Postcards of a life in music. The people and events. The highs and lows.

London. July 1991
I don't remember what day it was or the exact time but I think it was just before noon. I was standing outside the stage door drinking a cup of coffee waiting for my turn to go in and I know that I was extremely nervous cause I had never auditioned for anything in my life before, any gig that I 'd ever had was down to my reputation, word of mouth or friend of friend, that type of thing. I didn't even know what one was supposed to do at an audition. There I was drinking my coffee and trying to size up the competition in the queue ahead of me...

The band that I had been in (Cambridge Circus) had broken up a few weeks earlier, I was feeling pretty low cause it was a damn good band. We'd done about 6 showcase gigs over April May and June and we were on a roll, everywhere we played the crowds loved us and we had a fairly large fan base which was rapidly becoming a fan club. A few major label people came and saw us and we were all in no doubt that before the summer was over, that we would be signed. Our last gig was at the Mean Fiddler in London. One of the labels that was interested I think it was Polygram, sent one of their big shots to see us. The band was psyched, I was psyched, the audience was psyched, unfortunately, the big shot wasn't. . When the set was finished (to thunderous applause I might add) our manager who was shaking her head in disappointment looked at me and said, why were you smiling on Stage? I said something like "Cause the band sounded great and I was having a fucking ball, we kicked ass" she replied with something like "You should have been moodier or showed some attitude, cause the record company guy said that the band was too American, you've blown it, the bloke has passed on the band". After a backstage shouting match, a few tears and several large vodka's it was obvious that it was over, silly really cause I'm positive that if we could have held on a little longer, we could have been big, but at the time we were all broke, hanging on by the skin of our teeth and emotionally drained. John Cambridge the leader of the band and his wife had sunk every penny that they had into the band, rehearsal studios, recording demo's etc his heart was broken, the rest of the guys had put a time limit on their commitment and willingness to work for nothing and me well what can I say I was the…American. No one came right out and said it but…Anyway, Dave the keyboard player and I had become pretty close during the previous 6 months, we were about the same age and had roughly the same amount of experience. Dave had managed to keep working throughout the life of the band. He played keys for a west end show called 'Blood Brothers' in fact he still does. Dave told me of a big audition for a new show that the producer of his show was putting on and said that if I wanted, he could probably get me an appointment. I told him that I had never done any theater (see I can't even spell it) but that I would give it a go if he would be so kind as to arrange it. Dave being the great guy that he is did just that.

..So there I was, waiting to go in. I didn't have a clue what this new show was about only that it was a rock and roll musical. I also had no idea whatsoever about anything to do with theater, rock and roll or otherwise.

My turn came so I said a little prayer to myself and followed the person who called my name. We went down a corridor up a few steps then down another little corridor then up a few more steps through a big double door till finally we arrived at our destination. It was on stage. There was a piano, a guitar and two guys standing there chatting, there was another guy sitting in a chair. One of the men that was standing introduced himself and the others but I was so nervous I didn't hear anything but the sound of my own ears ringing and my heart beating in my throat. Here I was, the same fellow that had performed in front of thousands of people all over the world, been performing on stage since I was a teenager, here I was practically shitting myself at the site of three guys who I didn't know from Adam and who didn't know me either. I was asked a few questions from the two that were standing "How long had I been in the UK?" "What was I doing at the present?" and then I heard a booming larger than life voice say "Now my boy, what are you going to sing for us today?" Soon after this incident I came to know that it was the well know musical director, Keith Strachan that had made the introductions. The other fellow standing was the then, Liverpool Playhouse director, Ian Kellgren and the person in the chair with the big voice was legendary writer, director, producer, actor and Rock and Roll impresario Jack Good.

The show that I had auditioned for was Good Rockin' Tonite. I was successful in my endeavour and in less than two months I was performing as Bill Haley and Gene Vincent in the production. Although I must say that Jack confided in me one night (or should I say one morning) at a little Greek restaurant in Liverpool, that I was the worst audition that he'd ever seen. I asked him if I was so bad why did he hire me? He replied "I liked your face". He also told me that having been around as long as he had that one develops a kind of second sight, so he knew straight away that auditioning wasn't my fortè and he also knew by the sound of my voice (even though he wasn't crazy about the song I sang), that I had real talent. I can tell you in all honesty that hearing this from a man who had worked with and discovered some of the worlds greatest artists, really meant something to me. Most artists no matter how big or small, sometimes need validation outside of their circle of family or friends and I have to say it did me a world of good hearing it, especially after what had happened with the band a few months earlier plus the fact that I was now involved in an area of the entertainment world (The Theatre) that I knew next to nothing about. I've always been a fast learner and I soon discovered that there wasn't a whole lot of difference between doing musical theatre and doing a rock gig. I also learned that Rock and Roll musical theatre isn't considered theatre at all by those who seriously tread the boards. but that's another story and we'll get to that another time.