June 2009 Archives

I recall the day I met Michael Jackson backstage in America.

He came to see ELO when we played in Los Angeles back in 1978.

He was ushered backstage and came to shake hands with us all.

He seemed cheerful but rather shy, and there wasn't any conversation between us.

But I was told that he liked our music, and that was quite a compliment.

The news of his death came as a great shock, even though he had looked frail in recent times.

I was a huge fan of his music during the late 1970s and 1980s. He was brilliant then.

I went to see him in concert at Wembley Stadium - I think it was on the Bad tour - and it was one of the best shows I had ever seen.

As a live performer he was fantastic. He was the best dancer on the planet, too.

It's best that we all remember him that way than for all the personal problems he faced.

LEVEL 42 Guaranteed and Forever Now ( Edsel)

ORIGINALY from the lovely Isle of Wight, Brit jazz/funk/rockers Level 42 racked up a total of 230 weeks on the album charts throughout the 80s and early 90s.

With core members Mike Lindup on keyboards and brilliant bass player and vocalist Mark King, the band also had several big hit singles with their distinctive mix of funky work outs and plaintive ballads.

After nine albums on the Polydor label the band moved to RCA for Guaranteed, which was released in September 1991 and peaked at number 3 in the British album charts.

"Forever now" was the group's second album for RCA, and it too made the top ten. Both of these albums have an accompanying, bonus CD full of B sides and 12" mixes.

Level 42 recently played the O2 in London and are set to announce more concerts later in the year.

Instrumentals with Strings and Things ( Ace)

THE moment commercial rock'n'roll reared it's fearsome and welcome head in the late 50s, the major labels lost their grip on the market.

The one segment they were able to retain their dominance and dignity, was the easy listening, middle of the road, orchestral format

And here are some of those orchestral, instrumental hits from that golden age of American popular music, spanning 1956 to 1967.

Makes me realise what a fabulously eclectic mix of music we had to choose from back then - rock, pop, folk, country, skiffle, soul, blues, novelty 45's and the instrumentals too - all managing to find places in the charts. How different from the bland and boring charts of today !

Saturday May 9th 2009

Got a text message from my old mate and former Black Sabbath colleague Tony Iommi, who's touring with his band Heaven and Hell in South America.

Sunday May 10th

Drove to a near deserted BBC at the Mailbox in Birminghham for my live two-hour radio show on WM 95.6, along with my co-host Jimmy Franks. Went well.

Tuesday May 12th

Set off to Batley in Yorkshire for charity benefit night at the famous old Batley Variety Club (now called The Frontier Club), to commemorate the one year anniversary of the sudden death of agent and manager Derek Franks.

He was an old friend of mine and put together many tours for ELO Part 2 in the Nineties. Place packed out and a lot of money raised for a local children's hospice - enough to buy one of those wonderful Variety Club Sunshine coaches.

Great show it was, too - a real Sixties pop extravaganza. There was Dave Berry, Brian Poole, Journey South, Maggie Bell, Vanity Fare, Chris Farlowe, The Manfreds, The Searchers' Mike Pinder and PJ Proby.

Comedian Martin Gold did a good job as the compere. Former soap star Frazer Hines and myself did the 21-prize raffle draw - something else for my CV, I'm a raffle drawer! Few drinks afterwards with Derek's widow Debra, Brian Poole and Dave Berry.