Songwriter / music industry
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.
Steve at Printstore has kindly prepared a poster based on my records of gig-going and performing over the last five decades. This lists all the artists, venues, studios and events I have particularly enjoyed since 1968. There have been so many, however the memorable moments have certainly been included.
Another productive afternoon at Greg Fitzgerald’s studio in Canterbury, working on the remastering of my Birdcage album. This time to complete two tracks, namely The Golden Age of This Romance and Radio Play.
I dropped into the Music and Drama Education Expo at the Business Design Centre in Islington this afternoon. Having organised a stand for the MU at this event since its inaugural year in 2012, this was the first time I had been a regular delegate and free to move around the stands and seminars at will with no employee obligations!
I drove down this morning to Greg Fitzgerald’s studio in Canterbury once more, principally to complete the mix of ‘Radio play’ now that we have Ralph and Steve’s marvellous drums and bass parts, plus Greg’s additions of backing vocals, keyboards and percussion.
I drove through Crayford in north east Kent this morning, during a trip to Chatham, and took the opportunity to stop off at St Paulinus Church. This was formerly known as Crayford Parish Church and where my great-grandparents Sarah and Thomas Ames married on 16 July 1871.
Waterloo Sunrise (theme)