout the day.
An important development in the production of my Waterloo Sunrise album today – the vinyl test pressings arrived from Key Production! A pristine five copies for our careful checking on a range of turntables and set ups. Thanks again to Ed and the team at Tileyard for their timely delivery.
With the Beckenham CC 4th XI not having a match this weekend, Ben was chosen to play with the 5th XI today at Wickham Park. Captained with verve by Peter Lee, this is always an enjoyable experience, although this particular side have had a difficult start to the season in terms of results.
PRS for Music held their annual Members’ Day event at the IET in Savoy Place this afternoon. This enables songwriters, composers and PRS staff to usefully meet and exchange enquiries and experiences. The music copyright collective presents a series of industry seminars specifically designed to assist its members with song registration, understanding their rights, and to discuss contemporary issues such as AI and composition.
Julie, Ben and I flew out to Rome from Gatwick last Saturday, 25th May, for a city break to mark my 65th birthday. We stayed for five nights at The Building Hotel in Via Montebello, which proved an ideal base for visiting the numerous world famous landmarks the eternal city has to offer.
A special moment as our son Ben turns 18. It’s been a long but rewarding journey from Princess Royal, Farnborough, in May 2006 to being an upstanding six foot two corporal in the cadets, student in Public Services at Bromley College, a bowler for Beckenham Cricket Club and a caring and thoughtful young man.
An exciting afternoon at Wembley Stadium as Bromley FC won promotion to the English Football League by defeating Solihull Moors in the National League Play Off Final.
I visited the Tileyard office of Key Production (London) Ltd in Kings Cross today and met Account Manager Ed Cawthorne, who was extremely helpful and informative as we discussed arrangements for the creation of the vinyl run of Waterloo Sunrise. My thanks to Ed and everyone in the supportive Key Production team.
Julie and I drove over the River in the rain this evening to Bethnal Green to catch Mylar performing at the Sebright Arms in Coate Street, E2. This particular live music venue is in the basement of an excellent pub.
A superb day in town. Firstly, I met the wonderful Debbie Rogerson, music supervisor at the BBC, for a coffee in Great Titchfield Street. A couple of hours passed in a flash as we exchanged stories of music, musicians and the media.
I enjoyed a memorable lunch today with John Smith, former MU General Secretary and currently Chair of PPL and President of the International Federation of Musicians, at the oldest Indian restaurant in London, the superb Veeraswamy in Regent Street. Many heartfelt thanks to John and PPL as the invitation was an acknowledgement of my work with the leading collecting society during my tenure as an MU official.
A very pleasant few hours at Slinfold Golf and Country Club, Horsham, Sussex, in the company of my son Ben and members of the Hayes family. The Four Seasons society was established in 1994 by the late Fred Hayes and is marking its 30th anniversary with a series of quarterly events.
The impending start of the cricket season often generates a flurry of action at Beckenham Cricket Club and so Ben, Julie and I could be found in the sunshine at Foxgrove Road for the annual ‘Ground Force Day.’
A landmark moment as I took delivery this evening of the signed-off digital file for All Over You from producer Greg Fitzgerald, which represents the last remastered track of my Birdcage album.
I drove to Bath yesterday to collect a large framed poster that Future, publishers of The Musician magazine for two decades, had kindly prepared as a gift to mark the years of my working with them.
Suzi Fussey certainly enjoyed a fascinating journey in her 20s, from burgeoning hairdresser in Beckenham High Street to working with numerous legends of the rock world.
I was recently invited to the latest music industry ‘moguls’ lunch by the highly-respected executive, Jay Mistry, and today I joined a fascinating group of business representatives at Mele e Pere Italian restaurant in Brewer Street, Soho.
A delightful afternoon with producer Greg Fitzgerald and mastering engineer Mike Thorne at the latter’s marvellous rural studio near Sittingbourne.
I attended the second Image of Music Awards this evening at Amazing Grace in London Bridge. The very venue, in fact, I had suggested last summer to organiser Adam Perry!
A productive day in south west London as I drove over to Richmond and Kingston with a view to completing various designs in support of my forthcoming releases.
