This week I found myself back in London for a number of meetings about the new record ‘Moving On’. Usually I’m rushing from pillar to post trying to fit everything in but this time I found myself with a little more time in between appointments so I decided to take a walk down memory lane.
As a young man I had always planned to go to London to follow my music dream after leaving university. I had a management contract with Harvey Goldsmith, the biggest rock promoter in Europe, and a new deal with EMI. The future looked bright. I was in the right place with the right people…at completely the wrong time. In the early 80’s there was very little room for a sensitive singer songwriter in a world that had embraced punk.
It soon became clear that my publishing ‘advance’ wasn’t going to pay all the bills. I remember chatting to one of the producers I was working with. He made it clear the world didn’t owe me a living. I was going to have to ‘hustle’.
First on my list was to scour the music papers to find out which venues were looking for live music. I soon had a residency at a Wine Bar on the Edgeware Road and the occasional booking at a night club in Chelsea. Yes I was making music but sadly I wasn’t making enough money to live.
One of my old university friends had become the manager of a sports shop on the Kings Road. Cobra Sports was right at the forefront of the jogging craze sweeping the country. They were part of the team that put together the first London Marathon. We sold all types of sports shoes as well as jogging bottoms and T shirts. As the summer turned to autumn and my bank balance turned from black to red I decided sports retail wasn’t so bad after all.
Being on the Kings Road in the early 80’s was quite an education. As if it wasn’t bad enough that the Punks had stolen my musical career they were also everywhere including in our shop. It wasn’t the vast array of running shoes that caught their attention it was usually the boxing boots that seemed to go well with their tartan and safety pins.
This week I found myself outside that shop. Just like the Punks who once ruled the Kings Road Cobra Sports has long gone but standing there brought back so many memories. In those days there was no congestion charge or ULEZ. Every morning I used to drive my little mini through the rush hour traffic and park in a little alley to the side of the shop.
One of our next door neighbours was Reginald Bosanquet, the presenter of ITV’s News at Ten. He would often wander into the shop with his toupee slightly skewwhiff and possibly nursing a bit of a hangover. Nice man always willing to chat.
Apart from the unusual clientele from news presenters to punks to film stars I also shared the shop floor with some remarkable people. The location meant some of my colleagues were better connected and wealthier than the customers they served. If you lived in Chelsea or Kensington and you wanted something to do in between skiing trips or weekends in the country this was a job that was cool, trendy and convenient.
Obviously I can’t name names but one in particular stood out. He was a good looking lad who lived locally. He wanted to be an actor. I don’t think he needed the money but serving in a sports shop helped him in between auditions and you never know who you might meet there too. He wasn’t one to boast or lord it over us but it was the little things he would say that made you realise he inhabited a different world to the rest of us.
He had a lovely girlfriend who would often pop into the shop to pick him up at the end of the day. She lived in a house in Chelsea that had been left to her by her grandfather. Again it took a little while and lots of gentle questioning to find out that her grandfather had been Lord Mountbatten!!
I remember the night that all of the Cobra Staff were invited to a party at the family home of our esteemed colleague. The house was enormous, in the right part of London and on the wall were signed photographs of members of the Royal Family thanking my friend’s father for all of his help!!!
Hyde Park 1974 still looks the same…
These days the Kings Road looks perfect without a paving stone out of place but as I stood there with my memories I couldn’t help but think it had lost a lot of its soul.
Now I was fortunate enough to work with some of the finest record producers of the 1970’s. People like Gus Dudgeon had produced Elton John’s ‘Goodbye Yellow Brick Road’ and David Bowie’s ‘Space Oddity’. At the time I just called him Gus and enjoyed the fun we had in the studio but what I was actually doing was learning how to make records sitting at the feet of master craftsmen.
I also worked at some of the finest recording Studios in the world and learnt how they made those sounds. I sat at a Steinway Grand piano in Abbey Road Studios with Elton John sat next to me. He sang my words to guide the session musicians so that I could concentrate on making sure I played my part without too many mistakes. All of this experience has left its mark.
Which brings me back to the reason for my visit in the first place. My new record is what is described as ‘A Classic Piano Ballad’. The recording was made using a grand piano, bass, drums guitars, percussion and an orchestra. Some critics have said it has a very convincing ‘retro’ sound!! The truth of the matter is that I could very well have made this record all those years ago when I worked in the sports shop. That was how I made records then and it’s the way I still make them today.
As I said in the 1980’s I was in the right place at the wrong time. Maybe now is the right time at last.