No Led Zepelin tourdates! And why old rockers should not hit on young girls!

I just saw an article on Robert Plant. On how he denies that there will be Led Zeppelin tour dates even though some people are already selling (fake) tickets for these events.

Anyway, I looked at his picture and thought 'Oh yuk, that's that old rocker that once hit on me at the Countdown studios in Holland'. I was so grossed out at the time. All I kept thinking was 'this guy could be my dad, maybe even my granddad'. I knew he'd been in some legendary band, but wasn't even sure which one it was. I've just never been into Led Zeppelin or any of these other old rock bands.

It's funny actually, how often you meet famous people when you're in the public eye yourself without you recognizing them. I remember the first time Bryan Adams came up to me backstage at the MTV Awards and said 'Hi, I'm Bryan'. I just went 'Okay, hi Bryan' and walked on. It was much later when it dawned on me who just shook my hand.

And the same thing with this Robert Plant guy. It's only now that I look at him again that I realize where I met him before.

But anyway, old rockers should not be hitting on young girls...full stop! It's disgusting. Just because someone has made good music doesn't make him any less of a dirty old man.

Oh, and when I'm talking of dirty old men, I don't actually mean Bryan Adams. He is a total gentleman. He just ended up in this story somehow ; )

My BBC World service interview on Madonna's 50th birthday

This went out on the BBC World Service yesterday. Everyone has an opinion of Madonna and what it means for her to have celebrated her 50th birthday whilst still topping the worldwide charts. These are my personal thoughts on her, her music and her amazing career.

madonna interview BBC world service.mp3

By the way, before I anger any hardened Madonna fans, let me just explain why I said that 'Madonna is very clever at looking what's happening on the fringes of the music scene, taking elements of it & making it her own'.

Basically, as I was working on the Partyzone, I often saw first-hand what was happening outside the mainstream & I often saw or heard how Madonna incorporated these things into her own performances. Very clever of course, as most audiences would not know where these ideas came from and would assume they were Madonna's own creative inventions. And I bet that she surrounds herself with some hot young things who will let her know what music to listen to and which acts to watch.

Brian Adams used to attempt the same thing and would hang out with young (at the time) people like myself & would ask us all about what was hot. I would take him out occasionally and show him what was happening in London & would mention tracks for him to listen to. He never really got it though, he's too set in his ways. When he mentioned to me that another young friend had called him 'a musical dinosaur' I just giggled.

Still, he's a brilliant artist of course & a wonderful person. But he has never been really 'with it' like Madonna always has been.

I also mentioned U2 in the interview (which was edited out), as they have this same talent that Madonna has, they always have their finger on the pulse, they check out hot new acts, they get inspired & then they incorporate elements of it into their own performance. It simply is the only way to stay relevant.

Simply Red are splitting up?

So Mick Hucknall has announced that Simply Red are to split up. But Mick, you’ve got me confused now, because who are Simply Red anyway? I’m sure I remember you telling me that Simply Red was basically you with some session musicians. And that on one album you tried to make it a more democratic process-like a real band- and that you were very unhappy with the result. So I thought that you had gone back to Simply Red basically being you. Am I wrong?

Anyway, Mick told me all this when he had invited me to his house for lunch one day. He had bought my best friend’s house, a magical country home called Southcroft, which was a place of many happy memories for me (I had always wanted to buy that home myself, but didn’t have the money), so I really wanted to see what he had done to the place. As a matter of fact, he hadn’t done much. Most the furniture was the stuff my friends had left behind, which was funny to see. Mick did make a wonderful games room, complete with old pinball machines (I love those) and tons of signed football shirts on the wall. And he had frescos painted around the indoor pool, making it look like an old Greek bathing house.

Mick made me a lovely lunch telling me that, if he hadn’t been a musician, he would have wanted to be a chef. I think he would have made a pretty good one. Especially his guacamole is phenomenal.

Now, unlike my other ‘old rocker’ friend Brian Adams who has always been a total gentleman & who I have had many lunches and dinners with (many at his house) and who never has hit on me in all the years that I've known him, Mick Hucknall did. He obviously had misread my intentions for coming to his house and when I was leaving he tried to kiss me. Nothing too uncomfortable though, just a normal guy ‘trying it on’ on the off chance. As soon as he realized that I wasn’t interested, he just laughed it off and that was that. I didn’t go back to his house after that though.

Anyway Mick, good luck with being ‘just Mick Hucknall’ now. Even though I have no idea what difference it will make.