Nine Out Of Ten

First topic message reminder :

I came across this the other day. Rather liked it. Particularly as it gives me the chance to briefly name drop.

I've every confidence it'll sink without trace but anyway here goes. Listed below are ten famous - to varying degrees - people. I've actually met, albeit briefly in some cases, nine of them.

1. Les Gray - lead singer of Mud who had chart topping hits with Tiger Feet and Lonely This Christmas.
2. Florence Welch - of Florence and the Machine, English indie rock band.
3. Buster Edwards - one of The Great Train Robbers.
4. Richie Benaud - please don't ask for a description.
5. Alec Stewart - former England cricket captain.
6. Harold Wilson - former British Prime Minister.
7. Gareth Hunt - tv star of Upstairs, Downstairs, The New Avengers and an early Dr Who episode.
8. Trevor Brooking - football pundit and former England international.
9. Trevor MacDonald - tv broadcaster.
10. Good Golly I'm Olly - renowned poster on these boards.

Ok , so you need to identify the one person above I've not met.

Come on Alfie, give it a go!

Here's mine -
1. Roy Wood, Singer/songwriter with The Move and Wizzard
2. Patrick Rafter. US Open winner and former world tennis No. 1
3. Grace Lee Whitney. Yeoman Rand in the original Star Trek
4. Sebastian Coe. Double Olympic Gold medallist
5. Maud Adams. Octopussy in Octopussy
6. Katherine English. Bafta award winning documentary maker
7. Lloyd Cole. Singer/songwriter, most notably with the Commotions in the 1980s
8. Nicky Campbell. Radio and TV show host.
9. Allan Donald. Warwickshire and South Africa fast bowler
10. Wendy Melvoin. Lead guitarist with Prince and the Revolution, and co-star of Purple Rain

Hi Jules,

I'm guessing you've met just about all of those singers, artists, tennis players, producers, TV show hosts and Alan Donald at Edgbaston maybe.

I'll have a stab at Sebastian Coe to get things running. Have a feeling you've probably bumped into him though... around Birmingham somewhere.

Pal Joey wrote:Hi Jules,

I'm guessing you've met just about all of those singers, artists, tennis players, producers, TV show hosts and Alan Donald at Edgbaston maybe.

I'll have a stab at Sebastian Coe to get things running. Have a feeling you've probably bumped into him though... around Birmingham somewhere.

I met Sebastian Coe when I lived in Loughborough in my early teens. There was an annual L'boro Uni vs AAA (Amateur Athletics Association) match and he ran for L'boro, as an alumni I think. This was probably before his first Olympic gold in 1980. I took an autograph book, and got his autograph along with shot-putter Geoff Capes' and probably a few other lesser mortals.

My guess would be Wendy Melvoin. I know you're a big fan of Prince but mentioning him would be too obvious so I suspect you took a slightly more subtle route.

I met Wendy in 1986 after seeing Prince's first UK concert in 5 years. We couldn't find out where the after-show was but did find out they were staying at the Dorchester, so hung around there until about 2,3 in the morning hoping to meet Prince - I think these days it's called stalking. Eventually, a big limo drew up and Wendy & Lisa got out. Lisa brushed past us but Wendy stopped for a chat for a few minutes before heading inside. A few minutes later another big limo drew up and Prince got out. I said 'Great concert' and he smiled at me but didn't stop.

guildfordbat wrote:Come on Alfie, give it a go!

I see Julius has come to the party next....good man !

I will perhaps see if I can dredge up a few well known contacts next week...

Total guess , Julius : Maud Adams ?

At some point in the early 2000s I went to one of those film/tv convention things at the NEC - primarily to try to see Marina Sirtis, who ended up being a no-show. That was when I also found out that celebs charged for their autographs - as if they don't earn enough money, they get paid just to sign their name!
Anyway, there was no queue for a Bond girl trio of Maud Adams. Maryam D'Abo and Lois Chiles. After I apologised for not wishing to buy a signature, I chatted to the group for 10 minutes or so. I charmed them by talking to Maryam about her excellent Bond girl documentary. Lois about her role in Dallas as Bobby's grilfriend and Maud about her role in the US TV drama Chicago Story.

Pat Rafter

I did meet Pat Rafter one day when my wife and I were walking back to our car after going to Wimbledon for the day. This was during his playing days and he was, I guess, walking to his hotel or the practice courts at Aorangi Park. I remember thinking he was relatively short for a tennis player. According to my wife (I have no recollection) I said something fairly chatty and neutral to him, and he said something quite sarcastic back. That was the end of the conversation.

alfie wrote:

guildfordbat wrote:Come on Alfie, give it a go!

I see Julius has come to the party next....good man !

I will perhaps see if I can dredge up a few well known contacts next week...

Very gracious, Alfie. There was you taking off your tracksuit for this race and Julius went off the block!

Anyway, let's have a go at his red herring. In line with his logic on my picks, I'll say Julius has not met Roy Wood - perhaps meant to be too obvious with them both being Brummies - but, in fact, met the former Man United 'keeper Ray Wood when out shopping with Mrs Marx in the Bull Ring.

Nice try GB, but I've met Roy Wood twice. Once at my local Tesco when it was the Saturday before Christmas and it was uncomfortably busy in there. I went up to him and said 'Roy, it's so busy in here - thank God it isn't Christmas every day.'
The other occasion was at an art gallery in B'ham for the launch of some limited edition artwork for a couple of old Move LP sleeves. I also met Bev Bevan (Move, ELO) and Rick Price (Move, Wizzard) as well as Mike Sheridan who did the original artwork - they all signed my LP covers and I had a brief chat with them as they mingled.

The way life's meant to be....

OK then, how about Grace Lee Whitney then?
Maybe she was also supposed to be at the NEC convention along with Marina Sirtis but was also a no-show or otherwise engaged or on a lunch break?

Either that... or she was there... and you did meet her... but you just conveniently forgot to mention that rather significant detail above?

Grace Lee Whitney was at another convention - Star Trek - that I attended in the early 1990s. Having failed to arrive in time to hear her talk, we queued up to get an autograph - free in those days! - and she invited my mate and I to join her at the bar later. Assuming she'd asked everyone in the queue, we were quite surprised to join a group of only 5 or 6 others.
I thought that this would be a great chance to hear about Trek and her days in Hollywood - she was in Some Like it Hot as one of Syncopatin' Sue's band - tell me about Marilyn! - but alas, she was a recovering alcoholic and all she wanted to talk about, at great and evangelical length, was her recovery and the wonderful work of Alcoholics Anonymous. After an hour or so debating the relative success rates of abstinence vs controlled drinking (she wasn't happy when I suggested the latter may be more successful), we made our excuses and went to find something interesting to do instead.

Yes, I can imagine. She had a huge struggle with the almighty drop. It was nice of you to suggest the alternative to complete abstinence. Interesting that she invited you and your mate to a bar of all places.

OK... so we're narrowing it down slowly. How about Allan Donald?

If you did meet him, I'm hoping that he was far more friendly than Pat Rafter. He sounded like a true cranky pants that day you met him.

Back in the late 1980s, it was said that the Old Varsity Tavern on the Bristol Road in Selly Oak was the most profitable pub in the UK. Me and a couple of mates would go there every Friday and Saturday, sometimes other evenings. We got to know a group of young ladies - Sarah, Corinne, Monica and 'the gorgeous, pouting Tina'. Tina is now Tina Donald. A few times Allan showed up with her, so I had the odd pint with him, as part of a group. He wasn't very talkative - almost painfully shy, I thought.

So only 3 left?
Katherine English, Lloyd Cole and Nicky Campbell?
Not too familiar with the first and last and I have a feeling you've met Lloyd Cole.

I'll go Nicky Campbell just because I thought he was a girl.

Correct! Katherine English was a friend of mine at Uni. I met Lloyd Cole briefly at a gig.

I never met Nicky Campbell but I was a phone-in guest on a quiz type thing back when he had his Radio 1, midnight - 2am show in the late 1980s. Somewhere I still have the cassette of it which I recorded.

So you sort of met him then but just not face to face.  

That was a great Nine Out Of Ten, Jules. It was a complete fluke by me when we were down to the last three.

I suppose we now just sit tight here and wait for our man Alfie to come up with his list.

Pal Joey wrote:So you sort of met him then but just not face to face.  

That was a great Nine Out Of Ten, Jules. It was a complete fluke by me when we were down to the last three.

I suppose we now just sit tight here and wait for our man Alfie to come up with his list.

Seconded.

Come on down, Alfie!

Working on it.

alfie wrote:Working on it.

Alfie - I guess your difficulty will be limiting it to nine megastars you know!

I assume Michael Caine will be one of them.

JuliusHMarx wrote:I assume Michael Caine will be one of them.

Once considered claiming to be him on line but thought better of it... Jude Law is a bit younger...

guildfordbat wrote:

alfie wrote:Working on it.

Alfie - I guess your difficulty will be limiting it to nine megastars you know!

Actually I had wondered if I could find even half a dozen moderately well known people but will have a go anyway...

I have this fear I am likely to be blown away quickly (law of averages) so wonder if it would be acceptable for me to nominate 11 - with two Red Herrings ? Insurance ...



Tom Paxton - Veteran American Folk Singer and songwriter.
Don Chipp - Aussie politician , founder of Australian Democrats Party.
Charlotte Edwards - Former England women's cricket captain.
Bob Ellis - Australian author , filmmaker and political speechwriter.
Emil Zatopek - legendary Czech Olympic runner.
Colin Cowdrey - England test batsman (of the last century )
John Bannon - longest serving Labor Premier of South Australia
Shane Warne - Aussie test superstar.
Kevin Sheedy - Celebrated Australian Rules Football coach.
Phil Ochs - US protest singer and political activist.
Cliff Young - Winner of the inaugural Sydney- Melbourne foot race.

Hi Alfie - so we have a new game, Nine Out Of Eleven!?!

Anyway, let's crack on! I'll have a punt on one of your Red Herrings being Charlotte Edwards. Reckon you may have fiddled one cricketer onto your list.

Nice list, Alfie... that's interesting with the 2 Australian politicians included. I have an ornamental steel business card holder from John Bannon (given to my father as a gift) from the opening of the Advanced Manufacturing Facility in Adelaide dated 12th April, 1989. So I won't go for him.  

OK, at the risk of making a complete fool of myself I'll go for someone more obvious as one of your red herrings.

Shane Warne? Probably very wrong... he can't help meeting people can he?

OK guildford : Spent a very pleasant day at the MCG with Charlotte and one of her teammates , watching the Ashes Test on the 2002/3 tour. She had been playing in NZ I think and was holidaying briefly in Australia before heading home. Met her through my sister who was very much involved in the women's cricket scene in Melbourne. A really nice person.

Curse you Pal Joey Exposing one of my red herrings at the first try ! (And thereby confirming the wisdom of my "two goes" strategy)

Few years ago , after he'd retired from the Test scene , Warnie announced he was all set to play a game or two for his old club here in the South East of Melbourne. Guess whose club was drawn to play them on the first chosen week ?

Huge excitement ! Facebook messages out to all supporters , bar manager ordered twice the usual stock , local press briefed...

And at the last minute the lure of a Poker tournament in the USA caused a cancellation of The Visit

Such is life...

Oh no Alfie! So sorry mate... I didn't mean it. Just had an inkling because it was so plausible - that he might possibly be one that got away from you.

I'm going to have to sit it out for the next few guesses now. I'll have to let Guildford, Julius and Co. do some detective work and I'll go back to watching another few episodes of The Sweeney to fill in some lockdown time and keep my mind off the final red herring.  

I'll go for Phil Ochs, but that you did meet Phil Oakey of the Human League.

JuliusHMarx wrote:I'll go for Phil Ochs, but that you did meet Phil Oakey of the Human League.

Alfie - you ok? I thought Julius was treading softly there.

Ah...my apologies , I've not been on lately : bit preoccupied trying to return to (part time) back in the office...

OK Phil is a somewhat flimsy  one I will admit , but :

He never had the commercial clout of his great contemporary , Dylan ; but even so an appearance in front of a relative handful at a suburban high school in a suburb of Darwin in 1973 seems odd even in retrospect...happened though. Invited by the local education authorities - or the local communist party ? Who knows.
Whatever , some of us went along . A friend of mine had just had a slim book of poems published (probably self published : they were pretty rancid to be honest) and was hoping to show and get a comment. So , after the performance - which was excellent by the way : even now I recall it as a sincere expression of one man's political commitment through song , emotional and entertaining both - we lined up to try and intercept the performer...
Alas  :  Phil did glance at the proffered book but his eyes kind of glazed over and he muttered something incomprehensible and hurried past.
Not sure whether this was a sign of the mental instability which was already afflicting him and would sadly cause him to take his own life a couple of years later , or whether he had already had enough of earnest young Australian lefties hassling him...or perhaps he was just in a hurry to get to the toilets ? He had been on stage for a long time after all.

But that was it for the Phil Ochs "meeting". Hope it can be admitted for the purpose of this game...

Never met Phil Oakey

alfie wrote:Hope it can be admitted for the purpose of this game...

It's Oakey by me.

I'll go Kevin Sheedy.

You must have bumped into him at a Tiger's match at The G. Please tell me I'm not dreaming.

Ah no...

1971 both Kevin and I were in the Australian Army. He was with the Engineers stationed at Puckapunyal ; I was a newly minted Redcap with a posting to S Vietnam but a few weeks to kill at the same base before flying over . As it was coming on football season I thought I'd have a training run out with the nearest unit , which happened to be the Engineers ; and Kevin was - naturally enough - doing the coaching.
Even then , you could see he had it : communication ability as well as football knowledge I mean. He was working very well with a lot of fellows of quite a varied range of playing abilities and he had time for all of us. Reckon he improved my (admittedly pretty modest) football skills in just a couple of hours . Pity in a way I didn't have a chance to train with them again before my flight out...

Fascinating story, Alfie. I didn't realise that you've been in Australia for so long and also served the country in that capacity. So you were quite young when you moved over here, yeah?

I feel quite safe going for Cliff Young now as my next stab in the dark.

And I'll go for John Bannon - reckoning one of the politicians is a red herring.

Pal Joey wrote:Fascinating story, Alfie. I didn't realise that you've been in Australia for so long and also served the country in that capacity. So you were quite young when you moved over here, yeah?

I feel quite safe going for Cliff Young now as my next stab in the dark.

Yes just a youngster - came here with my family : Ten Pound Poms .

Not sure why I chose to enter the Ballarat Marathon in 1987 ...is a cold old place in the winter most times and on this occasion it was about three degrees and seemed worse with the wind chill off Lake Wendouree and the rain which persisted throughout...chap standing next to me at the start was wearing one of those green plastic garbage bags while warming up - and he ending up keeping it on for the whole race Every time we came round the lake and passed my wife sitting in the car she was laughing more at my bedraggled figure...

But the one thing that made the whole thing bearable was that our course intersected with a straight one mile up and back on which Cliff and his Ultra-distance mates were running a fifty miler - they'd started two hours earlier than us and we're mostly going to finish after - poor sods !
After the races we all warmed up in a handily located and well heated sports hall... Don't think Cliff had won , but was nevertheless the centre of attention , sitting wrapped in a blanket with his recently acquired young wife (39 years his junior !) fussing over him ; and the rest of us taking the opportunity to exchange a few words - this was somewhat before the craze for "selfies" He looked pretty tired ...in his mid sixties so he was very much entitled to be ; but contented enough . He did own that the conditions were as bad as any he'd run in...I was happy just to have finished the blessed race and take my hat off to him.

It did not inspire me to tackle the Ultra scene...

And while we are on the subject of distance running :

One year later (in rather more pleasant weather ! ) at about the fifteen mile point in the Adelaide Marathon , with the field now pretty strung out , I found myself at the head of an isolated pack of about half a dozen runners . We were going well and on for a decent time , but were certainly no threat to the leaders ; so I was a little surprised at the amount of applause we were getting from any spectators we passed.  Crowds at these events are always pretty supportive , but today we seemed to be getting more than our share of cheering...

Then a drink station , and I chanced to get a look at the chap who was running just off my right shoulder : fit looking fellow , older and shorter than me , reddish hair. : recognition ....  as it clicked that I was accompanying the very popular SA Premier (well known for running his own city marathon each year - heaven knows how he found the time to train for it) so all the acclamation was explained... I later discovered that John Bannon actually ran the race more than a dozen times . He had a best time a good deal better than mine , though I think I finished ahead of him on this occasion.

Can't say we had exactly a conversation ; but we ran together for several miles so I'm counting it...

To continue with the running theme I'll plump for Emil Zatopek.

I remember watching him a lot on "Olympic Minutes" and it would be great to know if you had run alongside him at one time... as his pace-maker.

Ha...Would love to have had a run with him ! But by the time he visited Melbourne (in 1985 my checking of records indicates : funny , I had thought it was a little later. Memory plays tricks) his age ,and the wearing down he suffered from the abominable treatment he received from his government after the Soviet reprisals for the Prague Spring , had put an end to his running days.

Emil was the inspiration for the race - or series of races - organised by the Victorian Marathon Club from 1961 until the club disbanded in 1993 : though happily the race itself has continued under other management. The 10,000 metre events , named after the great Czech Olympian , were held each December at Melbourne's Olympic Park. I was a member of VMC and ran - in one of the lower grades - the Zatopek for several years between 1985 and 1993. The "A" race has been won by many legends of the track , Australian and other , several Olympic medallists among them. Anyway , enough history :

In 1985 Emil and his wife Dana - herself an Olympic gold medallist - came out here at the invitation of the club. They not only came to the main event and presented the trophy , but watched the lesser race evenings as well. And on the Sunday morning when the club had a rather more relaxed ten k around Princes Park he was again in attendance to watch the run , and patiently greet , chat with and sign autographs for a lot of very ordinary runners like yours truly.

I still have my old VMC club running vest with his signature in marking ink...

Brilliant story, Alfie.

Next guess: Bob Ellis. He was a bit of a character I'd assume... if you'd met him.

Early seventies , living for a short time in Sydney , around the Cross - met a few "interesting" characters ; not all of them totally reputable  

Anyway on this occasion I met a girl.  Arty type, aspiring writer:  said she was staying with some literary people ; invited me back to the apartment...I had read her half finished manuscript and we were chatting away etc etc when the door opened and the main "literary type " came in...

I recall he seemed to be extremely long legged - not sure why that stuck in my mind but these first impressions somehow do.  I think I would have recognized him anyway but she introduced us : Bob was the owner - or actual tenant , I don't recall - of the place and had been encouraging her in her writing efforts.

I would love to say we all sat around and discussed life art and literature but in fact he was sort of busy...shuffling around looking for some papers he needed and generally looking preoccupied ; and so the conversation was limited to a few general courtesies.  He didn't show any signs of going out again so I left shortly afterwards as he had effectively killed my chances

If I am being honest they were pretty slim anyway as I think she had already come to the conclusion that I wasn't really her type...

He was probably coming to collect the rent.

Anyway, I reckon you've got more than both of 'em, alfie.

Bob, although semi-worshipped in certain circles was a bit of prickly character... beating on and on about the "working man" yet he lived (and subsequently died) in the secluded glitz of Palm Beach of course.

Think we're down to Cowdrey, Chipp and Paxton. I'll go for Chipp, as I've not heard of him. If you did meet him, I'm hoping it was at a chip shop.

Ah well done Julius

Don Chipp the one I didn't quite meet ...or I don't think I did... Let me explain.

First the history . Pal Joey will know it , but for others :   In 1967 , Don Chipp was an up and coming minister in the then Liberal government of Australia.  Then in December of that year the Prime Minister , Harold Holt , decided to take an early morning dip in the often rough sea around his Victorian beachside holiday house. Although a strong swimmer , on this day his luck was out and he sadly drowned , his body never recovered - unless you prefer the exotic conspiracy theory of the time that he was actually kidnapped and taken away by a Chinese submarine    Either way , the country needed a new PM and one John Gorton took the reins...

Now Gorton and Chipp did not see eye to eye on a lot of things , so Don swiftly found himself out of favour - and out of the ministry. (Although he was later to return to the cabinet under another leader , I suspect this early taste of political chicanery might have helped to influence him in his eventual decision to quit the Liberal Party and form a new third force , The Australian Democrats "To keep the illegitimate childen aka Pal Joeys honest" as he said...arguably his greatest claim to fame.

Whatever : he was a resilient fellow ; and his ousting from the inner circle in 1968 did not stop him from turning out for his local cricket team that Saturday...playing against - as you must have now guessed - my club.

This is where it gets funny as my memory is hazy - well it has been 52 years!   I know he played that day.  I remember very well my usual skipper relating to me his words  " I have recently learned that politics has an awful lot in common with cricket :  when you are no longer "in" : you're OUT "

Trouble is I do not remember bowling to him , or indeed how he performed in the match !   Have racked my brain as to why ; and have concluded that the reason was this must have been the week I was elevated to the first XI and hence played "away" ; while Don had taken on our seconds at home...and by the time I got back to the pavilion he and his team had departed.

Either that or I really did overdo the after game beers and lost all detail of the day ... apart from the aforementioned quote - which I have always treasured

Edit  :  I quoted Don directly re the aims of the Democrats : but I see the site censor has "varied" the language   I wish to state that the gratuitous reference to Pal Joey that the system has inserted in place of my original expression has nothing to do with me !  Someone has been playing tricks...

Anyway just to finish this with my last two :

Tom Paxton performed at the first Port fairy Folk Festival that I attended , early 90's ...These days the festival is all Big Stages and you are lucky to get near an artist ; but back then there was a small tent in which solo acoustic musicians played to a handful of people. Tom was on last on the Friday night , and as most of the "crowd" dispersed quickly to the adjacent beer tent after his set I was able to have a pleasant chat with him and his wife about music and American politics...Lord knows what he would say about the current lot !

Colin Cowdrey played his last Test at the MCG in 1975 at the tail end of England's 4-1 destruction by Lillee and Thomson , after being dragged out of an English winter and international retirement in a vain attempt to counter them. Marks for guts ; but fair to say he didn't do very well...wasn't the only one !  As it was , the last Test proved to be England's solitary consolation win , mainly due to the Aussie pace pair being sidelined by wear and tear (though to be fair England were also missing their best bowler , Willis , for similar reasons).  Come the last day Australia were still over 100 short of wiping off the first innings deficit with three wickets down : but given the way the series had gone you couldn't blame the Melbourne "Sun" bearing the headline "We've Saved It !" that morning   I went along anyway and saw the seven wickets tumble easily enough , around lunch .
In those days they didn't employ security goons to keep the fans off the field after the game so a lot of us were milling around on the ground shortly after the game had ended . Most of the players were sitting on the dressing room balcony and into the booze by then ; but Colin walked out to pose for photos and chat to the fans around the pitch. I was glad to take the opportunity to shake his hand and tell him how much I had enjoyed watching him bat over the years.

Looks like the end for this thread unless someone else blows in from outside...apologies for my sometimes long-winded tales...

No they were all great stories, alfie.    

I suppose these sorts of interesting anecdotes about meeting (or not meeting) famous folk give us all a much deeper insight into the life and times of those of us who post quite a lot on here. Many thanks to Guildford for coming up with such a gem of a topic. I've really enjoyed it.

For some reason I woke up the other morning thinking of keeping the flame of this thread going by doing the same thing with Countries.
In these times of limited international travel I must having been dreaming of going somewhere... or have been watching too much foreign news.

Imagine the fun one could have slotting one (or two) red herrings in a list of countries you have visited... and any stories about some obscure places you have ended up in. Is it worth a try?