Bogan Bay

Some snaps from sunnier days in Byron Bay, the northern town that has become so popular with the ex-Hollywood set like Chris Hemsworth and Elsa Pataky, Matt Damon, Zac Efron and assorted characters. Whispers has been visiting Byron Bay and nearby Mullumbimby for nearly 40 years. Ever since our pal the late British printing press heir Nicholas Shand re-located from Shropshire and puchased a few hundred acres in "Mullum". Shand set up the local newspaper, the Byron Echo which has since become the established newspaper for the area. Shand sadly passed away in a car accident and there is statue of him outside the local council chambers.

But there are rumblings of discontent about the "newcomers" and the glitzy Hemsworth set and assorted hanger-ons who number in the dozens, from the oldtimers who first moved to Byron Bay over the previous decades. And the addition of anti-vaxxer chef Pete Evans has really got blood vessels pumping. We can't name the locals but it seems most cannot abide the new crowd and the attention it has brought to Byron. Among the complaints are the rapidly rising house prices and the flocks of visitors who pour into the town on weekends.

One local described it as similar to the beautiful California enclave Sausalito which in the 60s & 70s was a playground for those wishing to escape the city ratrace but went along similar lines as Byron with property prices outstripping the ability of the sort of "arty" crowd that made it popular in the first place.

Byron Bay locals are now calling it Bogan Bay and say an event a few weeks ago sums up the new mob. A marquee and tables were set up in a park at the beach claiming Covid was a hoax and wearing masks stupid calling them "face nappies" as an insult. It was the sheer numbers who headed for these tables to lend support that upset the locals. Many early Byron locals were "alternatives" in the 60s thru 80s when they moved there but are not like the QAnon nutters who have been boring the world to death lately.

The original movie super-star to spot Byron's potential was Paul Hogan who snapped up acres in the hinterland and built a magnificent mansion and redeveloped the pub in the main street. Hoges packed up nearly 20 years ago selling up for $Millions and moved to LA. Now Byron, or Bogon is flooded from the recent torrential rains and the beach was recently washed away in another storm which caused terrible damage. One prominent local likened it to God's wrath.

Claire's Kitchen

35 Oxford Street Darlinghurst, NSW, Australia 2010 French style at the Paris end of Oxford street

The top selling Champagne in Paris

Tabloid Fail

Yes, Whispers is about to cast nastursions on our media counterparts, imperfect vessel that we are, but Prince Harry & Meghan Markle announced just days ago that young Prince Archie Windsor can expect a sister or brother in the near future. But the Aussie tabloid magazine No Idea New Idea announced on the very same day that the loving California based couple had split. Well what would we know?. Perhaps it's true. I'm sure all shall be revealed this Monday in their next editon. Perhaps they know better than this scribe. Afterall we've been out of the loop for a while with endless lockdowns. It was only just late last year that New Idea announced that Prince Harry had been deported from the USA ( as seen in this cover pic with the Brad /Jen tale). Perhaps the current one is a clone? Is this a QAnon conspiracy revelation? Of course the same glitzy show biz mag also announced that hunky actor Brad Pitt was back living with Jennifer Aniston just as he arrived in Venice with gorgeous model Nicole Poturalski. Who knows..it could all be true.!

“Not to be missed.”

Fri, 05 Feb | Claire's Kitchen at le Salon VIVA la DIVA: JACKIE LOEB “Completely in-your-face funny.” LA Times. “Not to be missed.” Sydney Morning Herald. “The woman has so much talent it’s sick!” Comediva

Book tickets here:https://www.claireskitchen.com.au/events-1/viva-la-diva-jackie-loeb?fbclid=IwAR13zKHvsc5rNQUrBWn6uC46McgduGU72mKmSQdhQwV8t9hUE0x bank building in Sydney's Oxford Street with food prepared by brilliant CanadianKINfGuS8 Claire's Kitchen is a superb restaurant in a beautiful old bank building in Sydney's Oxford Street with food prepeared by brilliant Canadian French chef Claire De Lune

No Magic from Mike

Whispers was looking forward to the opening night of Channing Tatum's Magic Mike at the Entertainment Quarter yesterday but alas, the new Covid drama has shut down the production before it got off the ground. What a disappointment, especially for the performers who travelled so far to bring us some fine danicing and good looking flesh. No word yet if it will open again or when. On Wednesday the media were invited to film a scene from the show and told that mask wearing would be strictly enforced. Almost like a portent of what was to come. Meanwhile here's some vision of the show from Youtube.

Lockdown? drink the blues away with Paris' top selling champagne.

Magic Mike hits town

These chaps are some of the cast of Magic Mike, a show devised and created by Hollywood heart-throb Channing Tatum. It opens this Sunday in Sydney at the Entertainment Centre at Fox Studios. Whispers has no idea what it's all about but we'll be there to report on it. With bells on.

Earth to the UK Daily Mail (MailOnline)

We here at the Shuttle / Careless Whispers feel for today's sub-editors. Most have been replaced by online services. Sub editors on major newspapers could often make or destroy a story and at the very least, were superb 'fact checkers'. Alas for the Britain's Daily Mail newspaper we must assume their sub editors are under immense pressure. Why would they make a glaring mistake like this?. No, the lady pictured with the caption "the gossip columnist" is not well known Sydney scribe Ros Reines. In fact we have no idea who she is. This is the "gossip columnist" Ros Reines in our featured pic. Admittedly the 2 ladies do look similar, equally vivacious but they are not the same person.

Still, it's the thought that counts. ************************************************************ This Daily Mail faux paus reminds Whispers of when they confused (as pointed out by moi) comedienne Tracey Ullman's late mother with the Australian actress Little Nell of Rocky Horror fame. One look at the snap and it's pretty clear both ladies are of similar age. Of course in the online world, never having to say you're sorry is the only way to survive.

Did ya miss me?

 We're back. 

We promised you we would return. A mass of illnesses floored Whispers for 2 months in the middle of a pandemic. I think we had every know illness under the sun except Covid 19 or the "China Virus" as the (soon to be former) US president Donald Trump calls it (have we told you that he owes Whispers $3000 ?..a story for another time).

Did we miss anything?. Probably but this was one event not to be missed. Claire De Lune (left) is an import from French Canada so Claire knows how to throw a few things in a cooking pot and create a fabulous meal. 

Claire runs a wonderful restaurant in Sydney's Oxford Street called

Claire's Kitchen at le Salon

Oxford Street was once the busiest street in Sydney if not the Southern Hemisphere. There seemed to be a cocktail bar or nightclub on every corner and several in between. No wonder they called it the Golden Mile in it's heyday. All that disappeared with the infamous Lock down laws that saw premises that usually remained open until perhaps 11am the following morning, closing by 2am. Claire's establishment survives and flourishes. Often there is a floor show in between courses.

Claire's restaurant is in a fabulous 1930's building that was once a bank so you know it's grand as old banks often where.

Apart from the wonderful food on offer this special night had a performance from Rupert Noffs with his show titled “I CAN COOK TOO!”. 

 For the past few years Rupert and partner Matty Bee ran a popular restaurant in New York's Soho before returning to concentrate on the NSW's Central Coast. And Rupert also sings and can belt out a pretty good tune as he did on this night.

Rupert is the grandson of the legendary Rev Ted Noffs of Kings Cross' Wayside Chapel' fame (Rupert hangs out with pals like Prince William in his spare time) and he and Matty run their own sensational eatery on the Central Coast. It's called The Lucky Bee at the uber smart Hardy's Bay.

We've assembled a few pics from the night courtesy of Nicholas Huxley (left with Rupert Noffs) from East Sydney's fashion school. Nicholas has taught some of Australia's most famous couturiers and sent them out into the word to make their mark. In 2015 he spent a year setting up the Miami Dade College Miami, Florida US.

Above: Rupert Noffs,HRH Prince William & Kevin Rudd * Rupert with partner Matty Bee

More on James Packer

 Following reports on a complicate legal stoush in the US involving Aussie billionaire James Packer comes a new tale from the Israeli newspaper Haaretz.

As it's behind a paywall we'll quote the relevant part involving Packer. In a story about the revelation that Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s habit of bringing bags of dirty laundry from Israel to the United States on official visits in order for the clothes to be washed by U.S government workers comes a snippet about Packer & Netenyahu:

"Soon, Australian billionaire James Packer also began to gift the Netanyahus with expensive gratuities. Bibi confirmed Packer invited his son Yair 'to vacation in Aspen and Ibiza' and knew Yair occasionally slept in a luxury TLV apartment Packer rented"

Netanyahu confirmed he asked Australian billionaire Packer to buy the mansion next-door. Packer bought it, and Bibi behaved in it almost as though he owned the place. Before his visits, the housekeeper was asked to stock it with cigars and champagne"

 

Trust the French- the top selling Champagne in Paris

 

James Packer in legal drama

Charlotte Kirk, Kevin Tsujihara and a Non-Consensual Sex Allegation That Sparked a Secret Legal Saga

The actress has filed an explosive petition to vacate a gag order that has kept her mostly silent amid a years-long battle with the former Warner Bros. chief as well as film moguls James Packer, Brett Ratner and Avi Lerner.

 On Sept. 10, James Packer’s $200 million megayacht IJE (above) was harbored in Tahiti, where it was scheduled to stay for three months. A bailiff attempted to board the luxury liner to serve the film producer and financier and was told to return the following day because Packer was not there. When the bailiff returned as scheduled, IJE was pulling out of the harbor and heading to Bora Bora with the Australian billionaire onboard. 

Meanwhile in Bulgaria, a process server was attempting to serve Millennium Films CEO Avi Lerner at his Eastern Europe studio, where the Megan Fox thriller Till Death was shooting. Simultaneously, disgraced film producer Brett Ratner and former Warner Bros. chief Kevin Tsujihara were being served at their homes in Los Angeles.

READ THE STORY AT THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER:

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/features/charlotte-kirk-kevin-tsujihara-and-a-non-consensual-sex-allegation-that-sparked-a-secret-legal-saga

Below: Brett Ratner, James Packer &Charlotte KIrk 

 

 

 

Weekly Winner / Loser Awards

 Rivaled only by the Oscars for the sheer glamour: it's that time of the week we present glittering accolades for those who shone and those who didn't.

First up for WINNER OF THE WEEK is the fabulous comedy actor Rebel Wilson who posted pictures of her amazing weight loss. And doesn't she look sensational?. Her face is gorgeous. We hope Rebel leaves it at that. She looks perfect.

And (drumroll) LOSER OF THE WEEK is the wondrous Aussie tabloid Woman's Day which thudded onto our doorstop to announce that Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston are back living together.

Alas, as we thumbed through the pages and then turned to more sober publications we discovered on the very same day that said Brad Pitt had arrived in Venice with the new love of his life, 27-year-old German model Nicole Poturalski.

Oh well. you can't win them all.

Trust the French- the top selling Champagne in Paris

 

Stuck in Italy

 If you have been lucky enough to dine in one of the Sydney restaurants run by star chef Stefano Manfredi you will know he is one of Australia's top hosts and about as good creator of glorious food that can be had in this land, quite apart from being an all round nice guy.

Stefano is currently hanging out in the famed La Cascina dei Sapori eatery in Rezzato, Italy. You only have to read Trip Adviser's rave reviews to know this joint is tops in a country of splendid restaurants.

Stefano has been interviewed today in the Weekend Telegraph and has described how difficult it has been for him to return home to Australia:

"There are quite a few problems getting back to Australia no matter what the Federal Government will have you believe.

It’s not just the restrictions placed on numbers allowed on each plane coming into Australia but in my case, Etihad has mandated a Covid-19 test within 96 hours before flying to Abu Dhabi to get my connecting flight. Ordinarily, that would be no problem as Rezzato has clinics that will perform these easily and quickly with results available within a couple of hours.
But @etihad want passengers to go to a facility approved by them, at a prepaid cost double to that which I would ordinarily pay.
The first clinic they referred me to in Bologna- a couple of hours south of here- is closed the week I need to have the test. Now, I’m waiting for them to contact me for an alternative arrangement.
They’ve promised they would! My flight is booked for the 30th August."

Well keep readers posted if and when he gets home. Meanwhile, I'm sure there are worse places to hang out during the pandemic!

We Return

 Whispers takes "lock down" seriously so we really haven't been able to attend events recently. OK there have been no events to attend..but we shall be updating with some tales in the next 48 hours.

Bet you can't wait !!

Attack of The Clones

Whispers feels a Silly Season may be upon us with the claims Hollywood Heart throb Zac Efron has been "spotted in Byron Bay". The claim emerged in the MailOnline, renowned for it's reliability (hey- they nick stuff from us !).
They claim Zafron has been tooling around the "hippy paradise". Hippy paradise?. Perhaps 30 years ago. Byron Bay is a Millionaire's Paradise these days with a run down house (if you can find one ) in the Hinterland going for $2Million.

Fortunately a "social influencer" ( what that?) was on hand as a witness claiming "'Don't mean to alarm anyone but Zac Efron was literally eating at the same cafe as me when this was taken,' she wrote." To prove her point she took a snap, so easy these days of smart phones, of the Hollywood star herself.

Only just a couple of years ago the star of Aquaman  Jason Momoa was also spotted in Byron Bay, errr except it was in fact some geezer who appeared on The Bachelorette - Nathan Favro, as our screen shot from the always reliable Daily Mail shows. Well they're both very hairy so easy to confuse.

It was maybe 15 years ago Sydney's media went haywire and descended upon the          Woollahra Sailing Club when word spread like a bush fire that Sex & The City star Sarah Jessica Parker was spotted sipping cocktails at the bar. The TV show was at the height of it's fame and yes- Whispers went as well.  It was pretty obvious it wasn't Sarah Jessica but someone who did look remarkably like her. No matter how many times we told the assembled paparazzi and scribes their dreams would be dashed they were having none of it and the Daily Telegraph's Sydney Confidential gossip column snared an exclusive interview with the young lady ( a UK tourist) about her reasons for slipping into town. She played along loving every moment and it took 2 days for Sydney Con to back down and admit their mistake.

Bette Midler                             John Denver                    

              left: Hugh Grant      Rupert Everett                        

Whispers knows what it's like. Around 30 years ago while peering into a Harrods window in Knighsbridge we became aware we were being stalked. Finally the man built up the courage to come over and said "you are John Denver yes? Can I have an autograph? ".  "Of course" we replied grabbed a piece of paper and scribbled To my adoring fan- signed- Bette Midler thrust it in his hand and jumped into the nearest taxi. Actor Rupert Everett related a similar episode that happened at Miami Airport when a fan came up and said " I love your work Mr. Grant can I have your autograph?" Rupert obliged by writing in the man's paper back book "Fuck you- regards Hugh Grant".
Some years a go in Sydney Whispers was on a visit and attended a party at an Oxford Street nightclub only to be introduced to "the famous UK New Romantic star Steve Strange". Famous indeed and we had no idea who this Steve Strange was as we had left "the very famous New Romantic" Mr Strange to look after our little Mews flat in Notting Hill Gate 3 days earlier.

Sale of The Century

Former politician and Liberal Party heavyweight Michael Yabsley has put his collection of Australian ephemera up for sale at Lawson Menzies auction house. Yabsley's Wombat Hollow, an estate in the beautiful Southern Highlands has been his home for years now but for personal reasons the whole shebang is for sale and can be viewed here.
Whisper's favourite is the 1937 Chev pick-up truck with an estimated price $25,000 - $35,000. Dozens of rather wacky looking lamp stands and shades are up for grabs along with a quite extraordinary collection of old surveyors tripods and vintage tools, dozens of old oil cans and Mulga wood bits & pieces- Yabsley must have been collecting for years.
It's bound to be a popular sale in the local area where so many city elites have hobby farms. The Southern Highlands is also home to a number of notable characters including Harry Potter actress Miriam Margolyes currently touring Australia for an ABC TV special and Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban who snapped up the former Governor's mansion.

Michael Yabsley was an MP and Prison's Minister in the distant past who hitched his fate to former NSW Premier Nick Greiner when Greiner was the subject of  an ICAC investigation over a complicated matter which eventually saw him resign along with Yabsley in sympathy. No problem- both went on to become Liberal Party heavyweights behind the scenes.

Whisper's exclusively alluded to Yabsley's move from the Highlands and his new living arrangements in Wollooomooloo. Today Michael "outed" himself as gay in a daily newspaper. Better late than never!.
                                                    *********************

There seem to be some important moves for a small social group that includes top broadcaster Alan Jones who announced his retirement (at age 79) and the former well-liked social butterfly and top publicist Glen Marie Frost who has been down on her uppers of late for various reasons. Glen-Marie announced she had moved into a Housing Commission flat in Wooloomooloo and all we can say is : location, location, location. It has to be one of the most desirable suburbs in Sydney so well done Glen Marie !
And now that Lock Down measures have eased up lets hope Glen Marie's new business as a Marriage Celebrant goes into full flight. Honestly if you are planning to get hitched whether straight, gay or otherwise, Frost is the lady to make that special day even better.

You can contact her here at Glen Marie Frost Celebrant.

So all's well for this trio who often partied in the Southern Highlands where Jones has a rather splendid farm and where Glen Marie apparently lived for some time in a  cottage at Yabsley's Wombat Hollow- now they're all within a stone's throw of each other with Yablsey & Glen Marie in residence at The Loo and Jones who is just a hop step and jump away at his Harbour-side apartment at Circular Quay.
                                              ************************
Speaking of Alan Jones, please come back in a few days when Whisper's will reveal some never published before facts about Alan's infamous arrest in a toilet in Piccadilly in 1988.
Many so-called "left leaning" pundits like former broadcaster Mike Carlton have been quite malicious about this event, often smugly inferring all sorts of impropriety despite the fact Jones was never prosecuted and had no intention of pleading guilty to a stitch up and despite ridiculous gossip that Jones' powerful friend (then) Lord Jeffrey Archer, a Minister in Margaret Thatcher's government somehow pulled strings. It shows an extraordinary ignorance on their part especially Carlton who was a broadcaster on a London radio station and should have known that Britain's Metropolitan Police wouldn't give a stuff about an Antipodean "shock jock" if they thought charges would stick as surely demonstrated when they eventually prosecuted  Alan's good pal Jeffrey Archer for perverting the course of justice.

Hot off the presses

We too have been social distancing which isn't that hard to do when Society distanced itself from us and the rest of Sydney some time ago for many reasons apart from a pandemic.
We pray for small mercies so when this snippet fell upon our desk we felt it our duty to pass it on.
We are happy to announce that a well known former politician has departed the family home in the country leaving the trouble and stuff behind and moved in with a handsome chap of Lebanese extraction in trendy inner Sydney. OK it's not nearly as glamorous ss the announcement by UK TV host Phillip Schofield that he is gay and leaving the familty home for an exciting new life in gay London but beggars can't be choosers.
# We can't even run a snap of our man as it would reveal who is and we would never "expose" someone's new living arrangements unless he decides to "come out" which is a very stylish thing to do these days. I'm told

Nil By Mouth.
Whispers made a move as well- into a ward at Sydney's uber smart St. Vincent's Hospital. It's been 5 days now and we can report  that 1) morphine isn't nearly what it's cracked up to be and 2) needles sting 3) many patients are possibly mad and 4) oddly one does begin to look forward to jelly for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Yum.

For your entertainment..

Whispers knows you are all going crazy with "isolating" yourself. There's only so much television you can watch, so many dodgy recipes whipped up by desperate tabloids to keep you entertained.
Fortunately a video lands upon our desk.
Sydney party personality Sharon Sargent has been featured in our pages many times, usually for naughty but nice adventures. All very innocent of course such as posing in LA'S Rodeo Drive while appearing in her own reality TV show and as above with the English Rugby team at a lunch at Sydney's uber smart Otto's Restaurant at the Wharf in Wolloomooloo.

We still can't understand why one of Britain's top tabloids the Daily Mirror went a bit crazy over this episode. Sharon was merely waving the team goodbye as they headed off on a Sydney Harbor cruise with a bunch of scantily clad lasses who, if anyone had experienced Sydney's summer heat would understand the gels were sensibly dressed for the climate.
 Or undressed in this case. All healthy harmless fun.

Now Sharon has penned a song and put it to film. It's a pleasant little ditty and describes her feelings under "social isolation", the latest craze sweeping the world. In Sharon's' video she is pictured touring a Sydney almost devoid of any traffic or even people! It really sums up what we are going through today. Collectively-ie: no-one else is having a good time so stop feeling sorry for yourself.

Real Fake News

Reality

Beach bums! Sydneysiders ignore social distancing rules as they flock to Bondi to lap up the final days of summer.

 While we've become quite used to the UK Daily Mail tweaking their tales that often say the opposite to what is really happening, today they just published a complete load of balderdash and a real example of that infamous Fake News.

Sydney's Bondi Beach has been closed for 10 days now. Whispers should know as we currently live there.
The beach itself is closed off with barriers and there is a large police presence. While some members of the public manage to occasionally make it to the rocks surrounding both ends of the beach they are soon warned off by vigilant coppers and for at least a week now few have bothered. But not a soul has set foot on the sand nor is able to get past the barriers erected along with huge blinking neon signs stating the beach is closed and police vans parked at all entry points with their lights flashing.
Indeed for at least ten days, the suburb has been like a ghost town. While some walk the boardwalk for exercise they are also warned by numerous police officers to practice "social distancing".

How did the Mail manage to publish this obvious complete fake tale along with photographs purportedly taken last Friday (an overcast day with intermittent light showers). The snaps could not possibly have been taken last Friday nor within the last fortnight.
We know tabloids bend the truth but this is a load of claptrap. Comments on Mail Tales can be interesting. Most on this story indicate the readers actually believe the story is real !

They doubted us..

Several loyal readers doubted Whisper's tale that they encountered a very young James Murdoch asleep at a party at the home of the late Lady Mary Fairfax, Fairwater in Sydney's Double Bay.
But it's true and we now show a pic we snapped at the event.
From left to right is billionaire James, son of media mogul Rupert Murdoch, Primrose Dunlop and well known News Ltd photographer Frank Viola.

Young James was just 15 a the time and doing "work experience" on his father's newspaper The Sunday Telegraph and accompanied the other two to Lady Mary's. At the time Primrose was writing a social column for the newspaper.
We told how Primrose met the Qantas Trolley Dolly and Egyptian royal Prince Lorenzo Giustinian at the shindig.
Often known as Prince Montesini, Lorenzo says his title is a very old one from the Ottoman Empire.
Sometime later the pair decided to get married and organised their nuptials to be held in Venice as half of Sydney and Melbourne's high society travelled to the canal city for the wedding.
Alas, Prince Lorenzo got cold feet and decamped the night before they were to be married and ran off with his best man Richard Straub while assorted media searched Europe looking for the errant bridegroom.
Meanwhile Primrose, heiress to a considerable stockbroking fortune in Melbourne nabbed a European noble and is now known as Countess Zofia Krasicki v Siecin.

Making a Killing

As New York City goes into lock-down, Whispers' pal America's top social photographer Patrick McMullan has sensibly gone into seclusion in his house in Long Island.
NYC's famous night life has gone into meltdown- it's non existent at present so McMullan isn't missing much (he often attends up to 5 parties in one night).
Never fear. As a chronicler of America's and importantly the scene in his home city Patrick knows everybody and has photographed them for posterity. As the great artist Andy Warhol  once said "if you don't know Patrick you need to go out more".
As a contributing editor to Vanity Fair and with regular columns in a number of society magazines like Ocean Drive along with numerous TV appearances and his own NBC TV show under his belt there isn't anyone with a flicker of fame that hasn't been captured by his camera lens.
                                         So it's no surprise to see that every since the scandal broke about the late Jeffrey Epstein and his pal Ghislaine Maxwell, McMullan's snaps of the late billionaire have been published hundreds of times around the world and keep getting re-published with every new mention.
Such as today in the UK's Daily Mail and no doubt dozens of European and American publications.
It definitely pays the bills while society has gone into a government mandated shut-down.

From The Vault: The Day Hollywood Came Calling

so many Marilyns

Dear reader, cast your mind back some decades. 1980 to be exact.
Whispers was living in a small but cute Mews flat just off London's famous Portobello Road. To be exact, where the real antique shops began and before the bits & pieces stalls started. Saturday was always a joyful day as the Portobello Market began in full swing early in the morning.

In our quaint street we were always awakened by the sound of a Tuba on a Saturday around 10am. A neighbor taught the instrument and it really was the most pleasant and reassuring way to be awakened and one always knew it was market day,
Whispers had a pal staying. His name was Ben and he worked in films organizing transport. As a bonus he would take a side job of driving around whatever star was in town at the time and filming at Pinewood Studios. While he lived in the country, Notting Hill was far more convenient for obvious reasons.
I had also moved in the legendary rock manager Kit Lambert who had fallen on rather tough times and who I was working with attempting to revive various music projects. Kit had discovered and nurtured one of the most famous and enduring bands on the planet, The Who along with legends like Jimi Hendrix.
 
This was the era of The Blitz. A Tuesday night club in London's West End, operated in a small restaurant by a budding entrepreneur named Steve Strange (pictured). The Blitz Kids had grown out of the Punk era and the kids wwo flocked to the club called themselves the New Romantics with their colourful and inventive outfits. It was really just kids from the suburbs dressing up. Innocent but a lot of fun
I had convinced Lambert that there were bound to be future stars and musicians to come out of the very creative Blitz scene. And they surely did. Boy George with Culture Club was one. Duran Duran and Spandau Ballet began there as did Strange himself who had a huge hit with his band Visage. Another was Phil Collen, my personal discovery who I hired for a band and who later went on to join one of the biggest groups on the planet Def Lepard. I took Kit to The Blitz once and he was hooked. Together we decided there was a gold mine of talent there.

Living in Notting Hill had distinct advantages because of it's close location to central London. Most of the teenagers who went to the Blitz on a Tuesday night, after planning their exotic outfits, lived in the outer London Suburbs. George O'Dowd ( Boy George) was one. Peter Robinson who called himself Marilyn and styled himself after the Hollywood legend Marilyn Monroe was another, Inevitably half a dozen or so would choose to flop on my Mews flat floor having missed the last tube home.

And so it was on one such night when we had been partying at The Blitz that around 8 souls descended upon my tiny flat, along with flatmate Ben who had accompanied us to The Blitz for his first visit. Ben was now working on a film called Saturn 3 staring two Hollywood greats - the late star Kirk Douglas and the former Charlies Angels star Farrah Fawcett Majors. Ben had also nabbed me a job as Kirk Douglas' "gofer". Such an easy job although one had to be available at all hours. Douglas was popular with film crews. He had a reputation as being easy going, very professional often only needing one shoot of a scene, treating the crew respectfully and a great tipper when a project had been completed.

Kirk Douglas and Farrah Fawcett Majors in the Sci Fi flick Saturn 3

CONTINUED HERE.