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You always have a choice to be an encourager or discourager…who are you going to be?

Today will be the first time ‘Mal Pope & The Jacks’ have performed together since, well to be honest, we can’t quite remember. There are 2 explanations, one is that it was a very long time ago, the other is we are now so old our memories are not what they used to be.

This week I’ve been making the new video for my new single. The song isn’t new, but with the kindness of Elton John returning my original 1973 tapes and copyrights, and with the wonders of technology my new single features a duet with my 13 year old self.

In 1973 I recorded my first LP for Elton John’s Rocket Records. It was decided to wait to release it until my summer holidays. Unfortunately my voice broke and the album was shelved 50 years later its finally time for Rocket Boy.

I’ve spent the week with Tim Hamill working on tapes nearly 50 years old. I’ve had the chance to sing with my 13 year old self or change that drum fill I was never happy with. Having Tim with me on the journey was a godsend. He had all of the tools to make every idea a reality and also the judgement to say ‘Mal…Enough.’

Mark Twain said, ‘Find a job you enjoy doing and you’ll never work a day in your life’. I get the feeling that is where Mike Kennedy is these days. It’s all very well wanting to live out a dream but without the right skills that dream can soon turn into a complete nightmare. Mike has 38 years of retail experience and that gives everyone confidence.

This really has been a week of mixed emotions as my past, present and possibly my future all collided. It started on Monday when I travelled 200 miles up the M4 to London, and 50 years back in time.

It is said the budget for Barbie started at $100 million but soon rose to $145 million. Then you think of all the money they must have spent on advertising. Barbie is everywhere. All of those posts and adverts and special events cost a lot of money. how can anyone compete with that?

I saw a young father being interviewed on TV being asked about the economic crisis. He started his answer using that old African proverb that it takes a village to raise a child. He then went on to say, the trouble is, some of us don’t have a village.

Monday marks the 50th anniversary of my 1st radio broadcast. Within weeks I would sign to Elton John’s Rocket Records and my dad & I would find ourselves in the back of Elton’s Phantom V Rolls Royce. That’s why I’ve been a little emotional this week thinking back 50 years to the week when the course of my life changed dramatically forever