About my life.
THIS PAGE IS CONSTANTLY EVOLVING. AS I WRITE, I REMEMBER MORE THINGS I'D LIKE TO SHARE WITH YOU. THE NEW PARTS CAN BE ANYWHERE WITHIN THE TEXT. I HAVE NO IDEA WHEN IT WILL BE FINISHED, SO CHECK BACK IF YOUR NOT GETTING FED UP WITH IT !! I WILL ADD NEWEST PARTS OF THE TEXT IN WHITE.
SHORT SUMMARY.
At the moment I work 7 nights a week in various gay & straight clubs/bars in London as a personality/mixing dj, bingay host (www.bingay.com), quiz night host, karaoke presenter ,and also do a few different internet radio shows. Yes I know. Fingers in different pies ! LOL
AMBITIONS. (Not in any particular order !)
To have my own daytime radio show on local BBC, BBC Radio 2 or another personality led radio station, being able to do something similar I am doing at the moment on internet radio station www.offshoremusicradio.com . I may even be happy to move countries to be able to do this.
To be in contact with my son
To host my own talk show at night time.
To find "my other half"
To speak another language.
To present the Eurovision Song Contest !
To be around to see man explore space.
To live nearer to my sister and her family.
Earliest Memories & Peckham, London until 1969.
We lived in a 2 bedroom flat, Droitwich House in Commercial way, Peckham, SE15.
The earliest memory I have is of an old black dial phone ringing in the hallway at our flat in Peckham, It was Dad's boss from work (Dad worked for the Evening Standard Newspaper in Fleet Street). I picked the phone up, and, as this was the first time I had ever done this, I kept putting it back down again. I had no idea what I was supposed to do. Can't remember if I got into trouble for that. Probably not. Mum and Dad were never ones to shout at me, or anyone for that matter. Other memories I have in Peckham are of seeing my sister, Sharon, in a cot in Mum & Dad's bedroom, standing on the window ledge in my bedroom, with my Nan, Nanny Hayes, telling my to "get down you naughty boy", and then jumping straight on top of her on the bed. I got a smack for that. Dad used to take me to Peckham Rye park in the Autumn to collect conkers from the trees when they had fallen in the Autumn. We had bags of the things. I dreamed about going to that same park in some sort of electric tractor that maybe I'd got for birthday or Christmas. In those days no such things existed.
I remember Dad coming home one day with his first car - a green MG reg no. XAN 720. We were all so excited.
I was bought a bike one Christmas, and lent it to another boy on the estate. He disappeared for ages, and I ended up crying, and Dad went and got it back. I cried also one day when I was helping the milkman, Peter. He had asked me to take a bottle of orange to one of the flats. I dropped it while going up the stairs and ran home. Mum said Peter wouldn't be angry, but I don't think I ever spoke to him after that.
On the balcony, we had a window box. Now this memory is strange, but while watering the box one day, I think I was about 6 or 7, I saw a tiny seahorse in the earth. Of orange appearance I think. Next time I looked, it had disappeared. This memory has now and again popped into my head over the years. Very odd !
There was a little room next to our flat, where you could do washing. I decided this was mine, and Mum often bought me dinner on my own in there. My favourite meal was Mum's beef casserole.
I was bad at school once, and hid in the toilets. I remember the teacher coming to find me. I also remember seeing the key in the door of the secretary's office, and locking her in !!
There was a huge department store in Peckham at the time - Jones and Higgins, and it had this huge marble floor. You could buy anything in there. We used to do our shopping at a small food shop. It was not self service. You had to go to an assistant, and ask for what you wanted. Everything was displayed behind the counter. The name of this small shop, Sainsbury's !
The worst memory of Peckham is when I was in the living room and heard a scream from the kitchen. Mum had dropped a pan on boiling water down herself. Dad took her straight to hospital and Nan had to come over and look after us.
My Nanny Hayes also lived in Peckham, not too far from us. We would often go to visit her, in her flat. I always remember her being alone in her flat. My Granddad died before I knew him, of T.B. Nan's flat was very dark and had a musty but not unpleasant smell. There was a lift that always made a humming noise that we could hear in the flat whenever it started going up or down. She used to cook me these delicious chips in her kitchen, whenever I went round, and I stayed a few times in her spare room. She had a huge old radiogram player. A real piece of furniture. It was so big, you could climb in it. This I did, one day, and proceeded to start removing valves and the speaker. It never ever worked again !! I don't know why I was not electrocuted while I was climbing around in there. My first record I ever put on was Freight Train by Charles McDevitt Skiffle Group feat. Nancy Whiskey. It was an old 78 rpm heavy record. I have recently (2005) had a very nice suprise. An email from Chas McDevitt, telling me he had come across my site, and was pleased that his record was the first I have ever played. CLICK HERE to see the email.
Living In Roehampton until the mid 1980's.
We moved from Peckham in 1969 to Roehampton, South West London. I had such a headache that day, as a 6 year old boy. We had left that small 2 bed roomed flat for a 3 bed roomed flat. It was lovely. We had moved to a large modern Estate, The Alton Estate, in a road called Hersham Close.
Roehampton was much greener than Peckham. The neighbours were very friendly, and all took turns to clean the communal stairs and balcony. There was Mrs Waller and her son at no.25, and Mrs Collins at no. 21.We were at no.23. I grew up in Roehampton. I went to Primary School there - the Sacred Heart School in Roehampton Lane. My favourite teacher was Mrs Eaton. She was always very kind, except one day when I stood up at a maths lesson and shouted "I can't do that" . Got a slap round the face for that !! The school was nice. The school had a huge garden where you could play in the summer. I had a few friends there, but not too many. All the other boys wanted to play football all the time, and I had no interest in this. I used to be a milk monitor, giving out milk to all the other children at 11.00am.I remember the local priest coming one day, to teach us about Holy Communion. Father Simes. As he was talking, he was holding a box of hosts. Occasionally, one would drop out of the bottom of the box. This carried on for a few minutes, and eventually the whole box just collapsed, and all the hosts fell on the floor !! There was a piano in the assembly hall, and I took great interest in this. Eventually, I was to save up my pocket money, and I bought my own piano - for just £3.00. I was so excited when it came. Dad said he would pay to have it moved for me. This cost £10.00. Mum and Dad taught me to save if I ever wanted anything. He would give me pocket money of 10p each week. I would buy a Post Office Savings Stamp with this. They cost 10p each. You would fill up a book, then cash the book at the post office for £5. I am so pleased that they never handing out things to me whenever I asked. It taught me the value of money, whereas so many of the other children were given what ever they asked for. I think that is the wrong way to do it. It has put me on the right track and perhaps that's why I am ok with money now, trying not to waste it, and buying unnecessary things (well except for my gadgets !! ). Today I see children and teenagers spending up to £160 on a pair of trainers. Absolute madness. £55 maximum - that's what I say ! I eventually played the piano for our classes part in the school Christmas Nativity one year. Mum and Dad were so proud. I was given an Ivy plant for that as a present from my teacher, Miss Eaton, for that. She also taught us all decimalisation, I think in 1971, when the UK converted to the new 100 pence in the pound money system. We also started learning about metric weights and measures. When I was at school, the country had just started teaching about these things, so I have now retained a memory that is part metric, and part non metric - for example, I now understand exactly how long a metre is, but not sure what a yard is, and yet I know how long a mile is, but not a kilometre. There must be a lot of us out here who don't quite totally grasp one or the other. I hated the school dinners there. We had this awful woman who did some of the cooking, who would insist we finish our meals. Mum also became a "dinner lady" there for a while, although she didn't actually hand out meals. She just used to walk around the playground for a while, with some other ladies, making sure we were all alright. Used to either walk (about 20 mins) or take a bus to school. The fare was 6d (about 2.5 pence in today's money). There was a conductor who was often on my bus, and sometimes he used to tell us all he was too busy to collect any money, so we never paid ! In my final year, I started taking a little transistor radio to school. There I would listen to various radio stations, although there was only the BBC, and some foreign stations around, and I remember tuning to a test broadcast, that carried a recorded announcement "This is a test transmission from LBC, a new Independent local radio station for London" .This would have been around 1973, and was one of the first Independent local radio stations to come on air.
I learned to play the piano from the age of about 8,although I play mainly by ear, and find it very difficult to read music quickly. I used to play piano in a pub in Roehampton, The Kings Head, and the church organ at St Josephs Catholic Church, also in Roehampton. I was a member of the local scout group there - 1st Roehampton Scouts. I appeared in many of the scout shows, "The Roehampton Gang Show" for about 10 years, and also the District Gang Show "Down South" for a few years, singing and dancing with some great friends. If you have any pictures of this show or any of me in the scouts I'd be grateful if you could email them to me to include in my photograph galleries as I am short of pictures doing my 12 - 30 age period. Anything from that period I'd be grateful of. Now and again, whenever I visit Mum & Dad's grave, I take a drive around Roehampton, to recall the memories I had there, most very good, some not so good. The family memories far weigh out any bad times I had. Sometimes I pull over, and just sit outside the old maisonette for a short while. I never seem to see anyone now that I recognise or know. Time moves so quickly.
Christmas Time through the years.
Christmas's were great when I was a child. Mum & Dad made them so very special for us. My two Nans - Nanny Hayes and Nanny Ryan, would usually join us for Christmas day. I would get up to the smell of a cooked breakfast of bacon, sausages, eggs, beans and fried bread. Mum would have got up extra early on Christmas day to start the dinner. I think the turkey or chicken (we had either) we put on a low heat in the oven all night before. Dad would pretend, in my earlier years, that he would have to take the fire off the wall to let Father Christmas come down the chimney. He never referred to Father Christmas as Santa. Neither did Mum. They kept the story of Father Christmas going for years. The earliest Christmas I can remember was when I was to stay up very late to go to Midnight Mass. I think I was about 14. On the telly Christmas Eve was a film with Tommy Steel "Half A Sixpence". Later on in life, I was to visit Tommy Steel's Home in Richmond, to fix his telephone. He had a Mickey Mouse phone by his swimming pool, which, oddly enough, had got damp ! When we wok up on Christmas morning, there would be a pillowcase full of toys. There were no clothes, just toys. I think Mum & Dad thought giving clothes for Christmas was a way of getting out of buying them the rest of the year, and this they never did. I think like that too now, preferring to give toys to anyone I am buying for. I had some fantastic gifts from my parents. My favourite Christmas gift of all time would have to be a Hornby electric train set. The engine in the set was the "Princess Victoria". I can recall the smell of the set as I opened the wrapper. I watched this thing go round for hours on my bedroom carpet. My interest in trains continued for many years, and I bought other trains and extra track. I did build a small layout on a base board, but there wasn't much space, so it usually remained against the wall, unused. - Dinner on Christmas Day would be around 3pm, when the Queen was on. The whole family would sit together to watch this each year, either on the chairs, or around the table, while eating Christmas dinner. Mum worked so hard to give us beautiful dinners, rushing in and out of the kitchen, constantly worrying that everything was alright. She was the best cook. It's odd that I can recall the actual smells for almost all the meals she ever cooked. Occasionally, I get a whiff somewhere now of something similar, but never quite the same. Dad would then set fire to the "Christmas Pud". It would glow with a blue flame. I hated Christmas pudding, and Mum would make me a special trifle.
After Christmas dinner, we would pull Crackers, and Dad would insist we wear those paper hats. We would then sit down to watch the annual Christmas film on BBC 1. My best memory of this would be Mary Poppins one year, and another The Sound Of Music. We all looked so forward to the Sound Of Music, as the BBC 1 announcer announced "And now for the first time on British Television, Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer star in The Sound Of Music" . The globe, (The BBC 1 Symbol was always tarted up for Christmas), dissolved into clouds, and the orchestra struck up it's tune. What a fantastic memory. There would then be various other special TV programmes on Christmas day. Our favourites were Morecombe & Wise, The Two Ronnies, Bruce Forsythe's Generation Game, Only Fools and Horses. There was usually a big film on at night as well, with a few sticking in my memory - Airport 1975, and Airplane. While the second film was on, we would open more presents, that were under the tree. My sister and I were so lucky to have so much. More food would come out now, in the form of sandwiches and cakes and crisps. Mum would do salad stuff as well, although I never touched this ! In later years, I remember sitting around the Christmas dinner table, wondering who would "go" first. It all seemed to happen so fast. First Nanny Ryan, I think in 1990, then Nanny Hayes in 1995, Dad in 1996, the Mum in 2000. I can never forget those beautiful Christmas's we shared together, and I will also never forget, the sad Christmas's I have had ever since. I spent a few Christmas mornings at my parents graveside. People say time is a great healer. I don't believe it to be the case. Each day now goes by, and I miss my parents more and more. Every bad thing that you've ever done a a child seems to come back and haunt you. That little bit perhaps of disrespect. That time perhaps when Mum said she's made an apple pie, and I said I didn't want it, even after Mum said "I've made it specially for you". It's only now that I realise how hurtful such a thing can be. Mum mentioned just a year or so before she died how she would like to go on holiday with me, but as usual, I was so tied up with all my work, it never happened. I feel terrible about that now. Please learn from me, and give your parents all the respect and love that they so deserve.
I try to make Christmas day as "normal" a day as possible. I no longer put up decorations. It is too painful.
The last few of years I have spent Christmas with my sister and her family. It's great to see the children's faces as they open their presents. I like to go for a walk on Christmas night - very late - around 11pm. I walk around where they live, Woodhall Spa, and reflect on what has been, and perhaps, what could have been. I enjoy the company of my sister and her family very much. She has mentioned to me on a regular basis that I should sell up, give up my work in London, and move near her. This I would like to do, but I just can't bring myself to give everything up that I have in London. Yet I have a feeling I would be happier away from the madness that is a big city, and the relentless search of more and more profit by some of the managers I work for, a search for money that can never be fulfilled, because the profit will never be high enough, no matter how high it gets. People who can only judge how successful they are on how much money they have. I judge people by how happy they make other people. In the last few months (mid 2007) I feel myself trying to pull away from London. What is holding me back ? I have now bought a small property very near my sister, for investment purposes. I wonder though, did I really do this for investment, or have I taken the first steps to my eventual move ? I'm not really sure.
The London Oratory School. Fulham Road, London.
My Secondary School was The London Oratory School in Seagrave Road, Fulham, South West London. Click here for the site.The London Oratory School. The school I liked straight away, and you were tested to get in there. I was lucky enough to have got in, and started there in class 1MS around 1979 I think. The headmaster was Mr Gaffney. He had crooked teeth and all of us were scared of him. There were 3 "Houses" in the school, and each house was split up into 2 : Moore, Fisher and Campion. These were split up into South and North, so I was in Year 1 Moore South. Most of the people in 1MS stayed together throughout the time we were at that school. I can, even now, recall the register - "Monohan, Moran, Moroney, Mullins" ect ect. Didn't really look forward to going to school. The headmaster, no longer with us, in my first couple of years was Mr Gaffney. He was really strict. Speak out of turn, and you were caned. It happened to me three times, just for talking at the back of the class room. The deputy head became head while I was in my second year, John McIntosh. He was even more feared than the first. However, I was heavily into my music, and so was the new Head, therefore we got along fine. It seemed if you had anything to do with music, either learning to play an instrument, or singing in the choir, then you got along with the new head, even though he too gave me a caning once, again for talking ! I can't quite remember for sure, but I'm sure when I appeared in the office for my caning, he apologised for doing it first, saying that he had to !! I went back to the school in 1998 to have a look round, and it has changed so much. A lot of building work has been done, and the headmaster is still there. Had a good chat with him, and now keep in contact via email. On my way walking round the school, I did notice one thing. The fear we had of the staff, and especially the head, has now gone. In fact, the head actually seems to be a very popular person with the children. He certainly cares how everyone seems to be doing, and how on earth does he remember all the names. When I first made contact with him a couple of years back, he remembered me straight away - after over 20 years. Amazing. Funny thing is, even now, when I send him an email, I check it carefully for spelling mistakes ! Perhaps we never get over the teacher pupil thing. One of the highlights of the day at The London Oratory School was dinner time. The food there was fantastic. The dinner ladies were also cool, but only once you get to know them. There was one in particular, Vera. She was a very tall black lady with attitude. You would try and talk to her, and she would either give attitude or just ignore you. When you asked for seconds, near the end of lunch time and after everyone else had been fed, she's pick up the huge metal container, still full of food, and scream "There are no seconds" , and then throw the whole lot in the bin on front of you. Oddly, in later years, I became quite friendly with her. Once you got to know her, it became quite funny watching her do the things she did ! I was a reasonably well behaved boy at school, and so got on with most of the teachers. One of the house master was Mr Urquart. Always was very pleasant to me, as I was to him. He could tell someone off real bad though. He caught me smoking in a locked up cubicle. While I was sitting in there, having a smoke, I became aware of someone standing outside the cubicle. I carried on, and then when I'd finished shoved a polo mint in me mouth (Incidentally, if you are a school person this really doesn't really work ! ). I opened the door and he was standing there. He looked surprised it was me and just said in a very loud voice "Come on boy, hurry along now to lunch," and walked off. A lucky escape that one me thinks ! I wasn't a great "school" fan, but the music lessons were great. I left school very quietly. Can't remember the exact date, but at 3.30pm on this particular day, I just left the building quietly, walked back to the tube station - Fulham Broadway - and thought "was that it then " !! I now keep in touch with the school by going to the annual carol concert just before Christmas at The Brompton Oratory Church in Knightsbridge, London. I went I think in 1996 and 2004. The entire school goes to the and it's strange to think I was one of those pupils sitting on the church seats singing all those years ago.
Cars.
I bought my first car around 1984.It was a blue Triumph TC. Very fast. You have to have a fast car when you are a boy in your 20's ! Nanny Hayes gave me the money for this. After that, I had a hand painted red & black Lada (Russian!!). Very reliable. Then a brand new FSO Polonez. Dreadful. Nothing but trouble. That'll teach me to buy cheap !!.After that it was a silver Escort, a silver Sierra, a red diesel Escort, then a green Golf, a blue Golf, a red Landrover Defender, a blue Landrover Defender, and a silver Landrover Defender. I have been very happy with my Landrovers, but became increasingly frustrated with the huge running costs. Quite apart from the fuel they get through, the servicing charges at Landrover are astronomical, and I started begrudging every penny I was having to pay out for them. These were just everyday running costs- not repairs. Eventually I had enough of this, and now own a small Toyota Aygo. This is costing me about a third of the running costs of the Landrover. The other thing I noticed is that the service received from the people at Toyota was far superior to that of Landrover. The staff actually DO return calls, and follow up the sale. I had real problems with 3 - yes 3 different Landrover sales offices of not returning calls. Really very bad service. If I'm spending huge amounts of money, I demand to be treated right. Landrover did not do this. Toyota did.
My first flat & where I live now.
I bought a flat in Wandsworth, South West London, shortly after the divorce, and stayed there for 5 years. It's so fantastic trying to buy your first home. The flat exchanged very close to the Christmas period, I think in 1987, and I remember going around there on Boxing night to decorate ! I had a lovely neighbours. They were all pensioners. I also made a few friends in the area, although since I have lost contact with them. There was 1 friend in particular, who I thought my best mate. I shared my thoughts and secrets with him. This I did for years, until an incident in my present home around 2001,when I was ripped off for a lot of money. It's funny how it takes one incident like that, to suddenly make you sit up and realise all the other things he had done to me over the years. I was very upset about this at the time, but I broke all contact with this person, and have got over it, stronger, and much more happy. I hope never to have contact with this person again, along with a few others who have seriously taken me for granted over the years. I have recently realised I have very few real friends. I know a lot of people who I can say "Hi" to, but no one really that I can totally 100% I can rely on. I think my parents were the only people who really helped me through life. Now, it's a one man band, but maybe that is why my work seems to go so well, because I put so much into it.
I moved to Bracknell, Berkshire, which is about 10 miles from the outskirts of London in 1992,and I am still here now. Love being surrounded by the grass and tall pine trees.
Radio.
I got into radio by running speakers to each of my neighbours houses at around 15 years old, and playing records down the wires to them ! I had a name for the station - "Radio 23", called because we lived at no.23 !! Each speaker had a switch, so they could turn me off !! I would go and listen at their windows to see if they were listening or not ! At the age of 16 I set up my own pirate radio station. It was called "South West Radio" and, using a home built transmitter, broadcast to a potential audience of about a million people around Roehampton. Could have killed myself setting it up. One had to climb on the roof of the flats, and I have never been one for heights. It was a flat roof, but a long way down. I was "done" for this, but the judge was kewl, and realised it was just some kid mucking about with electronics, and let me off. You should have seen Dad's face when the Police came up the stairs !!
The bug though, had bitten. I loved radio. Didn't get another chance at it until Freedom Radio came along in 1995.The was a temporary FM station in London, and I hosted a morning show. The station came back again about 6 months later for another month, and I hosted the afternoon show. It then moved onto satellite, and I hosted a late night show. The station then disappeared without trace. The next time I got on, was on Liberty Radio, a station on Medium Wave, quite legal, in London. I joined there in March 1999,and hosted the overnight show, 5 times a week, 2am - 6.30am.That finished in November 2000, the same week my dear Mum died. Mum listened to a few of the shows late at night, and I got her to ring in once, but she wouldn't say her real name in case anyone heard her and recognised !! CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO MY DEAR MUM CALLING IN TO TALK TO ME ON MY LIBERTY RADIO OVERNIGHT SHOW IN 2000 pretending to be "Emily in Putney" ! I miss my parents very much, and you can see many pictures of them in four of the albums in the "GALLERY 1" section of this site. At the time, I was also continuing to work in clubs. Some nights, I would leave my house at 7pm,and get back at 7.30am !! Didn't have much time left to myself at all, but I loved it. The best part of it was listening to people phone up, and tell me their stories. Lots of elderly people around at that time, who were always up for a laugh. I also felt privileged handing over to the great David Hamilton, who was doing the breakfast show on there at the time. I presented a daily net show on CMP Radio, 2002 - 2004. I had a complete free hand with this show. My format was roughly 50 % Music and 50 % speech. I like to entertain on my show, inform and be someone's "friend" who may be alone at home listening. The show started being on in the morning at 11am, but I had to ask for it to be moved, as I found with the night time club work, it was becoming increasingly difficult to do everything I want to do. This affected my sleep pattern and a couple of close friends (You know, real friends, not the ones that just hang around for what they can get), have told me I MUST sort this out, otherwise it's an early box for me. The simplest thing to do would be to move the radio show I did, to a late afternoon slot. This would allow me to get up in the morning when I wake up, and not when the alarm goes off after I've been asleep for just 3 or 4 hours. Seriously - that's the amount of sleep I was getting at the time ! CMP Radio closed in December 2004, and the following week, I started the same show, with slightly older music (up to 1979), on www.offshoremusicradio.com . I stopped doing this music & talk show in June 2007 as I was finding it hard to fit everything into my day. I now create a beatmatch show each week - an hour of non stop mixed pop/ funky house & house tunes that goes out on several net stations and also on international station RTI that broadcast on SKY digital satellite channel 0195. This station also carries my three times a week talk show which you can also find at www.unitedkingdomtalk.co.uk . Again go to the "Radio Shows" section of my site for more details. I kind of fell into the "Talk Show" thing. The programme I make, three times a week, is now kindly carried by a few small radio stations here in the UK, Slovakia, & the USA. I make it available to anyone that wants to broadcast it free of charge, and you can also download the show as a podcast on Tues, Thurs & Sats at http://www.unitedkingdomtalk.co.uk . Really enjoy making this show. Emails from lovely people arrive from all over. I have also recently started videoing the show, and you can find this now on you tube, or just follow the links again from http://www.unitedkingdomtalk.co.uk .
DJing.
I got into mobile djing at the age of 19. I had seen a mobile disco at my sisters engagement party, and though "I want to do that". I started borrowing my parents record players and records, and doing gigs at the scout social gatherings. My first proper residency was at "The Highwayman" pub in Roehampton. Used to carry all the equipment over there from Mum's house in suitcases. I played whatever people asked me for. The crowd were nice. I gradually saved money and started buying proper equipment with the money I was earning from my day job. I was a BT Directory Enquiries Operator. I worked as many hours as I could, building up my gear. Eventually I started doing weddings and birthdays. I always remember the first time I picked up a microphone, terrified ! It was at someone's party at a pub in Putney somewhere. Unfortunately, I have never been able to put it down since ! People often now ask where is / was my favourite place to dj. Well, each venue I have or do work in has it's own particular time when it's at it's peak. In July 2004, the venue working best (i.e. where the customers, staff and I are having a really good time) , was The Long Island Tea Shop in St Martin's Lane, London. Managers name was Rob Jones. Great crowd of people and staff, and a manager who had faith in me. Sadly, this venue closed in September 2005.Venues seem to peak at certain times of their existence. The Black Cap, Camden, London, was my home for many years. I had many lovely experiences in there, meeting such nice customers. This venue peaked for me between 1991 & 1997(particulary on Monday nights when I ran a 70's 80's night packed to the rafters every single week of the year). In the last few years though, I felt very much on my own in there. I left The Black Cap in September 2007, after being there for 18 years. I had become very unhappy at how the venue was being run, and the constand back stabbing going on. I received a box of biscuits, - YES. A BOX OF BISCUITS, as a thank you for my 18 years of work there. The Two Brewers in Clapham was excellent between 1998 - 2000, but this one is on it's way back up, and I think will peak again soon. I don't believe there is one thing that makes a venue work. Everyone and indeed every thing needs to work together, like cogs in a clock. One little clog breaks, and it all falls down. When this happens, one cannot usually repair the cog, but the clock itself can be repaired. You just need new cogs. If the manager is no good, then this is worst case scenario, because everyone beneath him is affected. Even one lazy miserable bar man/ woman in my opinion can make a venue fail. God knows I've seen enough people working behind bars that really ought not to be there. There's a couple in the places I work at the moment. If you're ever in there, see if you can spot them.LOL. Miserable as sin. No one wants to see some miserable git serving a drink, or someone on the door who just shouts the entrance price at someone without a please or thank you. The glass collector is just as important as the manager. We all work together to try and bring the customer a good night. If only staff at all the venues everywhere would remember - we are there for the customers, not the other way round. The only other thing I notice as years go by, is that many people no longer have a sense of humour. It is hard to get people to smile sometimes. They come to a venue, and just stand around the side looking miserable. Maybe someone will go over and talk to them, or just say "Hi", only to be met with a cold stare. Do you know what I think when people are like this ? I think "You sad fu***r". I often wonder why such people actually bother to leave their homes. I chuckle to myself at how sad that person must really be, and I move on to someone else. If I get the next one to smile, then I'm happy !
British Telecom.
Working for B.T. started in about 1981 I think when I was 18.I started off as a Directory Enquiry Operator answering 142 calls for London Directories. I wanted to be an engineer, but did not have the qualifications, so saw this as another way in. I knew it would take time to get where I wanted to be, but I was prepared to wait. I enjoyed the friendship there. I had a couple of very special friends there - Jackie Venes (now married) and Jean Hyland, who sadly died in 2001. We would often sit together in this huge switch room in Telecom House, Worple Road, Wimbledon. We all used to get up to mischief there ! I would answer the calls "London Directories" in different voices or perhaps change the way I answered the calls with something completely different like "Crossroads Motel" or "Rovers Return" or "International Rescue". No one ever seemed to notice, not least the callers to the service. It became a very boring job. Jean and I used to sit there between calls half of the morning doing The Sun and Daily Mirror Bingo !! We had to do something to make it more exciting. Had to be very careful that the supervisors didn't catch us. After a few years I went to Kingston Exchange to become a 100 operator. I found it very hard to make friends there, and returned to Wimbledon within a year. Another year or so passed, and I transferred to engineering, answering 151 calls. I worked first in Wandsworth exchange, then Mortlake. It was at Mortlake I made my move to be an engineer outside. The head of engineers there was Larry Pritchard. He was a really good bloke. He heard I wanted to become an engineer, and came up to see me one day in the switch room, where we took reports of faults coming in from customers. I said yes, and he said he'd let me know as soon as someone left. Just a few weeks passed, and the job was offered. It happened very quickly, and within a few days, I was out in a BT yellow can with another engineer learning the job. About 6 weeks later I had my own van, and got on with it all. This has got to have been the best job I have ever done. Working outside in all weathers with other lads. We all relied on each other, and could count on each other for help. Our job was to look after the telephone, internal wiring, and some of the external wiring as far as the top of the telegraph pole. Took me a while to be brave enough to climb up a pole, but once I'd done it, I was fine. No one put me under any pressure to go up until I was ready. Larry was also a great help to all of us. You got on with your job, and he was happy. It all worked so well for years, and then those in the offices of the hierarchy started changing things, and it all started going a bit pear shaped. Shame really. These were some of the best times I ever had in a job. I left, when the dj work started coming in. I missed out on about £20,000 redundancy, when BT started cutting jobs, by six months ! How sick was I !! I stayed with BT for about 10 years, and, on the whole, I would say they were a damn good employer, looking after their staff quite well, until the damn accountants moved in.
GAME SHOWS
I have recently branched out from the music djing and now host a few other audience participation nights. I host a Karaoke night. Some people take it so seriously. Chill out ! It's only a bit of fun. I always try and make the people singing the karaoke stars. I have seen other karaoke nights where the karaoke presenter think that they themselves are the stars. I think that is wrong. It is the customer on these nights that should be built up into stars, and that's how I like my night to work. I try and make people smile and NEVER take the piss out of anyone who is a bad singer - unless of course I know them really well. Part of the job is to make new singers as comfortable as possible, and never making them feel stupid, no matter how bad their voice. The only time you'll ever hear me sing at these events, is if I run out of requests from the customers. THEY MUST ALWAYS COME FIRST.
I have also run quiz nights, and would like to do more of these. Again, I try to make it as fun as possible. I have seen many quiz nights done seriously, where no one dares to make a noise or laugh, through fear of upsetting the quiz host ! How boring is that !
I have recently launched a new thing called BINGAY UK . It's a bingo night, where you can win reasonable prizes like chart CD's, DVD's, electrical items like DVD players, MP3 players, Televisions, kitchen stuff ect ect - as well as bonus prizes. It's a twist on bingo. You'll have to come and see it to find out more ! Visit www.bingay.com to find out more on that one. It's something that I saw in Australia at a pub called the Imperial Hotel, Sydney, hosted by drag queen Mitzi. I had a great time there watching it, and have included elements of the Australian version in my show. I am hosting Bingay at The Golden Lion, Brittania Street, Kings Cross, London on Monday nights.
Things that offend me.
There are a few things in life that really annoy me :
1.Plane Travel. What a complete and utter shambles this is. Over the last few years I have been very lucky to see many beautiful places and meet many lovely people. But recently, I have become more and more stressed and fed up with the whole concept of flying. You have to get to an airport, be charged an arm and a leg to park there, queue for usually at least half an hour to hand over your bags, worrying if you are a little bit over the allowed weight that you will be charged a lot of money per kilo. Then you have to hang around for sometimes hours looking in boring shops or queuing up again for 20 minutes to get something to eat, which you don't really want anyway - you're just trying to fill time. Then you queue again to go through the X Ray machine for 15 minutes and be glared out by the bored security staff. The plane is often late, sometimes BY HOURS. Once on the plane I find it one of the most uncomfortable experiences you can have. The one nice thing are usually the airline staff on the plane. I have always found them pleasant. But this does not make up for having to sit in that too narrow not enough leg room hard seat. The turbulence I accept. Nothing can be done about that. Getting off the plane is as bad as getting on it. Going through passport control takes ages. Then the half hour or so waiting for ones bag to come around the conveyer belt, worrying that is going to be lost. Flying is an absolute nightmare, and, this year, 2004, I've come to the point where I will no longer fly. I HATE FLYING and it is the airlines/airports, customs peoples fault. I know already that I am missing out on many things I would like to see. I would dearly love to go to Australia and may other places. I think the only way I can do these things is by forking out for the business class ticket with the bed so you can sleep the entire journey, but this is at the moment prohibitively expensive so unless I win a lottery it just is not possible. They have had YEARS to get it right and they still just have no idea how to move vast numbers of people around efficiently. Give the job to Disney, that's what I say. They can do it at their theme parks. I have been very lucky and saved me pennies to travel Business (Club) Class to Australia in 2005/6. What a difference. I would advise anyone with a long plane journey - say over 4 hours, to spend the extra money on a business class plane ticket, and drop a star or two in the hotel. I was very impressed with the level of service given to me by British Airways. Honestly, you're better off spending the money on the plane journey than a posh hotel.
Trains & ships. I'm happy to travel by these methods. Eurostar Train. Fantastic. You just turn up at the Station half an hour before the train leaves, get on, and off you go on time to parts of Europe. And it's comfortable. You can, at will, walk around the train, to and from the cafe area.
2.People who say they are going to do things, and don't, or don't finish the job. I wish I had a £1 for every time this has happened. I always come through with favours, ideas, help ect for people. Give me a job, and if I accept, it is as good as done.
3.Computer problems and new programs. These really make me angry. And helpful comments like "It shouldn't do that" from computer experts when things go wrong are just not helpful.
4.MSN Messenger. I thought this was a godsend - it's turned out to be a real pain. How many times have you been having a conversation on this, only to have the other end disappear without saying goodbye - or taking like 10 minutes to answer everything you say. Another thing with this is you log on, and people say "Hi" without actually having anything else to say.
5.Independent local radio dj's who read out liner cards. How many more times do I have to hear "ON THE WAY" as they are about to run through the next few tracks.
QUOTES FROM PEOPLE.
Mum - "Dinners Ready" ! , "I made it specially for you" , "You work too much"
Dad - "Christopher, your mother wants you" , "I wish I could take all your problems away" , "Don't tell your Mother"
Nan Hayes "Have a care , have a care" , "You naughty boy" , "Play a tune on the piano for me"
Nan Ryan "You're having all your problems early"
Sharon (My Sister) "I'm telling Mum"
I AM STILL WRITING THIS. DO CHECK BACK SOON TO SEE THE NEXT INSTALMENT !! Thanks. CHRIS XX
LAST UPDATED 16th January 2008