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A service from 'The Serious Writers Guild' at MAKEHITS.COM Written by Dec Cluskey
This Email first mailed to all Members of 'The Serious Writers Guild' and
subscribers to 'One Minute With Dec' on 01.12.02
================================= "My
Emails are written in good humour, and should be read with a
smile"
"I think
the ideal book for beginners, in any area of music, would have 120 blank pages
all stamped with "Check out Dec's website". [John
Byrne - Serious Writers Guild Member]
"First of all, thank you very
much for the free gift. I downloaded it and found it to be awesome with
tons of useful, real-world information that does not mince words. I
sincerely believe you are a very remarkable man. Once again, thank
you very much."
Sincerely, Mark Powell,
Eminence, KY., USA
"I'm really enjoying
the Serious Writers Guild course - the best present I bought myself this year"
(still working on getting the BMW - maybe in 2003!).
[Bryan Page - Serious Writers Guild Member]"One Minute With
Dec"
Give time and you'll get
time.
Give products and you'll get
products.
Give love and you'll get
love.
Give money and you'll get
money.
A sombre week in the UK Music
Industry:
This Tuesday I got the greatest shock of my life.
I humbly broke down in tears. My life long, dearest friend was
gone.
It started as a rumour...guys called me to check it
out. I called his wife, Jacqui, one of the most successful back-singers
ever. "Yes", she said, "it's
true".....
I spoke with Arthur Dakin just a few weeks ago. He
had successfully beaten throat cancer and got the 'all clear'. Arthur was
a life time smoker.
Our lives [my band-The Bachelors] were intertwined right
through our chart years...and even further, through our world tours, live albums
- Arthur was always there.
Arthur and Jacqui moved to an idyllic cottage in a small
village three weeks ago. On last Friday night, during the torrential rains
and storms that battered the UK, he insisted on going out to deliver his
music-world famous 'Arthur Dakin' diaries to friends in his old village by
the Thames. There was a small ford, across a tiny river, close by his new
found home - at the end of the village.
Arthur never came
back.
After a long night of police, fire brigade and the Royal Marines searching
the area [the helicopter could not operate in the storm], a lady walking her
dog, next morning, spotted a car floating in the swollen river. I
don't need to tell you the rest. Jacqui relived to me the unreal
wait through the long, lonely night, until she was given the dreadful news at
8am. She could only think that Arthur would not be beaten by anything....a
flooded ford in a small river....Puhhhhh! He probably felt he couldn't
'not' deliver the diaries.
She told me of Lucy, their youngest daughter, on honeymoon in South
Africa, not knowing of the tragedy. Jacqui had made arrangements to have
her, quietly, taken off the plane to privately break the news when she
arrives back in this country...what an ordeal for Jacqui.
Get in the long queue behind
Arthur
Arthur? What can we say? If Rock 'n Rollers today feel that
they are outrageous, out of control and are 'one-offs' they would have to get in
the long queue behind Arthur. If you feel you know a nice guy, a guy who
EVERYONE, who crossed his path, loved and respected, ask them
to get in that long queue behind Arthur. If you feel you have got supreme
'people skills' and a supreme talent for just listening and understanding,
get in that long, long queue.
Show Business fitted him like a
glove.
I spent a lot of time with his dear sister Lily, and his lovely
father [he was at St Dunstan's in Brighton, the home for blinded war
veterans]. He didn't fit in Show Business and yet, when you think about
it, Show Business fitted him like a glove.
A left handed drummer, with dreadful eye sight, made worse because of his
insistence at wearing contact lenses 24/7, he became a legend in the music
business. Born in Blackpool a north west seaside holiday resort in the
UK. I think of the time he was playing gloc., as the percussion player in
our orchestra in the record breaking season at Blackpool where we had the 'new
star' Cilla Black supporting us. Some bright spark, spiteful musician lit
an ashtray of cellophane packages under Cilla's singing position as she quietly
sang 'I can Sing a Rainbow'...Arthur couldn't stop the flames because he had to
play...the acrid smoke drifted up....Cilla coughed, spluttered and finally ran
off stage sobbing her heart out....the musicians did not like Cilla...they got
revenge. They hated her 'youth' and inexperience.
"I've fixed the
phones"
He gave an intercom system of telephones to Tommy Hockridge [the great
trombone player] to fix during that season. During that nightly
Cilla/gloc. routine, Arthur heard a phone ring under one of his tymps. He
wildly gestured to the other musicians to grab it, only he and the guitar
player, Pete Carter were playing...the ring-ring was deafening during the quiet
piece. They ignored him, with roguish grins. Eventually, he grabbed
it while still playing with the other hand..."Hi Arthur, it's Tommy,
up the other end of the orchestra...I've fixed the phones!"
The Competition:
Then, there was the competition, during the comic's act [Mike Berry - now
in the USA] which did not require orchestra, to see which orchestra member could
get out of the orchestra pit, run like heck and return with a signed beer mat to
say they had drunk a pint of beer...the one with the mat from the furthest pub,
from the theatre, won the prize [organised by Arthur]. Arthur decided he
wasn't well one night and didn't participate. When the guys rushed in,
grabbed their instruments, in the nick of time, as the Musical Director lifted
his baton for the play off sting of the comic's act, there was a mighty crash of
falling music stands, chairs, ashtrays, lights, instruments.....
Arthur had carefully wired every instrument to every
music stand, to every chair, to every light....
CRRRRRRAAAAASSSSH!
Bratislava
The time we played The Bratislava Song Festival with the 65 piece
orchestra...Arthur led it....on drums! He didn't like the Russian
Communist rule in Czechoslovakia...his protest? He quietly took his
clothes off outside our hotel, folded them neatly, climbed onto the side of the
huge water fountain in the plaza, and jumped in to have a swim....he was
instantly surrounded by dozens of machine gun threatening soldiers....was Arthur
worried? He ended up with the whole regiment in his hotel room, plus the
hotel manager....all drinking Bells Whiskey...that was Arthur!
He had the best room and the best service....the manager personally looked
after "Miiister Arthuuuur". I asked him how he did it.
"Dec, you can get anything by putting a UK cigarette in his top
pocket and giving him a glass of Bells whiskey".
"Non Tacis"....
The time we were stuck with the band from h*ll who could not read one note
of music...in Barcelona. Arthur dropped everything, had to change
planes about six times and got to Barcelona to get us out of trouble...he did
that by learning the Spanish for Tacit [do not play] it was "Non
Tacis"....he further amplified this during the concert by shouting to any
band member who mucked up: "Non Tacis - You C**T"...sorry ladies!
But there is no other way to tell the story......he took us out that night on
the town and gave us the worse hangover ever...with Terry Brandy...we woke at
4pm the next day!
Arthur had a young relation married to
a fabulous black guy....
During a tour in 'Apartheid' South Africa....he excused himself from a
mayoral cocktail party thrown in our honour...went upstairs and returned with a
newspaper .... nothing else....oh yes, a pair of socks ... sat there reading the
paper. Totally starkers...well, except for the socks...."my
protest" he said quietly!
The stories go on and on and on.....he was a gorgeous guy....became the
biggest booker of orchestras in the world. He has booked the musicians for
8 of the biggest pantomimes this year, in the UK, and had just book two
orchestras for our Water Rats benefits....Stockport Plaza, with the cast of
'Coronation Street' and Wimbledon Theatre for a tribute to the old time 'Gang
Show'.
"They have got to pay their mortgages,
poor loves"
Jacqui was so worried she could not pay the musicians as Arthur's
accounts are all frozen [isn't that a silly law?]. "Dec,
they have got to pay their mortgages, poor loves". That was
the kind of guy Arthur was and Jacqui is the same.
Jacqui was the companion singer with Val Doonican through those hundreds of
TV shows he did...I've just spoken with Val, he is so upset....she also sang on
loads of my band's hit records.
Arthur Dakin......an inspiration..... a joy
to have known....
a pal......he has left a great void in our
lives.
The initial estimates of guys who want to attend his funeral on 6th Dec is
3,000.....does that tell you something?
Jacqui: "Dec, where are we going to put them all? It's
only a tiny village church." Considering he booked the
orchestras for almost every major tour....Tom Jones, Englebert, Jack Jones...oh,
everybody........
Arthur was 63 years young.....Rest In
Piece
I do feel that, if I learned anything from Arthur Dakin it was that....Arthur was never without a smile, a kind word, a crazy deed and he certainly did not take himself seriously.....
Regards
Dec [I make no apology for not talking 'music' this week...my friend died]
"Where you will sit when you are old shows where you stood in
youth."
yoruba proverb
Tip of the Week: "There is rather a nasty new variant of the 'Kleze' Email virus around. It automatically brings up your 'save as' box and it is quite easy, in the rush, to save the virus to your system...whoops!"
============================================
Gag of the Week [don't know where they get them but they keep rolling in!]:
"Why are you tearing up your homework notebook and scattering the
pieces
around the classroom?" a furious teacher asked one of her
pupils.
"To keep the elephants away, Miss."
"There are no
elephants."
"Shows how effective it is then, doesn't
it?"
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