July 13th, 1985 ; this was LIVE AID ...
[ Thanks to Thomas Granier for this one ]
I was asked to sing on the single but we were on tour in Italy [June 17th & 18th
1985] and it was decided that it was too difficult to get me back to
London to record a “charity single”! Doh! [ Note : they have performed "Top of the Pops"
on June 13th betwenn two gigs in the south of France, in Toulouse (June 11th) and Nice (June 15th) ]
If I had been on the single there would have been a good chance we could
have played on the day but there were a lot of politics involved in the
line up choice between various agencies. Although we just had Kayleigh
slowly dropping out the charts and the album at number one (I think) we
were left out. I was asked along and spent the day backstage until the
finale when Billy Connolly grabbed me in the wings and I was swept unto
the stage where I stood stage right toward the back next to most of
Spandau Ballet. I still have my laminate and have a letter of thanks from
Midge, Sir Bob and Harvey Goldsmith which is framed and currently in the
attic awaiting wall space!Needless to say if we had played on the day then our future may have been
very different as it would have given us a huge window on the elusive US
market, a territory we needed to break open to maintain the impetus of the
band in both sales and prestige. One of Life’s major regrets!