I was involved in the students' union and I had a meeting in London, chaired by the president of the students' union Charles Clarke (now Home Secretary). Howard had no plans for the weekend, so we hatched this plot whereby I took the money for the train fare, but, instead of getting the train, he could borrow a car off a friend, the train fare would pay for petrol and we could stop at his friend Richard's house in Reading, |
I've been staying at their lodge in the Himalayas for years, ... They have this beautiful lodge. You look out and there's Ama Dablam. Oh man, it's like heaven. |
It is very eclectic. That was the magic of John, though. He was somebody who embraced all forms of music over the last 40 years. |
It used to be felt that you had to know someone in the music business to get into it. It was not for mere mortals like us. This enthused people and enfranchised them to become part of culture. |
It's wonderful, ... They're just great people. |
Next year will be the 30th anniversary, so there may be something happening. I'll have to have a word with him on the train up to Manchester{hellip} see if I can get him drunk in the bar. |
They weren't headlining. They were third down the bill, |
We'd done an awful lot in a short space of time and it seemed easiest to cut the Gordian knot rather than try and untangle the big tangled ball of string. |
Without bigging it up extremely, it was something which brought people together, so they realised something was possible. |