WC APRIL 13.
Virtually all my time in the past two weeks has been spent preparing the two 25th Anniversary IW Radio John Hannam Meets shows. There were over 3000 available interviews. Choosing just around 40 was no easy task. There were clips to find and they all had to fit into two 2-hour shows. I spent so many hours working on the shows. I hope they will be worth it. I was pleased with part one which went out on April 11.
I did find time on Wednesday night to pop down to the brilliantly revamped Railway Inn pub, opposite the Ryde St Johns Station, to present the Beer and Pub of the Year Awards. It was a fun night and I met a few old friends and made a few new ones. The new licensees have done an amazing job. It’s what us oldies would call a real pub.
It was a busy Friday, too. I nipped down to the Shanklin Theatre to interview Philip Wright the lead singer of Paper Lace, one of my favourite 70s bands. I last met him here at Nodes Point Holiday Centre in 1980. I recorded a super 20 minute chat for John Hannam Meets, which is to be aired on Sunday April 26 at 2 and 10pm.
Later in the day I went to Rhapsody in Blue, from the Curtain Up Theatre Group, at the Totland Village Hall. I love this tiny venue and the super people who run the shows there. It has a great intimate atmosphere. Sadly, the show was not one of their best.
The next night I went to the Bembridge Village Hall to see Over My Dead Body, a very funny play, from the Bembridge Little Theatre Club. It was a great production with some beautifully delivered comedy lines and there was not a weak link in the company. Not a prompt in earshot either.
Currently I am chasing an interview that I have been waiting 40 years to obtain. It might happen but I will not hold my breath.