The Price of Fame

Published: Jan. 9, 2016, 10:15 a.m.

The song I\u2019ve sent you this week was from my more \u201ccommercial\u201d era (lol)\u2026..it\u2019s sung by a friend of mine called Sue Young who had a great voice \u2026 she did the clubs as well but had a superb session voice\u2026I used to call her \u201cOne Take\u201d Sue\u2026..I used to have a demo service where people would send me their songs in rough form (sometimes just a voice) and I would knock them into shape for them to send to publishers\u2026and Sue would sing the female parts\u2026she would have a couple of listens then hit it in one go\u2026she was wonderful to work with.This was a song I wrote for her\u2026.we got radio play which gave her some publicity and some extra gigs.\n\n I used to use a few session girls singers\u2026one being Pauline Daniels and another Julie Bright\u2026these were the days before the modern trend of females shouting and yelling out songs and destroying them.\n\nI watched a programme called \u201cBrucie\u2019s Hall of Fame\u201d\u2026.which was supposed to be presented by Bruce Forsyth\u2026but as he\u2019s not well his place was taken by Alexander Armstrong (who we talked about the other week)\u2026.he had artists on who were paying tribute to the stars they were inspired by\u2026.a good idea but sadly it didn\u2019t come off at all\u2026..Beverly Knight paid tribute to Sam Cooke with a yelling session\u2026I like her very much but I think she is a bit misguided vocal wise\u2026and other acts which were pretty bad\u2026then I had to endure Alexander (who now fancies himself as a singer\u2026which he aint) launching into some swing song slipping out of pitch on occasions\u2026awful\u2026BUT finished with a bigshouty note and got a standing ovation\u2026so what do I know?\n\n.At the other end of the spectrum I finally finished watching \u201cThe Tudors\u201d which I have on a box set\u2026.there are four series covering the reign of Henry V111 and was the best thing I have ever seen.\n\nIt was brilliant and wonderfully acted and produced\u2026.I am now an authority on Henry\u2026.up until then I always thought that Henry the eighth was the bloke who invented fractions (gerrit?) What makes this series so good is it is TRUE\u2026.you couldn\u2019t make it up\u2026what a bloke he was\u2026.not one to upset.\n\n \u2026 on the history front this will interest you if you didn\u2019t know\u2026.I was taking a stroll around Woodside in Birkenhead (which is where I took the photograph I sent you of the newly painted ferry boat)\u2026the area has been totally renovated over the last few years and gives a wonderful different angle on The Mersey\u2026.I came across a plaque concerning the HMS Birkenhead which was built locally and was the first ship to come to a disastrous end\u2026.it hit rocks and the hull was split open\u2026as there weren\u2019t enough lifeboats the women and children were taken off first\u2026this became known as \u201cThe Birkenhead Drill\u201d and was used on the Titanic disaster years later\u2026\u201dwomen and children first\u201d.\n\nI watched a programme about The Prince\u2019s Trust where Ant and Dec interviewed Prince Charles and accompanied him on some of his charity missions.I thought The Prince came over very well and his organisation certainly does a lot of good.\n\nI must say I smiled at his visit to a prison where he spoke to three inmates\u2026.handpicked or what? No matter what you think of Chaz and his \u201cprivileged\u201d life I must say I couldn\u2019t think of anything worse\u2026.to be constantly hounded by people who either grovel or despise you must be awful\u2026and there is no escape\u2026fame always comes with a price\u2026had John Lennon not been a Beatle he would have lived twice as long\u2026.fame \u2013 no thanks.