WC MARCH 14.
Saw Yes Prime Minister, currently at the Mayflower, Southampton, for a second time and enjoyed it even more than I did at Brighton. Superb show and I popped backstage to give Simon Williams a requested copy of our recent interview including his music choices.
Went to London on Wednesday to interview Daniel O’Donnell and Barry Cryer, within 90 minutes, and I thoroughly enjoyed both. Daniel is a part of my special Mother’s Day show. Several other fascinating interviews have just come in.
Awaiting news of two famous stars who are due to visit the Island. I have requested in-person interviews but this may, in the end, mean I do not get either. I will not change my policy of only having in-person guests on John Hannam Meets. I am happy to travel anywhere in the Southern half of England to pre-record interviews, as I proved recently with a visit to Birmingham to interview Jasper Carrott. Meeting the person is so much better for a real chat show – as against a quick phoned five 5 minutes into a music-based show. Some radio presenters in Britain pretend they are actually with a guest when they are hundreds of miles apart in separate studios. I could not live with that.
Sorry to hear of the death of American rock ‘n’ roll star Johnny Preston. I had the pleasure of interviewing him twice during his past visits to Great Britain. He was a real gent of a guy and such lovely company.
I was deeply saddened on Friday morning to learn of the death of the bass legend Jet Harris. I was a fan from the late 50s and so thrilled when I became a personal friend of his, back in the 90s.We had some great times in recent years and I interviewed him on several occasions and have a few great memories from visits to his cottage.
Jet was a fighter and he never gave up. I was with him on February 5 in Fareham and, despite being unwell, he still played four numbers and got me an interview with Brian Liquorice Locking. He overcame so many tragedies in his life and always maintained his great sense of humour. He was a bass icon to a generation of musicians and was so in-demand in the 50s and 60s. There must have been thousands of pictures of the mean and moody-look Jet Harris on bedroom walls all over the world.
He’ll now join that great rock band in Heaven. It was such a pleasure to have known Jet Harris.
It’s been a week with a few sad moments but I was cheered up with the possiblity of obtaining three major interviews. One is confirmed and the other two are still in progress but with strong possibilities. If they all come off, they will be milestones in the near 21 years of JH Meets.
While professional footballers were earning a few thousand pounds for two hours work on Saturday afternoon, I was earning just a mere handful, to review Henrik Ibsen’s Ghosts, at the Theatre Royal, Winchester, for The Stage. It was two hours 15 minutes well spent – and I could think of nothing else on the train back to Southampton. This new version by Frank McGuinness and superbly directed by Michael Cabon is a gem – and I could have sat through more. It’s touring Britain until July.