DAVE, COLIN & TERRY:

The news hit me hard this morning as I breezed into the bathroom
singing the theme from Blazing Saddles. The radio was playing
Clifford T Ward’s ‘Home Thoughts From Abroad’, one of the few
of his songs I ever got on with. Cliff was the man who started me
on this journey, it’s all in the book I just delivered to the
publishers, but basically without Cliff I wouldn’t be a musician.
Ha ha ha, I bet you never expected the man who wrote the kind’ve
songs Cliff did to have had a hand in ‘Born Slippy’ – art knows
no boundaries. When Cliff passed away, BBC master broadcaster
Terry Wogan was a great supporter of his family & a champion of
Cliff’s music. As a kid I’d grown up listening to Terry’s radio
shows & had admired his calm self-afacing interview style
when he eventually transferred to the TV with his phenomenally
successful chat show. It was something I rarely missed, treating it
like ‘school’ as I soaked up all I could about interview technique
from both sides of the mike & how to treat people with respect
regardless. Terry’s iconic presentation of the Eurovision Song
Contest will forever remain unsurpassed. He set the bench mark high,
delivering a tongue-in-cheek commentary that remind us never to take
life too serious. A gentle gentleman yet with a razor wit that allowed
him to transcend age & bridge generations. It really didn’t matter
what his musical taste was on any given day, for me it was all about
him, his presentation, the presence of a unstoppable, bright & buoyant
sense of humour that was warm, generous & inclusive, never cynical.
A broadcaster that I always felt was laughing at himself & inviting
me to treat myself the same. To all you hardcore ravers,
headbangers & EDM-ers it might seem totally out of character,
but this morning, when I heard the news, I broke down & cried.

(K)