Just had an early afternoon drink with Blues Singer and all round beautiful human being Kyla Brox who lives 100 yds up the road from me.
Whilst she has a successful blues and soul career in her own right, her dad was Victor Brox who was a bit of superstar in that world having worked & played with Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Tina Turner and loads more.
He was also famous for having had a dabble with Nico from the Velvet Underground.
I’d have love to have met him but unfortunately he passed away earlier this year.
flight from Ibiza to Spanish mainland circa 2001, both Jose Padilla and Alfredo on flight. not a glance or a word spoken between them. dunno if they ever had a dash of historical beef…
Bit tenuous this one but I’m working in Rio de Janeiro this week and just had a meeting with a Brazilian colleague whose surname was Verocai. I asked if it was a common Brazilian surname. Apparently not and it turns out Arthur Verocai is her uncle. Was showing me videos of him in concert and talking about his Jazz is Dead tour in the States. I felt a bit nerdy asking her but she was super chuffed I knew about her uncle. Small world.
When I worked in a jewellery shop in Brighton in the late 80’s to mid 90’s we’d get a few famous people in. So in ascending order of coolness I met Chris Eubank, Virginia Wade, Brian Jacks, Christopher Biggins, James Herbert and Ivo Pogorelic.
The same job took me to Las Vegas where, at a Santana concert, I fell for a NY diamond dealer’s daughter named Diane.
We arranged to meet in Paris at the next jewellery show and I was invited from there to her girlfriend’s 30th in St Tropez. A club called Byblos. The most expensive place i’ve ever been. The whole party spent the day at a private beach where Diane and the birthday girl had lunch with George Michael. I wasn’t invited.
It took me 4 days to realise that I was being rinsed, somehow the fact I was sleeping on the sofa didn’t ring alarm bells.
I flew home early after spending £4000 in as many days. A lot of money then and now.
As a footnote I bought a bottle of Thierry Muglers new perfume Angel from Nice airport and gave it to my housemate who is now my wife of 18 years. We’ve never been back to St Tropez
Toploader’s reappearance reminds me the bass player in original line up was the house mate of a friend at University. I’m not proud of this Small Claim.
What a story. BTW of all those you listed the only one I know of is Ivo Pogorelich. Top pianist, very interesting if eccentric interpretations. And Angel is fabulous, great choice and glad it worked out for you two…
From a british point of view he’s definitely the most obscure (and coolest ). He was a freind of my boss and would visit with his entourage when in the UK. I seem to recall that he was exiled from the USSR.
For your information, Chris Eubank was a heavy weight boxer with a penchant for Jodphurs, monocles, pocket watches and a riding crop. He’d park his american rig at the end of the Lane and swan around like lord of the manner.
Virginia Wade was a celebrated Tennis Player, possibly won Wimbledon.
Brian Jacks was an Olympic Judo wrestler who came to wider notice on a British tv programme called Supestars.
High level sportspeople were pitted against each other in various events. I believe he ‘cheated’ in the squat thrusts by putting orange peel under his feet and sliding his legs back and forth. Oh the scandal.
Christopher Biggins, was hosting a children’s tv programme called ‘On Safari’ with Gillian Taylforth as his assistant. She was mostly famous for giving a bj to a gangster in a Range Rover but that’s another story.
James Herbert wrote many horror stories including the Rats and Lair. A bit like an english Stephen King. He was a genuinely creepy man and lived in a big house in Woodmancote called Hunter’s View.
The Angel certainly did the trick. I think that was June 1994 and we’ve been together ever since.
It seems I was conflating a couple of things. Brian Jacks ate an orange whilst completing the gym tests on Superstars, Jody Schecter the racing driver smeared oil on his feet to slide the squat thrusts. Jacks then had some special shoes made and adopted the sliding technique. 6:45 in the video for the full story
