my dad has many claims to fame
He's danced with the Dagenham Girl Pipers for a start.

He also once had dinner with the Crickets (of "Buddy Holly and the..." fame). They were staying at a hotel owned by two of his friends so he spent an evening in being gobsmacked by rock 'n' roll idols.

He also sneaked backstage at a Bill Haley gig sometime in the mid-'50s. Bill Haley was sitting resplendent in his zoot suit in the middle of the room, surrounded by yes-men and make-up assistants, enormous kiss-curl plastered to the front of his brow. Then a boy came in with a telegram, looked at the name and uttered the immortal line "Which one of you's Bill Haley?" Brilliant.

My favourite of his stories, though took place at a Freddy and the Dreamers gig. As a youth, my dad bore a fair resemblance to Freddy Garrity, lead singer of said band. So when he danced past the mob of girls waiting outside the stage door in the classic Freddy way (skipping and touching his ankles behind his back), they all thought he was Freddy Garrity and chased him.

The wily old goat.
( manwithunderpantsonhead older than a Time Lord, Thu 24 Feb 2005, 16:42, Reply)