MUSIC:
Albums
Closing Time - Tom Waits
Pictures of Life - Dr Marigold's Prescription
Velvet Underground & Nico
Desert Island Discs
Just Like A Woman - Manfred Mann, Handbags and Gladrags - Rod Stewart, She's Got A Way - Billy Joel, Changes - David Bowie, Our House - Crosby Stills Nash & Young, Oh Very Young - Cat Stevens, God Only Knows - Beach Boys, 9 to 5 - Dolly Parton, There She Goes - La's
Artistes
Gilbert O'Sullivan, ELO, Keane, Scouting for Girls, Elvis Costello, Carly Simon, Kate Bush, Barry Manilow, The Eagles, Donovan, The Kinks, Van Morrison, Albert Lee & Hogan's Heroes, The Beatles, Dire Straits, Chicago, Billy Joel, Lionel Richie.
(And when I was a lass...A-ha)
Oh and Paul Young, who I was hoping would have become my husband at some point, but sadly it never happened. Although I did see him walking through Hull once, he must have had a gig there. He was carrying some parcels and heading to the post office. I was in a taxi and thought, do I jump out and follow him like a stalker, (the way I did with Nigel Havers one time in Richmond in 1994), or do I get to the date with my boyfriend. I chose the latter. Something I have always regretted. The boyfriend turned out to be a total knob-head. Interestingly the same knob-head boyfriend claimed to play in Paul Young's band the Q-Tips in the 80's. This was probable, as he was in that line of work, although he was a pathological liar and I have yet to see any evidence to back this up. Like the time he said he got through to the quarter finals of Master Chef...(he hadn't), and the time he said he was in Stardust with David Essex...(he wasn't), and that he was offered the part of Oz in Auf Wiedersehen Pet by Tracey Ullman's husband before Jimmy Nail...(he wasn't), and that Patsy Kensit asked him out for a drink after they both appeared on Wogan...(she didn't), the list is endless. Odd really, as he did have a genuinely impressive c.v as a musician and it really didn't require such embellishment. Deluded.
In 1990 Donovan, (aka the Hurdy Gurdy man), played a gig at Spring Street Theatre in Hull where I was an usherette. During his second set he announced that they'd "been looked after by a lovely young lady at the theatre all day so I've had a play back in my dressing and written this song for her. Her name's Claire" (*me*). Unbeknown to me his manager had, I think, suggested/asked him to write a song for me and he'd hastily written a beautiful song, scribbled on the back of his set list, the way only Donovan can. His manager made sure I was in the lighting box to see & hear all this. (And all I'd really done was make sure they had loo roll in their dressing room, that they had a pot of tea and sold a few programmes.) I stayed in touch with his manager for many years (and in one of his many letters to me he confirmed that had Donovan not been in Hull that night he would not have written 'Moon Over Clare'. And said "Donovan doesn't write songs for every Tom, Dick or Harry!") I later learnt that the song was put on to the album 'Celtia' but the album was never released. Here's a link to the lyrics http://donovan-unofficial.com/music/songs/moon_over_clare.html
My husband has been *writing a song* for me for over 2 years - still nothing. It took Donovan 10 minutes. *husband take note*
