Snap, Crackle and Rock to all you A1 pop pickers out there!

This week we at VOX Towers we were privy to a very rare sight... not one..but two fantastic DJ’s together in the same building. Outstanding!

No, I’m not talking about duo Smashie and Nicey but real yabba-dabba, pop heaven, in the form of Tony ‘I’m a legend’ Blackburn and Charles ‘Jazz Time Lord and News Extraordinaire’ Nove.

I like to call them the ‘Pop-tastic - A1 Vox Jox’

So let’s, quite literally, kick off from the womb of music – Pop-a-Doodle-Doo!!!!

Tony Blackburn may be slightly more grey around the gills, but for a golden oldie, the Peter Pan of disc jockeys, is a very shrewd man. Not only is he a born survivor (how many other Radio 1 stars of the Sixties are still on air?) but he has wholeheartedly embraced modern life and knows a good thing when he sees one.

In 1964, Tony joined pirate broadcaster Radio Caroline as a DJ. He rapidly became successful on the basis of his informal, American influenced presentation.

After a short spell on Radio London, Tony was hired as the first of a new generation of DJs for the BBC's newly established pop station, Radio One in 1967. The first DJ heard on the new station that was to change the face of British music, his "Breakfast Show" programme soon became popular, ensuring that he rapidly became a household name (who can forget Arnold the dog!) and ran for 10 years. Also in 1967, Tony started a 17 year run as one of the regular presenters of the TV programme "Top of The Pops".

Not content with being a popular DJ, Tony also had a moderately successful career as a recording artist. Although not the strongest of vocalists, he even made the lower reaches of the UK charts twice and three albums of songs were released in the late 60s/early 70s.

Just as he was in danger of becoming passé, he started presenting a soul show on BBC Radio London which re-established his talents as a DJ. By 1988 he was to be heard on Capital Gold in their own "Breakfast Show", winning a prestigious Sony Radio Award along the way.

Tony then became a member of the Manchester radio station Jazz FM's team and still tours British clubs and universities with his very own 70s style disco. He is occasionally seen on British TV, particularly in programmes devoted to those heady days of the 70s. Spandex and platforms anyone?

Tony has just landed a plum role as Dale Winton’s successor presenting the two-hour Saturday show Pick of the Pops that looks back at the chart hits of the Sixties and Seventies on Radio 2.

For Blackburn it is a dream job. ''The funny thing is I’ve wanted to be on Radio 2 for a long, long time,’’ he says. ''It was one of my two remaining ambitions. [The other is a cameo in Coronation Street. Blackburn has watched every episode and longs to sit in the Rovers Return, pint in hand, in the background.] I was 37 when I left Radio 1, and 2 seemed a natural progression. So it’s only taken 30 years.’’

There was much laughter and chuckle lines all round as he and Charles gabbed on about this and that, one Jock to another!

Charles has known Tony for many years and has always said what a lovely man he is. It was an honour to meet him and everyone in the Green Room can back me up when I tell you that he was one of the most laid back and easy going people we have ever had to our sunny studio. Small....but lovely, and they do say the best things come in small packages so........

You can next catch Tony all in the name of ‘chairidee’ as he and other BBC presenters such as Radio 4 Woman’s Hour host Jenni Murray do battle as stand-up comedians for Comic Relief.

The six presenters have been working with mentors, including Julian Clary and Sandi Toksvig, ahead of a gig at London's Comedy Store on 22 February.

The winning act, voted for by listeners, will be announced on Red Nose Day on 18th March.

Tony said he was "petrified" at the prospect of performing his three-minute routine:

"I have a reputation for corny gags but on radio it takes 10 seconds then I put a record on - I don't have to rely on getting a reaction,".

Come on Tony, once upon a yonk you never got tongue tied, so just keep it pop, rock and roll, and if all else fails slam on “You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet” by Bachman Turner Overdrive. SENSATIONAL!

So from one Comic Relief venture to another. .....

But why a sticky bun? I hear you cry.

Well that saucy minx of ours, Joan Walker, has only gone and got herself tied up, in more ways than one, in a Richard Curtis porn spoof entitled Extremely Sticky Buns!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now before you all rush in with more Complaints than Elton John swearing on Radio 2......

(The programme's host, Chris Evans, was telling the star that Jools Holland has to start his day by playing the piano, to re-connect with it, to which Elton sighs deeply, raises his eyes to heaven and says: "Oh f****** hell")

.........this is a, tongue in cheek nod to Calendar Girls.

A group of northern guild members decide to go one better than merely stripping naked, to raise money for their Kneesley Village Hall Roof Fund.. by ‘eck, why stop at stripping when you can go the whole hog.

It seems their antics will raise the roof rather than fix it!

Richard Curtis has hand picked some bits for this year’s Comic Relief. Due to the rudery content it will probably be on late in the evening, but if you can’t wait until then, just use the link below to see our Joan doing her best When Harry met Sally face as she takes on the role of comical, yet strangely alluring, Head of the Ladies Guild.

As the slogan of the film reads ‘Some ladies do EVERYTHING for a good cause’ and it is a real rib tickler so check it out people - Raising money for charity will never be the same again!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08bRH98O__8

SOHO NEWS

Design hotel opens in London's Leicester Square

Now last week we reported that The Hairy Bikers were ribbing myself and Chris about our Soho fancy ways, well I thought I would indulge the pretentious side of our habitat and prove them somewhat right by telling you all about W Hotels new flagship, luxury venture that opened on February 14th, in the colourful streets of Soho.

The 192-room property stands ten stories tall above the city's famous Leicester Square and is covered in translucent glass which changes color according to the time of day and the ambience of the area. Ruddy hell, it must be pretty hard to see in or out of the windows at the moment!

The new landmark is designed to establish Starwood's W Hotels as a truly international luxury design hotel chain.

The W London features a fitness facility with rooftop views of Soho, a spa offering a full range of treatments and a bar inspired by "rock and roll London," complete with a specially curated tequila selection. Just imagine - a quick run on the treadmill whilst sipping a mexican special and listening to The Rolling Stones - Tidy!

In keeping with Leicester Square's famous association with film and cinema, the hotel is also home to a 38-seat 3D screening room, which W believes will be used for small-scale premieres.

The hotel also offers the Spice Market, a signature restaurant by three-Michelin-starred chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten that Starwood says is inspired by the "vibrant street life of South East Asia."

Rooms at the W London start from £269 per night so probably something that The Hairy Bikers could afford to try out. As for me, I will stick to The Travelodge and go grab some pukka noodles in Chinatown.

So that is all for this week folks - Brian Blessed is coming back in next week and this time I have been promised a picture with the man himself so make sure you don't miss that one. Until then......ARRIVEDERCI DOODLE DO.

It was a case of beauty meets the beasts this week as The Hairy Bikers roared into town, and the lovely Denise Van Outen positively glided into the studio like a very graceful , all be it Essex, swan!

So may colourful accents and all round studio merriment commence.

I was obviously very excited at having another Essex gal in the studio but when Denise arrived I felt a tad inadequate standing near this lithe, blond bombshell.

I was further crushed when she declared to myself and Chris that she had been up all night with her baby Betsy who is teething. Well if that is what this talented vixen looks like when she’s had no sleep then I need to shake Betsy’s new front tooth, for had she been on top form, I may have been tempted to lock myself in the bathroom and weep copious non-showbiz tears.

Mind you I guess this is one lass who is used to getting up early in the morning and looking stunning, after her notable role as a presenter on The Big Breakfast.

Denise joined The Big Breakfast on Channel 4 as a weather and travel reporter in 1996 and landed the main co-presenting role in 1997. It proved to be her big breakthrough, with her cheeky “Essex Girl” personality and sexy clothing playing off well against the quick wit of Johnny Vaughan, and together they recovered audience figures to respectable levels. The same cannot be said for the length of Denise’s skirts however!

Denise is also an actress and singer, as well as presenter, and her other significant role was as Roxie Hart in the musical Chicago on both the West End and on Broadway.

In 2007, she joined the panel for BBC One's follow up to How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria?, Any Dream will Do!, which was casting Joseph in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat, where she was to meet hubby to be Lee Mead.

Van Outen's personal life has always been subjected to the sharp glare of the British tabloid media. In 1991, aged 17, she had a relationship with popstar Gary Glitter. In 1996, Denise dated Dodgy guitarist Andy Millar. From 1998 to 2001, she dated Jamiroquai lead singer Jay Kay.

They were engaged and reported to be on the verge of marriage, but split up in 2001; his album A Funk Odyssey is mostly about their break-up, with the song "Little L" expressing his fight against cocaine addiction during their break up.

It seems Denise went from pervert, to extrovert and then finally settled on a fellow all singing, all dancing, Essex-ite! She married Lee in April 2009 in the Seychelles. Oh don’t they make a perfick couple.

Denise will next be seen on OK! TV hitting our screens on February 14^th alongside Matt Johnson, best known for presenting This Morning. The show will feature news and gossip about celebrities, music and fashion and takes over from axed programme Live from Studio Five.

Denise, however, seems unwilling to let the channel's previous problems bother her and said she is looking forward to starting filming.

'I have a huge appetite for all things showbiz so this show is right up my street. I'm really looking forward to working with Matt too and we can't wait to show the viewers what we've got in store,' she said.

Johnson added: 'I think Denise and I are going to have a lot of fun together – I've long been an admirer of her presenting style and know we'll get along like a house on fire.'

Well if anyone can, our Den can. So let’s hope this scrummy mummy puts on her usual Essex-tastic charm and manages to pull in the punters. Meanwhile I am off to go and Razzle Dazzle around the living room to the Chicago soundtrack in the hope of obtaining a ‘Denise’ washboard stomach, and all that jazz!

The BBC has come a long way – FACT. For decades, British regional accents were frowned upon by the broadcasting powers-that-be who preferred the supercilious tones of received pronunciation.

Fortunately, strong and character accents now bless the airwaves and nowhere are they more evident than BBC television’s The Hairy Bikers’ Cookbook – two motorcyclists, habitual dodgers of scissors and razors, visit exotic locations and investigate and recreate local dishes with an accompaniment of liberal drizzles of extra-virgin wit, daftness and banter. You can’t go wrong.

Biker one is Dave Myers, a native of Barrow-in- Furness (a ‘Barrovian’), the town at the southern tip of Cumbria. His deadpan accent is flatter than a ruined soufflé. Biker two is Si King, from Newcastle-upon-Tyne; his animated Geordie chatter adds spice to the proceedings.

The theme of their TV series' and books is simple – ride motorbikes, cook and eat local food and drink the local drink, especially beer: “We asked the BBC – can we take on the countries’ beer and drinking cultures, they said yes, which is great because you can put the research against expenses.”

These lads were an absolute joy to have in the studio though I have to say that they smelt very strongly of patchouli oil – Odd!

They joked around with myself and Chris and made fun of our ‘Soho Ways’ as they put it. Funny cause when asked if they wanted a brew Dave promptly asked for a proper cafetiere of coffee. So now who has fancy pants ideas and double standards?!

Engagingly daft humour is a key ingredient of the Hairy Bikers’ presentation and so we wondered how this would go down with Prince Charles’ wife the Duchess of Cornwall, as after talking at A1 they were off to cook for royalty nonetheless.

Sure enough the next day their escapades at Clarence House had been well documented as The Hairy Bikers and a group of young chefs prepared a special lunch for Camilla and her son.

The secondary school pupils were invited into the kitchens of Clarence House to prepare a three-course meal, assisted by the TV cooks.

The teens had won a competition to devise a menu fit for a duchess, and her guests - including her food writer son Tom Parker-Bowles - as part of British Food Fortnight. No pressure then.

Spotting one of the television chefs in the hot kitchen, the duchess added: "Ah, I see a Hairy Biker! Very nice to see you. You all look very organised down here. I was expecting chaos."

Dave praised the pupils for their culinary skills and thanked the duchess for allowing them all into her home.

He said: "The dining room looks so beautiful. The Duchess of Cornwall has supported 'British Food Fortnight' from the beginning and it's very generous for her to throw open her house and let us two hooligans into her kitchen."

Camilla had previously spoken to Mr Myers about her love of food, saying that traditional British steamed puddings are among her favourites. He added: "She is famous for her roast chicken - we know that from Tom." So even the royals like nothing more than a classic bird and a nice bit of stuffing!

A little known fact is that Dave suffered from alopecia for most of his life.

His ‘Mam’ was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis when she was 50; he was eight. Within two years, she was in a wheelchair.

Dave’s hair began falling out then, and when he was 14, he developed alopecia.

His biggest fear was that he was never going to get a girlfriend like the other boys in his class at Barrow Grammar School. Luckily, he had some great mates, so bullying wasn't an issue.

Strangely, his hair grew back when he was 40, following an emergency operation to remove a cyst on his brain. The medical profession will never admit that it was the pressure of that which stopped his hair growth, but he’s utterly convinced that it was.

So the irony is not lost on Dave that he’s made his name as a Hairy Biker. He says joking of his now infamous mane:

“All of my mates, who are experiencing baldness for the first time, don't find it quite so amusing”.

So if you ever open your door to see Dave Lee Travis and the Honey Monster asking for their Cornflakes/Sugar Puffs back then it could actually be Dave and Si researching recipes for their next tour. Just follow the patchouli oil trail.....

So we have had the beauty and the beasts so what about an ambassador of the arts?

John Woodvine is an English stage and screen actor who has appeared in more than 70 theatre productions, as well as a similar number of television and film roles. They are some stats people!

John trained for the stage at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and worked with the Old Vic company in the 1950s.

Woodvine frequently played police officers from early on in his career, including in the seminal British drama series Z Cars in the 1960s and Softly, Softly in the 1970s.

His film roles include the 1981 John Landis film An American Werewolf in London (he later re-created his film role for the BBC Radio One adaptation of the film). He also appeared in the Oscar-nominated 1972 Richard Attenborough film Young Winston.

In 2008 John was seen as Joe Jacobs in the ITV1 soap Emmerdale but he wasn't the first choice funnily enough.

Blimey O'Reilly - it was only going to be Blessed who was scheduled to play the role!

An Emmerdale spokesperson said: “Unfortunately Brian was unable to film his scenes due to a last minute clash of schedules. However, we’re thrilled to confirm that the part of Joe will now be played by John Woodvine.”

So the doctor, more famous than even Dr Karl Kennedy of Neighbours fame, was thrown an Emmerdale life buoy by none other than big man Blessed.

London News:

If you are out and about in London this weekend then why not welcome in the Chinese New Year.

The major celebrations in Central London are the largest outside Asia!

Chinese New Year 2011, the Year of the Rabbit, falls on 3rd February. And London's main celebrations will be held on Sunday 6th February.

Trafalgar Square hosts traditional and contemporary Chinese entertainment such as dance, music and acrobatics as well as firecrackers, Chinese dragons and lions.

Meanwhile, Chinatown will be bustling with special decorations, stalls, food and lion dance displays. Shaftesbury Avenue hosts a local performance stage featuring performances by Chinese artists.

So get yourself down down there to join in the free street parties that are sure to go off with a hop, skip and a jump - Rabbit Stylee of course!

Catch you next week folks............

It was a case of men and machinery behaving badly this week.

First up we had the restaurant below and to the right of us causing mass grief with a clapped out extractor fan!

The noise was akin to a motorbike spluttering and revving except a motorbike usually moves on, thus dispersing noise pollution. This dirge continued for well over an hour and a half, occasionally stopping to choke and lulling us into a false sense of security that all would, once again, be ‘quiet on the Western front’.

But alas. After a few more asthmatic wheezes the drone would continue.

Obviously this isn't ideal when running a sound studio. It was of course also our busiest day of the week – Typical and Happy Blooming New Year!

Well our brave soldier, and man on the ground, Mr Charles Nove went in to investigate.

The restaurant in question said that they couldn't turn the fan off as it was the only ventilation for their kitchen and they would lose money. Charles explained the nature of our business and said that we too would be losing money if the racket continued.

We officially had a cold war situation on our hands people.

Charles decided to bring in the heavies ........or the environmental health squad to you and I.

They were very helpful and said we had a strong case, but you know how it is when say your computer has been playing up and you call the IT guy over to have a look and it miraculously works again, well that is exactly what happened when Charles was on the phone to the ‘keep it down’ man. One choke, one last violent shake, and just like a very exaggerated stage death, the fan breathed its last breath. RIP fan – may we all now live in peace!

I don’t know if anyone else got caught in the flash flood on Friday afternoon in London but my god did it chuck it down. It was like Arma-bloody-geddon!

Ivan Massow had made a return visit to our studio to listen to the piece as recorded last week with editing and music effects now in place. The poor chap, who let’s face it, could have afforded to land a helicopter on our roof if necessary, had cycled to us! Not only that but he had left all waterproofs at home and only had a fleece for protection.

A very messy Massow no doubt made it back home to his renovated mansion in Clerkenwell! You gotta love his no airs, no graces attitude.

Just after Ivan left to get soggy, Neil Morrissey, who had a car laid on for him, arrived at our studio a little drier and with a massive spring in his step.

No Amanda Holden wasn't in the vicinity – Ouch!

Unfortunately his affair with Holden has become one of the things synonymous with all things Neil Morrissey.

I get the feeling that this cheeky chap can turn women’s heads and knows how to have a good old party. Even Ivan Massow backs up this claim by telling us that Neil would often frequent Ivan’s sprawling pile in Frome Somerset and end up being drunk and disorderly in his very garden – small world – In fact it may have been this chance meeting at A1 that led Ivan to comment about Neil in his column for the Daily Telegraph (Sunday 16th Jan 2011) saying....

“I have been a resident of Frome for so long now that I recall, with some nostalgia, the time when someone shouting, "I've just seen Madonna at the cash-point machine" got everyone excited. Nowadays, her occasional loitering outside the supermarket stirs up as little local interest as finding that Neil Morrissey has behaved badly once again in the Sun Inn, or Frances De La Tour has been bed-&-breakfasting at the Melrose guest-house, or that the Prime Minister and Roy Strong are having a multi-cultural chin-wag in the Blue Boar Inn”

Gosh – A1 clout or what!

So back to bad boy Neil.

Born in 1962 in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, Neil suffered a traumatic childhood, having been separated from his parents at the age of ten and placed in care after being involved in a string of burglaries.

He won a scholarship to the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, and made his television breakthrough in Boon.

His role in Men Behaving Badly made him a household name; and his voiceovers for Bob The Builder made him extremely wealthy.

He’s also famous for well-publicised romances with Liz Carling, Rachel Weisz and the aforementioned, Amanda Holden.

In recent years he has divided his time between television dramas such as Paradise Heights, West End theatre (A Passionate Woman, Acorn Antiques: The Musical, Guys And Dolls) and investing in production companies and hotel properties.

However it was somehow inevitable that Neil Morrissey would one day end up running his own pub. From playing the lager-loutish Tony in Men Behaving Badly to his investments in Dylan Thomas’s old drinking haunts in west Wales, Morrissey is no stranger to propping up a bar – just ask Ivan Massow!

And so, in a classic case of the poacher turned gamekeeper, he finally got round to owning his own drinking establishment. Together with TV ‘beer chef’ and author Richard Fox, he became a part owner of Ye Olde Punch Bowl Inn in the Yorkshire village of Marton cum Grafton.

The duo’s six-month journey from finding the 17th-century property through to brewing and selling their own beer (Morrissey Fox Blonde Ale) on the premises was documented in a TV series, Neil Morrissey’s Risky Business, shown on Channel 4.

Neil says of his own brew:

“If Kronenbourg is the Coldplay of the beer world, then my own beer is like John Lennon and Julie Christie driving through London in a silver Jaguar E-Type circa 1967 with The Kinks’ Waterloo Sunset blasting out of the speakers”

Keeping with his pub theme he goes on to say:

“Martin Clunes is a beer god. I’d never say no to a long session in the pub with him. Elizabeth I would have been one of my ideal drinking partners. Apparently, she used to down four pints of ale before breakfast. In an ideal world, she’d have joined me, Keith Moon, John Lennon and all the Bloomsbury Group around the table of a good boozer. Now that would have been a session and a half”

I agree - Royalty and Rock ‘n’ Roll – Get In!

So I guess when talking all things ‘pub’ fewer things are funnier than a good pub joke and here is one of Neil’s favourites:

“A man is sitting in the pub when he hears a bowl of peanuts on the bar saying, ‘Ooh, you are lovely; you’re really amazing.’ Then the fruit machine shouts, ‘Rubbish – look at the state of that haircut. And your socks don’t go with your shoes.’ The barman apologises. ‘Sorry,’ he says. ‘The nuts are complimentary but the fruit machine is out of order.”

Cheers Neil!

London Showbiz News:

So last night saw the second round of Dancing on Ice to see who would be for the chop before the real show gets going.

Jayne Sharp, who has been mentioned on my blog before, is married to ‘Comedy Dave’ Vitty who took part in last night’s show. We had Jayne in, not once, but twice last week and she gave us the low down on Dave’s training.

She said that he is actually a very good skater but she felt the routine he was given didn't really show case that enough. Instead it focused on rigid dance moves which outlined what Dave’s really not good at – Dancing!

Dave, who is used to being heard and not seen, says of his brave step into the Lycra limelight:

“My attitude on this is that you either do this show or you don’t, and if you are going to do it you've just got to throw yourself in and embrace it. If they want to stick me in a pink costume one week then fine, it doesn't bother me.”

It seems that somebody took him at his word, as last night poor Dave was trussed up like a fab lolly on a psychedelic day!

VITTY for VICTORY!

So there we have it folks. Machines and men behaving badly - or just behaving in a new, weird and wonderful way. As a wise person once said "life is like a box of chocolates - you never know what you're going to get" and that is just how I feel working here at A1 VOX!

(I believe it will be a couple of weeks until my next Blog so until then keep it warm and lucid people).

WELCOME BACK AND A HAPPY 2011 TO ALL FOLLOWERS OF A1 VOX!

It’s time to clean your pipes and get ready for some vocally uplifting New Year action – WAHEY – OO ER MISSUS!

I hope you had a gorgeous break and managed to stuff yourself stupid. And so another year begins..........................................

On returning to VOX towers I thought I had developed 'Turkey Brain' as I could clearly hear the cooing of a pigeon....................coming from the stationery cupboard!

I felt the need to arm myself with a broom and plastic bag, though why they would help me if a rat with wings decided to take flight round the office I still don’t know.

The noise seemed to get louder as if the bird knew I was about to attack it and cause death by Tesco asphyxiation.

Luckily Charles came to the rescue with the knowledge that the bird wasn’t actually ‘in’ the office but just as damn well close as it could get!

There appears to be a pocket in the brick work which makes a nice warm resting perch for cold feathered friends. They can work their way right in and apparently all that is keeping us from them is a piece of plywood behind the stationery cupboard – hence why said cooing seems to be coming from inside the room. Mystery Solved and the bird lives to see another day – Coo-phew.

“That’s a nice pair of Secateurs!”

Not a phrase one hears too often but I did hear it in the office this week as Chris and Charles looked over the merits of this common gardening tool.

We get a lot of random post through our door including a brochure for Frances Hilary - Covent Garden’s resident gardening store – hence Chris’ outburst. It is a lovely little find and gardening has never looked so good! Check it out if green’s your bag.

Roger Allam popped in to VOX Towers for some New Year cheer this week.

Roger is sometimes heralded as one of Britain’s least known but most brilliant actors. You have probably seen his face and heard his voice in a plethora of media platforms. He is best known for his stage performances especially as the original Javert in Les Miserables. It is his voice that can be heard on the original cast recording of the same show.

He joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1981 and has been with them for many seasons ever since.

He has been nominated three times for the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor, winning in 2001, for his role as Captain Terri Denis in a revival of Privates on Parade. He has also been nominated for, and won, the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Supporting Actor.

Roger diversifies his stage roles from appearances with the RSC to pantomime performances such as playing villainous Abanazar in Aladdin at the Old Vic theatre, co-starring Ian McKellen, Maureen Lipman and Sam Kelly.

Apart from treading the boards Roger has appeared in TV and film. In 2006 he appeared in Stephen Frears' The Queen, starring Oscar-winner Dame Helen Mirren, as the Queen's private secretary.

Roger has also re-teamed with Stephen Frears in Tamara Drewe, the film version of Posy Simmond's popular comic strip. Allam plays the self-centred and serially unfaithful crime novelist, Nicholas Hardiment, who is bewitched by London journalist Tamara Drewe, played by Gemma Arterton. The film received critical buzz at the 2010 Cannes film festival and the Mail on Sunday described his performance as 'wonderfully sleazy'.

A great tribute to Roger comes from the late, great, Arthur Miller, who in the closing chapter of his Timebends autobiography (1987) writes: "To play Adrian....in the 1986 Royal Shakespeare Company production of The Archbishop's Ceiling, Roger Allam gave up the leading role as Javert in the monster hit Les Misérables because he had done it over sixty times and thought my play more challenging for him at that moment of his career. Nor did he consider his decision a particularly courageous one. This is part of what a theatre culture means and it is something few New York actors would have the sense of security even to dream of doing."

A marvellous accolade and to me sums up the magnitude of Roger's talent. An honour to have met him.

Millionaire Ivan Massow came to visit VOX Towers and we made sure we had the posh coffee on, though we needn't have bothered for this was one very 'un-millionaire' type of man. Simon Cowell watch and learn!

Ivan is best known for changing financial services in the wake of the 1980s Aids crisis when he campaigned to abolish higher insurance premiums for gay people.

Ivan was born in Brighton as Ivan Field, the son of a policeman, John Field, whom Ivan has described as "abusive". His mother left the relationship and remarried, before giving Ivan up for adoption at the age of 12, aiming to give him a better life. He was adopted by a bachelor businessman, John Massow, taking his surname. Later, after Massow had come out as gay, his adoptive father broke off all contact.

This guy did not have your regular start in life and a lot of people, having had this type of upbringing, would have ended up in the gutter. Not Ivan Massow – he worked hard against all the odds and continues to campaign for everything that he believes in.

Never one to mince his words, Ivan wrote a piece for the New Statesman magazine in which he attacked the predominance of conceptual art describing it as "pretentious, self-indulgent, craftless tat" and "the product of over-indulged, middle-class [...], bloated egos who patronise real people with fake understanding". He called the ICA a "pillar of the shock establishment" and personally attacked Tracey Emin saying she "couldn't think her way out of a paper bag". Don’t hold back now Massow!


Something that a lot of people don’t know is that Ivan is severely dyslexic and left education with an O-level in metalwork and a BTEC in art and design. As a 'closeted' homosexual working within the financial services industry, he experienced the homophobia that typified the early 1990s mortgage and life assurance industry.

Massow saw how gay men were penalised for their sexuality when they applied for financial services. In a time of increasing HIV rates, gay men were seen as high-risk and required to pay much higher premiums than other customers, whatever their circumstances.

These premium increases could be as high as 600%.

In 1990, Massow started a financial services business from a squat in Kentish Town, North London, having failed to find funding for his idea. With his acquired industry experience, Massow was able to source ways for gay people to take-up mortgages and insurance at equal rates, rather than suffer the standard rejection of every insurer.

By using the industry's computerised ‘automatic underwriting' systems, he was able to smuggle his clients through using said tool. By 1997, Massow's firm, Massow Financial Services, had become the 10th largest Independent Financial Adviser in the UK and was valued at £22 million.

Our own Mr Nove conducted an interview with Ivan, just before Christmas and even though this guy has amassed a small fortune for himself you can see that it is his beliefs and seeing justice done that is more important to this self made chap than pound signs.

This can be confirmed by Ivans answer to the question: now he is better off, does he feel happier?

“No, because the most miserable times in my life have usually involved money. I had a partner in my early 30s who used to earn obscene amounts, but our lives became very shallow, aloof and dysfunctional.

I found no pleasure travelling in private jets, for example – there's a buzz doing it the first time, but afterwards it becomes an isolating experience. His love of excess destroyed our relationship and in the end I gave away my share of the businesses we owned just to leave as an expensive exit. Afterwards I'd never been happier”.

Just goes to prove the age old saying that money doesn’t buy you happiness. But being able to afford your partner taking you to the cleaners, and thus taking that ‘expensive exit’ when reality hits, is still a privileged position to be in me thinks!

So a very interesting man and someone that I feel will be popping up on our radars again and again.

This week sees the return of Brian Blessed to A1. Brian keeps in shape by climbing up large mountains. About the only thing on Earth larger than Brian Blessed is Mount Everest, which he has attempted to scale three times without ever quite reaching the summit. Lets see if we can find out how the 'King of Ham' spent his Christmas and New Year – until then – catch you next week 2011 Voxers!!!!

DIVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!