Trevor Sorbie

Presenter0:01

BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, Podcasts.

Presenter0:05

I'm Lauren Laverne and this is the Desert Island Discs podcast. Every week I ask my guests to choose the eight tracks, book and luxury they'd want to take with them if they were cast away to a desert island. For rights reasons, the music is shorter than the original broadcast. I hope you enjoy listening.

Presenter0:42

My castaway today is Trevor Sorby. There aren't many hairdressers who become household names, but, along with his mentor Vidal Sassoon, he's one of the few.

Presenter0:51

Even those of us whose interaction with the world of hair only goes as far as a quick shampoo a couple of times a week may in some small way have felt his impact. After all, there's every chance his name is on the side of the bottle. A winner of the British Hairdresser of the Year title four times in the beauty industry, he's known as an innovator. He invented the wedge and pioneered scrunch drying. He revolutionised the way hair was cut with a freehand style that introduced the concept of texturizing. In 2006, he set up the charity My New Hair, providing a free wig styling service for people who have lost their own hair due to illness. He calls it psychological medicine, which isn't all that different to his regular appointments with clients. For some women, he says, going to the hairdressers is a bit like going to a shrink. The difference is that you come out with a nice hairdo as well. Trevor Sauby, welcome to Desert Island Discs.

Trevor Sorbie1:43

Thank you.

Presenter1:44

I think most of us will have had a salon experience that is memorable for all the wrong reasons. What makes a great stylist?

Trevor Sorbie1:52

Well firstly you have to be a good communicator. I think you have to enjoy people and you have to be very sensitive because you're dealing with somebody's hair, a very important part of their overall image. And my dad taught me one thing. He said if you're taught well you become good and I was always taught well and I became good.

Presenter2:15

And as a stylist, how do you know that you've done a great job?

Trevor Sorbie2:19

I know when I've not done a great job.

Trevor Sorbie2:22

Because there's usually tears, but that hasn't happened too often. But um I know women so well more than I know men. I mean I'd rather talk about make up to a woman than what's happening with Manchester United, for example, down the pub. And you can tell when a woman's happy with their hair. It radiates that happiness.

Presenter2:42

So it's kind of as emotional a reaction as it is looking at something thinking, oh yeah, that looks good. It's also about it making them feel good.

Trevor Sorbie2:44

As it is.

Trevor Sorbie2:49

Yeah, very much so, especially with ladies and with men these days. You know, when I first started hairdressing I was a barber and it was ten pence for a haircut. But now men have hair styles and they have products and all of that. So it's a very important part of everybody's sort of you you get judged by your hair.

Presenter3:09

You found inspiration in some pretty unexpected places. You know, there was a a kind of diamond on a playing card, a shell logo, you know, even a spider plant.

Trevor Sorbie3:17

Even a spot?

Trevor Sorbie3:19

Yeah, you see, it's all around us. You know, I can look at a plant, I can look at a fabric, I can look at anything and think, how can I translate that into a hairstyle? It's like having an antenna on your top of your head. It never turns off. You're not always looking, but sometimes you just see something and you go, I know, I know what I can do with that.

Presenter3:39

Let's get to your first track, why have you chosen it?

Trevor Sorbie3:42

I lived in Scotland for 11 years in Paisley, which is just outside of Glasgow, and every month my mum would take me to Glasgow and we'd always go to this one cafe and it was a dupe box in those days. And I used to always want this particular track. I loved it. I mean, it's a rubbish record, but at the time I really liked it. And I remember my mum used to buy me a Vimpto. That's a sort of a blackcurrant soft drink. So that's a very early memory of my youth.

Speaker 24:02

A rule.

Speaker 14:02

Right.

Presenter4:13

Skiffle and Vimto. What a combo.

Trevor Sorbie4:17

Yeah.

Speaker 24:17

Uh

Trevor Sorbie4:22

Flash train to San Fernando Fly's train to San Fernando If you miss this one, you'll never get another one Bee Dee Dee Bum Bum to San Fernando Last night I met my sweet Dorothy She said tomorrow we're joining Sweet Matrimony But if you like Alright, or you can take me off the night. We can find in dining, get back in time for the last train to San Fernando.

Presenter4:52

Last Train to San Fernando by Johnny Duncan and his bluegrass boys, taking you back to your childhood, Trevor Sorby. So tell us a little bit more about that. Your father and grandfather were both hairdressers. How good was your dad? You said, you know, his advice to you: well, if you're taught well, you'll become good. Was he good?

Trevor Sorbie5:03

This

Trevor Sorbie5:07

Which will well

Trevor Sorbie5:09

Was he good? Yeah, he was very good. You know these flat top American GI haircuts? Normally you do it with a clipper. He could do it just with scissors and to get it absolutely like a a snooker table flat top. Uh he was a very, very good hairdresser.

Presenter5:25

And what do you remember about his shop? What was it like?

Trevor Sorbie5:28

Um two chairs, four seats for people to sit on, loads of girly magazines and

Presenter5:37

So you don't mean woman's own then?

Trevor Sorbie5:38

No, no, not a trace of woman's own. Yeah, it was very basic, but, you know, had to start somewhere.

Presenter5:46

And you grew up in Paisley in what you've described as very, very modest circumstances. This would have been in the 50s. What was life like for you?

Trevor Sorbie5:48

In

Trevor Sorbie5:51

This would

Trevor Sorbie5:55

Well, we lived in what is called a tenement building, basically a block of flats, and we had to share the outside toilet with all the occupants above. Every Friday my dad got a big tin bath out and me and my brother used to bath in it. Um it was very very modest, put it that way. But you know, that's all my mum and dad could afford. And I didn't know any different anyway, so to me it was the norm.

Presenter6:18

Yeah.

Presenter6:20

Tell me a little bit more about your parents then. So your dad was Scottish and your mum was English.

Trevor Sorbie6:24

Yeah, um now they had an arrangement that I didn't know about, that they would spend the first ten years of their marriage in Scotland and then after that they would move to England. Now I didn't know about this. I had a little girlfriend who I said, Oh, look, I'm going away for um two weeks. Uh I'll see you when I get back. Well, I never went back.

Presenter6:46

So tell me a little bit more about you as a kid. What were you like? What were you interested in?

Trevor Sorbie6:50

Art. I wanted to be a painter. I used to go to art school every Saturday with a teacher called Mr. Dunn, and that was really what I wanted to be. I started again a few years ago, and I remember it was a big football match. It was like Chelsea and Manchester United, and you know, I love football. And half-time came, so I picked up my pen and started drawing, and I was sketching away.

Trevor Sorbie7:17

I didn't even see the second half. I got so absorbed in what I was doing that I didn't even know the match was on.

Presenter7:23

It's time for our second track today, Travis Obi. Tell me about this second disc and why you've chosen it.

Trevor Sorbie7:28

Right. Grace Jones has what I would call a very, very strong image. And I heard that she was going to come to have her haircut by me. And I was so nervous,'cause I thought she's going to eat me alive, you know,'cause she looks so aggressive. You know something? She was one of the nicest celebrities. And the next day, she was on the Russell Harty show a long time ago. And that's when she slapped Russell Harty around the face.

Presenter7:56

A very famous interview, but none of that truculence with you.

Trevor Sorbie8:00

No, no, she was perfect with me, but I felt sorry for Russell Harty though. And I like all of her music, but this one in particular, because I can visualize her when she's singing this.

Speaker 18:12

Driving down those city streets

Speaker 18:15

Wait, chocolate's down!

Speaker 28:32

Far the founder of me

Speaker 28:34

Run a lower risk

Speaker 28:38

Me

Speaker 28:39

Hold up to my mama, baby.

Speaker 28:42

Long like Milesi

Presenter8:45

Grace Jones and pull up to the bumper. Trevor Sorby, you left school at fifteen, I think. How did you come to get your start as a hairdresser?

Trevor Sorbie8:53

Well, basically I wanted to leave school because I was getting bullied. So my dad said, What are you going to do? I said, Well, I don't know, I'll get a job in a factory like my mates. And he said, Well, come in the barber shop and see how you get on. So I did. And I was washing hair most of the time. But after about three months, I was actually physically cutting hair. I found hairdressing easy. I shouldn't really say that because a lot of people find it difficult, but I found it really quite easy. I used hair as my medium instead of paint. I think that's how it really. came about.

Presenter9:28

And your dad was teaching you the trade, you were kind of his apprentice. What was that dynamic like?

Presenter9:32

Um

Trevor Sorbie9:34

Ups and downs. I think when you work with your parents or family, I think it can work against you. And I lost a lot of respect for my dad because we used to stop in this pub on the way home and he used to say, Oh, I've got to have a pint son and I thought, What? Anyway, it was more about this barmaid that was behind the bar and I didn't like that. So I decided after five years to stop working for him and stop hairdressing, in fact.

Presenter10:05

So how did you get back into it?

Trevor Sorbie10:07

Well, I went for a job for Gillette Razorblades and the guy that interviewed me said, What are your qualifications? I said, Well, I've got A in maths, I've got a B in geography, I've got C in English. And he could tell I was lying. So, obviously, I didn't get the job. I didn't particularly want the job, I wanted the car that came with the job, but I didn't get either, so I quit. And then I said to my parents, Look, I think I'll go back into hairdressing, but I don't want to do men's, I want to do ladies'. So, they sent me to a college in Baker Street called the Richard Henry School of Hairdressing. And I was there for six months. And on the last day, the principal of the college said, Trevor, I can see something special in you. He says, I think you should go to a really good salon. So, he sent me to Vidal Sassoon, and that's how it all kicked off.

Speaker 110:20

Ah.

Presenter10:58

Time for some more music. It's your third disc today.

Trevor Sorbie11:01

Uh

Presenter11:01

Why have you chosen this one?

Trevor Sorbie11:03

I used to live in Harlow in Essex and my best friend lived in Bethnal Green and every Saturday night I used to drive to Bethnal Green and this guy, his name was Sean. He always wanted me to blow dry his hair and now it was almost like afro hair but he wanted it poker straight and then I'd do that. It took me about an hour to do it and then we'd go clubbing and I tell you I used to wear this big cardigan, massive cardigan, roll neck sweater, jeans tucked into my boots and we used to dance forever and by the time the morning came Sean's hair was back to an afro and I was dripping because I wouldn't take this jumper off because I thought I looked so cool and this record was my favourites at the time.

Trevor Sorbie11:59

I'll chase the clouds away I'll ring it

Trevor Sorbie12:07

Keep

Speaker 112:08

That's so she's singing

Trevor Sorbie12:10

Uh

Trevor Sorbie12:11

Last in the night, remember

Trevor Sorbie12:15

While the stars roll the night away

Presenter12:29

Earth, Wind and Fire with September. So, Trevor Sorby, it was working at Vidal Sassoon that you witnessed the creation of a haircut called the Firefly, and it's now considered a classic style. Hairdressing students still learn it. There are online tutorials, I think, online if anybody feels brave enough to attempt it at home. But you were one of the first to see it. What kind of impact did it have on you?

Trevor Sorbie12:51

Well, firstly, this model agent brought this young lady in and he called her Firefly, it wasn't her real name, and he wanted her to have a complete restyle. So Christopher Brucker, who was the artistic director at the time, Grosvenor House Salon was on four floors and he went right up the top floor and he cut her hair and he was up there for seven hours. Anyway, she came down and everyone just went, Oh my god, amazing.

Presenter13:19

And what was it like, how would you describe it for for someone who's never seen a a firefly car?

Trevor Sorbie13:23

Basically long on the top and very, very short through the sides and back. It had a bit of a floppy fringe. Very simple to look at, but it's technically a very difficult haircut to do. It became a a clubber's haircut, if you like. And I just felt so privileged to be in the same building as that classic hairstyle.

Presenter13:43

And you went on to create an iconic cut of your own in 1974. It's called The Wedge. How do you do it?

Trevor Sorbie13:52

With great difficulty. Actually, it was a bit of a mistake to be honest. Vidal was asked to do a show in Paris, and he said to the art team, and I was a member of the art team, we need to do a new collection for Paris. So I thought, right. So I had this house model called Mary, and I said, Look, I want to try this haircut. It's very short, but it's long on the top. She said, Yeah, go for it. And I looked at it, and it just looked like a helmet. And I thought, uh-uh, the French are not going to like this. I like it, but the French won't. Anyway, I thought, I've got to try and salvage this. So I just brushed it back on both sides, and this V shape came out, this triangular shape in the hair. And I said to Christopher, What do you think of this? He said, I love it. He said, We're going to photograph that. And it was the first haircut that ever got a double-page spread in English Vogue. And that just fueled my fire. You know, after I did that, I thought to myself, if I can do that once, I can do it again.

Presenter14:55

Time for your next piece of music. This is your fourth disc today.

Trevor Sorbie14:59

I was asked to go on the Queen Elizabeth, the ship, to do some demonstrations, makeovers in front of the public. And I met this girl who worked on the ship and I got really, really pally with this young lady. And I used to go down to the belly of the ship where all the crew are and I had a great time down there. But this particular track, I used to dance my heart on it too.

Speaker 115:26

Dancing green, young and sweet, only seventeen Dance in

Trevor Sorbie15:35

Queen, here's a bee from the tender.

Speaker 215:53

Woo See that

Speaker 215:56

What's that season?

Speaker 115:57

Take it.

Presenter16:03

Abba and Dancing Queen. Okay, Trevor Sorby. Back to Dry Land then, and Covent Garden, where you opened your first Trevor Sorby salon in nineteen seventy nine. What was it like having your name above the door?

Trevor Sorbie16:15

Well, firstly, I never thought it would happen. I was working at John Frieders at the time and I had this telephone call from a guy called Grant Pete. And he had eight salons and he wanted to come into London and make a success there. And Grant phoned me up one day. He said, how would you like your own shop? And I said, yeah, all right. I said, 50% and my name above the door. He said, you got a deal. I was very fortunate. Talk about, you know, being in the right place at the right time. I was there.

Presenter16:44

And drawing them through the door was a photograph in your window that was quite an extreme haircut of yours, called The Wolfman. What was it like?

Trevor Sorbie16:49

Haircut

Trevor Sorbie16:53

Well, it was inspired by punks. They used to spike their hair out. And I thought, right, normally we cut with scissors. Now I'm going to cut with a razor. Then I thought, colour. What's the worst colour you can think of? Oh, a regrowth, right? In those days, that was not the done thing. So I just bleached this guy's hair and then blow-dried it all out. It just looked like fur. I stuck it in my front window. And people, they'd look at that picture and think, well, I'm not going in there for a haircut, that's for sure. But the people that did come in were like new wave people like Susie and the Banshees, Adamant. You know, I was getting a new type of youth coming in. They understood me.

Presenter17:40

The Wolfman was followed by The Chop. That's cut freehand. Now, tell me a bit more about that approach and how new it was, because it was considered revolutionary.

Trevor Sorbie17:42

That's

Trevor Sorbie17:43

Yeah.

Trevor Sorbie17:48

Yeah. I've always turned things upside down and I thought, right, what's the opposite of a good haircut? A bad haircut. Let's do a bad haircut. And when I say that, it sounds awful, but I had to cut from the gut, so to speak, rather than technique. So just picking hair out and just cutting into it at different lengths. And what I was getting is a texture that was disheveled looking and looked like you hadn't been to the hairdressers, but you looked very cool. I called it the chop at the time, but it's basically now texturizing and every hairdresser does it at some point these days.

Presenter18:27

You were named Hairdresser of the Year in 1985, 1986, 1991 and 1992 and you're the first hairdresser to be awarded an MBE.

Trevor Sorbie18:30

19

Trevor Sorbie18:37

Uh

Presenter18:37

How much did all that success change your life?

Trevor Sorbie18:41

Um all it's done is spurred me on more. I'm doing something right. You know, I'm being recognised for my contribution to my industry by the Queen. I mean a little boy from Paisley and there I am in Buckingham Palace. You know, it's still hard for me to get my head round, to be honest. And I'm very proud of it.

Presenter19:07

Time for some more music. Tell me about your fifth disc today.

Trevor Sorbie19:11

I used to cut George Harrison's hair. He'd send a car for me and it was more like a medieval mansion than a house. And afterwards we used to sit on the doorstep outside the kitchen and just chat. Lovely, lovely man. And I would like to dedicate this to my wife, this record. It's her all-time favourite and it's one of mine now, but it's for her.

Speaker 219:41

My sweet Lord.

Speaker 219:44

Mm-hmm.

Speaker 219:48

Mm my lord.

Speaker 219:53

I really wanna see you

Speaker 219:57

Really wanna be with you

Speaker 220:01

Really wanna see Lord, but it takes so long, my Lord.

Speaker 220:08

Ah, sweet boy.

Presenter20:16

George Harrison and My Sweet Lord. Trevor Soby, I was surprised to read this quote from you. I hate business. I'm not a business man. Tell me a little bit more about that because, you know, to all appearances, a very successful one.

Trevor Sorbie20:30

Well, I've always believed if you're not good at something, get somebody that is good. So I had a business partner and he would deal with the business. I used to sit in head office looking at things that I just didn't understand, spreadsheets, financial meetings. I had no idea. I used to just drift off. Wasn't interested. Never will be.

Presenter20:51

When you'd drift off, where would you drift off to? What would you be thinking about?

Trevor Sorbie20:54

Thank you.

Trevor Sorbie20:56

Nothing about business. Probably dreaming up hairstyles in my head.

Presenter21:01

Now by the end of the nineties, you were the public face of a very large business, several salons around the country, huge product line, T V work. How was that public profile for you? Did that feel like a natural fit or was that uncomfortable?

Trevor Sorbie21:15

You know, in those days when I was doing quite a lot of T V, if I was in a restaurant and I saw people, sometimes they spot you I had to leave the restaurant. I just hated being recognized. That's not who I am. It's not the reason I was a a hairdresser. I did it because of the art. So the public side of it I shied away from, to be honest.

Presenter21:36

And it brought press attention too. In the mid two thousands you were the subject of some unwelcome, salacious press stories, including a a kiss and tell. How did that kind of scrutiny affect you?

Trevor Sorbie21:47

Well, put me in hospital for a month. I remember I was living on my own at a time. I was separated from my wife. And she phoned me up and she said, have you read the newspaper? And I said, no, not yet. She said, well, have a look. So I had a look and there's this double page spread, TV crimper cheats on wife. Well, I actually went to the medicine cabinet and I was going to top myself. Next thing I know, cars are pulling up outside. My daughter, my business partner, my PR. Next thing I know, I'm in hospital. And I actually started to sort of think a bit more clearly by that time. What am I doing here? So I decided to leave. So I got my bag and I went to the lift and there was three guys standing there. I said, excuse me, guys. They say, where are you going? I said, well, I'm going home. I said, no, you're not. I said, I am. It's not a prison. It says, it is for you. You're sectioned. And I just hit the ground hard.

Trevor Sorbie22:55

They really upset me.

Presenter22:57

I mean, a hugely traumatic time. How long did it take to recover? How long were you in hospital?

Trevor Sorbie23:02

I was in for a month, but the scar is still there. Um I can relive that as I'm talking to you. Uh it hurts. I didn't do anything wrong. I just fell into a trap and uh it really damaged me.

Presenter23:19

And how long did it take to get better to come to terms with what had happened?

Trevor Sorbie23:22

Well, it's a gradual thing, you know, you live it day by day and you do tend to put it to the back of your mind. But even the fact I'm saying this out loud to you and to your listeners, I still can feel that pain.

Presenter23:37

Let's go to the music, Travis Sawby. It's your sixth disc today. Why have you chosen this?

Trevor Sorbie23:42

My wife, present wife, before we were married, she had emigrated to Cape Verde off the coast of Africa and I was in London and we decided to meet halfway in Lisbon and we met up and at the time Duffy was singing Mercy and I loved that song and every time I hear it it reminds me of our first date in Lisbon.

Presenter24:12

I love

Presenter24:15

But I gotta stage

Presenter24:19

My morrow's got me on my knees. I'm begging please stop playing games.

Presenter24:26

I don't know what this is, but you got

Presenter24:30

Just like in your book

Presenter24:33

I don't know what you do, but it dewywear. I'm a new spare.

Presenter24:41

You got me begging you for mercy Why won't you relieve?

Presenter24:48

Duffy and Mercy for your wife Carol, Trevor Solby. So in 2006 you set up the charity My New Hair. Where did the idea come from initially?

Trevor Sorbie24:57

11 years ago, my sister-in-law got cancer and she said, Trev, I'm going to lose my hair. Could you get me a wig? I still want to look attractive to your brother. I said, Yeah, no problem. So I got this wig and I put it on. I said, Oh, it looks like a wig. Let me just customize it and make it look more natural. I said, Right, go and have a look in the mirror, see what you think. And she just burst out crying, tears of joy. And that's when a massive penny dropped in my career. And that was 11 years ago. And every month I train 15 hairdressers. I've trained over a thousand hairdressers now. I do it free of charge. And I've converted a room in my house to look after people that have got cancer.

Presenter25:42

So how does working with clients who have experienced hair loss differ from an ordinary appointment? Obviously, you know, the emotions are completely different, the context is completely different. But when you teach hairdressers...

Trevor Sorbie25:50

Uh

Presenter25:52

to handle that situation, you know, what do they need to know?

Trevor Sorbie25:52

Don't

Trevor Sorbie25:55

Well, firstly, what is difficult is dealing with people that are in a very bad place. And we have two highly trained nurses that come down from the North East. These are lecturers, and we teach communication skills. So your opening words are not, where are you going on your holiday? It's a whole different conversation, and you have to be very sensitive to it.

Presenter26:18

Of course, it must be very emotional sometimes. I know that there was one particular bride that you worked with. Tell me about that experience.

Trevor Sorbie26:25

Yes. I used to do some work in the hospice in Esha. And one day a nurse came up behind me and said, Trevor, could you cut a wig for a lady downstairs? She's getting married. She said, but it may not happen. So I said, why? She said, well, she may not live till three o'clock. And I took my breath away. I thought, I don't know if I can deal with this. So I went downstairs, knocked on the door, and there she was lying in the bed with her wedding dress on. There were streamers, balloons, cards around.

Trevor Sorbie26:56

You know something, I was in there for about 25 minutes and those 25 minutes were some of the best twenty five minutes in my whole career. We were laughing, we were joking, we were enjoying it. I wasn't in a room with a woman dying, I was in a room with a woman getting married. And uh I never forget that. Anyway, she did get married that day, but next day she passed away.

Presenter27:20

What an extraordinary experience, and what a moment to share with someone. I wonder what working with those clients has done for you. Has it changed you, do you think?

Trevor Sorbie27:31

You know, I think what I get out of it, to me, I think what I do, I can't stop what's happening, but what I can do is make them be able to face the world, not to be stared at, not to upset the family or anything. So I think what I do is very important, I really do. And I call it psychological medicine, because if a woman looks and feels good, that's partly going to help her on the road to recovery.

Presenter27:58

It's time to go to the music. Tell me about your seventh disc and why you've chosen it.

Trevor Sorbie28:02

I was sent out to Japan for six weeks. This company out there had an academy, and every week he would send one of his salons to this hotel, and I would train them. The trouble was, it was in a place called Ube City. It was a little town near Hiroshima. And they said, Mr. Subi, you have to stay in the hotel. I said, Why? They said, Well, some people here have never seen a white person, a Caucasian person. And every street sign is in Japanese. So if you leave this building, you could get lost. So for six weeks, I was stuck in this hotel. And the only thing I had that made me feel any better was playing the Elton John tracks. And Elton John got me through those six weeks, put it that way.

Trevor Sorbie28:59

And I feel like a woman the kind I will love before

Trevor Sorbie29:06

There were the better sensitivities, you know I'm called of the highest sword

Trevor Sorbie29:11

Uh

Speaker 229:11

Uh

Trevor Sorbie29:12

I'm so ashamed!

Speaker 229:13

Uh

Trevor Sorbie29:14

Capital

Speaker 229:15

Batch it all

Speaker 229:18

You know

Speaker 229:19

I can't think straight no more.

Speaker 229:22

You made me feel like a bullet on it in the gum

Speaker 229:28

Guna will rub it for

Presenter29:33

Elton John, I feel like a bullet in the gun of Robert Ford. So, Trevor Sorby, I wonder what do you think your parents would have made of the path that you've taken? We've been looking back to day.

Trevor Sorbie29:43

Oh unfortunately they both passed away before any fame came my way. But when I get up there I've got a lot to talk about.

Trevor Sorbie29:54

They'll be very proud, I know that, especially my mum.

Presenter29:57

So looking to the future, you're still Chief Creative Ambassador of Trevor Sorby, very much involved in your charity, as we've heard. What are your hopes for yourself? What about your own future?

Presenter30:07

Yeah.

Trevor Sorbie30:07

Um

Trevor Sorbie30:09

I will stop hairdressing in one year from now. But what I'm going to continue to do is the wigs for cancer patients in my house in Gosport. I'll do that as long as I can stand up because that gives me enormous pleasure. And you know, I suffer or have suffered from depression and anxiety. And I read this article a couple of years ago and they said that anyone suffering with anxiety or depression, the best medicine is a dog.

Speaker 130:20

Uh

Trevor Sorbie30:43

So I went and got a dog. And you know what? It's right. It is so good for me, that little boy. I have to go out for an hour walking and I absolutely adore this little boy. So that's my future, really, just cutting wigs and take my dog for a walk.

Presenter31:02

That sounds pretty good. It's time for your final disc today. Tell me about this one.

Trevor Sorbie31:08

It's a George Michael record, and I love the record on its own. But the reason I've chosen this particular one, I feel it's my responsibility to lead by example. I still sweep the floor and I'll still shampoo people's hair, help them on with their coats, make them coffee, I do all of that stuff. And I've always seen myself as like a parent to my staff and a father figure, hence the record.

Speaker 231:41

I don't know how

Speaker 231:43

D U J

Trevor Sorbie31:45

Uh

Speaker 231:46

Thanks.

Trevor Sorbie31:48

Your father

Trevor Sorbie31:49

We have had enough of Christmas

Speaker 231:52

We'll be the one

Trevor Sorbie31:53

Who else is it?

Speaker 231:54

To be in the time

Presenter32:03

George Michael and Father Figger. So Trevor Sorby, I'm about to cast you away to our desert island. Your job is by nature, of course, a sociable one. How will you manage on your own?

Trevor Sorbie32:14

Not very well. I think I'd do a lot of fishing if I had a rod.

Presenter32:20

You could fashion one.

Presenter32:23

It's time to give you the complete works of Shakespeare and the Bible. You can also take a book of your choosing. What will that be?

Trevor Sorbie32:29

Well, I'd like to take Jeremy Clark's books. I think his humour is fantastic and uh it's easy reading. You can pick it up anywhere, any time, and just get into it.

Presenter32:39

So, in a complete works? Yeah. Well, then it's yours. You can also have a luxury item to help me feel better on the island. What would you like?

Trevor Sorbie32:47

Bottle of wine

Presenter32:49

All right, that's yours. And finally, which one disc of your eight choices today would you rush to save?

Trevor Sorbie32:56

I'm going to say my sweet lord, and that's for my wife.

Presenter33:00

Trevor Silby, thank you very much for sharing your Desert Island discs with us.

Trevor Sorbie33:04

My pleasure. Thank you.

Presenter33:15

I hope you enjoyed my conversation with Trevor. I like the idea of him on his island sitting chortling over Jeremy Clarkson books. As he explained, Trevor's career began at a Vidal Sassoon salon. In twenty eleven, Vidal was cast away by Kirsty Young.

Speaker 233:29

So you left school at fourteen and mother says, I had a dream last night, it's a dream you're going to be a hairdresser, and you think what?

Trevor Sorbie33:36

Um, it's a question of running away from home.

Trevor Sorbie33:40

Well, the idea of being a lady's head would have said yes at the time.

Trevor Sorbie33:46

My mother took me into the salon, met Adolf Kaheim. Adolf Kaim was the sort of the Raymond of the East End. And he said, of course, you know, there's a hundred guinea fee because there's a lot of teaching to do.

Speaker 233:59

Hmm.

Trevor Sorbie33:59

A two year apprenticeship.

Trevor Sorbie34:02

My mother said, We don't have a hundred buttons. He said, Well, I'm afraid I can't take you and then I must have seen a bad B movie the day before, because I opened the door for my mother, ushered her out, doffed my cap to the boss, and he followed us out and said, You seem to have good manners, young man. Start Monday and forget the fee. And he looked at my mother when he said that and her face glowed.

Trevor Sorbie34:29

You know, mine went very sad.

Speaker 234:30

Yeah.

Trevor Sorbie34:32

Ha ha ha.

Speaker 234:32

And so when you were working there, first of all, there was you didn't fall in love with it?

Trevor Sorbie34:35

There was um no artistry in me that came out. I was just an average apprentice.

Trevor Sorbie34:42

and uh did what everybody else did. I didn't have any ideas. Hair didn't mean a thing to me at the time.

Speaker 234:50

Right. And when did you actually get to start to cut here? How old were you?

Trevor Sorbie34:55

That's another story. Well, Adolph Cohen that is. So go down to Roughton House and find yourself a model. It's about time you did your first haircut.

Trevor Sorbie35:07

And I went down to Roughton House, which was the place where people out of luck or having problems, emotional problems, stayed. And uh this enormous guy came out.

Trevor Sorbie35:22

His name was O'Shaughnessy, a professor, Professor O'Shaughnessy.

Trevor Sorbie35:28

And he came for a year.

Trevor Sorbie35:30

And can you imagine a fourteen year old kid learning about all those marvellous Irish writers? You know, it was it was just an extraordinary experience.

Trevor Sorbie35:44

He was a wonderful influence. He he actually got me interested in the theatre.

Presenter35:48

Vidal Sassoon talking to Kirsty in 2011. Don't forget you can listen to many more editions from the Desert Island Discs Back Catalogue via BBC Sounds. Next time, my guest will be Dame Esther Ranson. I do hope you'll join us.

Speaker 136:15

Hello, I'm Greg Foote and I am hosting a new Radio 4 podcast called The Best Things Since Sliced Bread. Have you ever wondered what's fact and what's fad when it comes to wonder products, face creams, activated charcoal, kombucha, turmeric shot? That's what I'm trying to find out with the help of leading scientists and special guests. If you want to separate benefits from bunkum, subscribe to the best thing since sliced bread on BBC Sounds.