It`s been said before but yes I do seem to have many strings to my bow, but always a joy to walk down my musical memory lane for a little while…
But before I set off, I should just remember that as a “cookie queen” these days dear readers, some of you may not know that my passion for baking started many MANY years ago while wearing my other “hat” , as a professional freelance violinist.
Coming from a mini musical dynasty , it was no surprise to anyone that I would be involved in the music world from a scarily young age, but while sitting in the pit of the London Palladium as a 4 year old, ( my dad was leading the band ) I stared up at the stage and out to the stalls and thought, I rather like this place!!
Little did I know that I would be involved in West End musical productions in my beloved London Palladium and countless other theaters, many years later, “Singing in the Rain” “ Fiddler on the Roof” “Showboat” “ZIgfeld”, “Barnum” “Grand Hotel” “Les Mis” “Phantom” spring to mind, or working with Mr Fagin Himself Ron Moody in “Oliver” , plus a range of leading ladies in Willy Russells“Blood Brothers” : Kiki Dee, Stephanie Lawrence, Barbara Dickson.
Other monumental musical moments include an opportunity to say a big “HELLOOOO WEEEEMBLEY”” …ahem….well, to myself, when performing in the arena with the ever gorgeous and hugely talented Mr Michael Buble….sigh!!…. who I have to say is as sophisticatedly special to his band members as his fans, but, as he says to them most gigs “ I love you, but I will be seeing other audiences!!”
As many a golden moment, I`ve also had one of my TV illusions slightly shattered, as like some of you of a “certain age” , I remember watching Top of the Pops back in the day,and wishing , hoping and writing in pleading to be a part of the HUGE studio audience that always seemed to be having the party of their lives getting so close to their musical hero’s….well….my wish came true when a one off studio session for Vanessa Williams turned surprisingly into a 4 week run of TOTP appearances , as her hit “Save the Best til Last” made it to the top of the charts , a live band ( oh how rare!) with yes, a string quartet was booked and yours truly got to be there…..but, where oh where, were the screaming fans? Where were the HUGE , crowds dancing enthusiastically, happy and being everything a bunch of fans should be……nope, just 20 or so audience members who were quite uninterested, shuffled from mini stage to mini stage and enthusiastically screaming on CUE!!!…..oh well, that’s TV folks!!
Having opening the memory box , you know, I may well be tempted to reveal other insider stories but one thrill that have to mention and it still gets me every time I`m lucky enough to be work in ….well , technically “play in” ( but I`m guessing by now you realise there`s a very fine line between the two, haha!! ) But anyway, as I was saying, the biggest of thrills EVER , is to walk into Studio 2 of Abbey Road, spine tingling chills and a sense of honour to soak up such a historic space….oh, and Abbey Road has the BEST breakfasts in a studio green room too , well you didn`t think I`d be too far away from any incredible edibles did you!?
