Tuning in…
Tuning in…
Castaway
1 appearance
A comedian known for his deadpan humor and piano playing.
On the island
Eight records
Pavane pour une infante défunteFavourite
Orchestre de la Suisse Romande conducted by Ernest Ansermet
I think Rafael's Pavan for Infante Defunct is the ultimate in beauty.
Matchstalk Men and Matchstalk Cats and Dogs
And it reminds me so much of Lancashire life. a sort of seediness of self and Mist from the canals, and you can you know, you can find beauty in anything you care to look for.
listening in the Tuileries to one of the most fantastic singers in the world. And she when she did no regrets.
Billy Eckstine and Sarah Vaughan
He was so nice to me, this man, and his name is Billy Eckstein, and I think he did a marvellous record with Serivo, which to me always reminded me of those days.
I love bottom music. And I think that um in today's interpretation of the evocative sound of music. There's one record which stands out, for my money, which has sort of a great orchestral feel to it, and also the words are very nice, is you make me feel brand new by the stylistics.
The Day I Drank a Glass of Water
W.C. Fields is reaching for a glass of water. ... It's been poison.
evocative of uh the sort of song which I like, which is when one person stands alone on the stage. Drenched in a spotlight and has to sing a very moving song. And I thought the one that Summarise my feelings towards this was Judy Coventy when she sang Don't Cry for Me, Argentina.
It's a piano forty piece written by which I consider one of the greatest composers ever, with Chopin. And the reason why I I particularly like this record is it summarizes man's spirit in the face of adversity. And it's called The Revolutionary. I think I could listen to this record and think, well, if anything gets me down Here's a spirited sort of composition which will make me think well it's worth carrying on for. ... Every time I ever ride with a wife, I play this. Last week I played it sixteen times.
In conversation
Presenter asks
0:32How do you feel about this desert island proposition? Could you take loneliness for a fair amount of time?
I think so,'cause I've played enough clubs to be lonely in... Yes, I have been lonely on several occasions. To be a committee, it is lonely.
Presenter asks
3:17Did you know actual hardship as a boy?
We lived in a road called Millital Road... to the age of fifteen I thought knives and forks were jewellery. But my mother always did her best to give me something nourishing. I've known the times where I when she's take the bones from her corsets to give me something nourishing. No, it wasn't easy, it was it. Very harsh upbringing really. Father was superstitious. He wouldn't work if it was a Friday of the week.
Presenter asks
4:09Somebody taught you to play the piano. Whose idea was that?
Well, it's it's a long story... I used to play the piano when I was a child and the neighbors loved it. They used to break the windows to hear me better. And my father used to help me to keep time by banging the lid up and down on my fingers. And, um, from then I sort of progressed... I did my first concert... And when I'd finished playing this piece the the kids just stamped their feet and clapped their hands all over me. And I really began to realize that I had a musical career, you know.
The keepsakes
The book
Nevil Shute
it summarises one small Man's fight against a tremendous society in which he wins through
The luxury
Any piece of furniture from the Georgian period
because I think that when the Georgian period ended, civilization ended.
Presenter asks
12:09There's a story about a job you had in a club in Hull, which had a traumatic effect on your career.
Yes, there was a man called Al Heath... he auditioned me... He invited me along there and I did this audition and he paid me about £18 for the week to do a club in Hull. ... I don't think that any comic in the business has gone through what I went through. I didn't just die, I was resurrected nightly. ... I got completely and utterly Incapable through drink. ... I slumped on the piano, and I couldn't rise, I was incapable of it. And I said the first thing that came into my mind was it's great pleasure to be in this reconverted Kipper depot... and the odd thing was, instead of being hooted off as I had in the past, I started to laugh. I began to realise what I'd done actually was being m you know, being myself.
Presenter asks
15:11What was the breakthrough? When were you able finally to become a full-time professional comedian?
It was about nineteen sixty four. There was a show called Big Nights Out at Blackpool. ... They gave me a chance ... I went very well and uh it really started from there on.
Presenter asks
17:23The writing ambitions were still lurking? You hadn't given that up, although you had cooled a bit on essays.
Yes, that's true, yeah. In fact, you've written two books now, or is it three? No, I've got two books and one on the uh One ready to be published. ... the first one... is not an autobiography, but I I I just thought that was nobody's ever written about the lowest aspect of show business... the clubs in the north of England. ... What was that called? Card for the Clubs. And the second one? The second one was a complete take-off, uh spoof of everything that had ever been written, which was called The Spy Who Came.
“To give you some idea of the way we'd lived up to the age of fifteen I thought knives and forks were jewellery.”
“I didn't just die, I was resurrected nightly.”
“I suddenly realized I was a flop. I'd never seen it before.”
“Every time I ever ride with a wife, I play this. Last week I played it sixteen times.”