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WHAT MADE YOU DRESS LIKE THAT?
One of the most common questions I get asked is ‘When did you start wearing the fancy costumes, and what made you decide to?
It was about 24 years ago (yes, I know I don’t look that old!), and shortly before I turned professional in the business (before which I had a ‘proper job’, but we’ll talk about that in another issue perhaps). At this point I was the ‘Up & coming’ player along side a few other of my age, including Richard Bower and Ian Griffin who I’m pleased to say have also stayed the course. For the few years before I of course visited as many live organ concerts and demonstrations as possible as my hunger to follow the business grew. As I visited these it became apparent that the general ‘uniform’ was either full black dinner suit with white evening shirt and bow tie, or for the more adventurous, a shirt, tie and suit. Whilst there was nothing at all wrong with this, I felt I wanted to create my own ‘identity’ or ‘trade mark’ in the organ world.
Around this time, I was lucky enough to be invited to play at an organ festival in Torremolinos in Spain. This seemed like the ideal event to unveil my new trademark. So I decided that I would create a more ‘eye catching’ stage attire. For those with a very good memory, they may remember that compared to the outfits that I have been wearing over the last fifteen to twenty years, the first two or three were very tame, but nevertheless very flamboyant for the organ world that was then, and Of course I’m very pleased to be able to say that In the organ world I was the first one to do it. If people ask about any link with Liberace, I have no hesitation in saying that he was an inspiration in this way. In my opinion he was a great showman with all of the outfits, cars, etc. What is sad is that many people let this take their attention from the fact that he was also a fabulous musician. Not that I am implying the same about myself. When it comes to me, I’m quite happy to laugh it off and say ‘Well, if you can’t play, wear a fancy jacket! Anyway back to the story.
After making the decision about the dress (well Shirt & trousers actually!), I started scouring the various ‘performers’ publications of the day, and found an advert for a tailor in Yorkshire who only made clothes and outfits for stage performers. I called him, made an appointment, and soon was on my way to see him not knowing what to expect. He was and still is a lovely man, very easy to get along with, and I still have my outfits made by him to this day. He is also very professional, and will do anything to help, especially if you have a clothes mishap… more about that later. We chatted over a coffee about what I did and my ideas, then he took all my measurements (No comments thankyou!). I looked through various cloths which he kept in stock. For my first outfit, I had black trousers (very sober), and an open neck shirt with flowing ‘bishop’ style sleeves in a material which immediately took my eye. The cloth could be basically described as a rainbow, with various colours, each one blending into the next.
After the fittings, the time for the Spanish festival arrived. When it came to my spot, I didn’t even warn the MC what I was going to do. I put the outfit on in the dressing room and finished it off by covering it with the most drab coat I could find. When I was announced, nobody quite new what to say to this seemingly scruffy person appearing on the stage. I of course then ‘de-robed’ to unveil the rainbow! The reaction was excellent and set everyone in a good mood from the start.
Following this outfit were a few more still quite sober ones. For a while I stayed with the standard black trousers, and experimented with various different colours and styles of shirt. By now the news was spreading, and as it did so, expectations started to grow, especially when I was visiting a club or society the second time around. So now it was time to go for the full outfit of matching designs Trousers and shirt, followed over time by full sequinned suits with jacket, and after that the addition of various sequinned capes! (the capes alone by the way, take 26 yards of cloth!). After a while, I would arrive at a show, and as the audience arrived, they would come up to me and ask… ‘What are you wearing tonight?’.
Maybe I should have been concerned that they weren’t asking what I was playing tonight, but for me, so long as the evening is entertainment, I don’t mind. So the outfits very quickly became my trade mark, and of course each on had to be at least as impressive as the last!
As I said, my choice of tailor proved to be a particularly good one. He keeps all measurements on file, and will do anything he can to help. On one particular occasion a few years ago, I arrived at an organ festival in Blackpool, and something had happened to my shirt for the performance (I can’t remember what now). I called my tailor, not only did he very quickly make me a new one, but he also drove to Blackpool with it to make sure I had it for the show that night! Now that’s what I call service!
Of course, as well as organ societies and clubs, I get asked to do shows for ‘non-organ’ audiences. Shows, anniversaries, etc, even the occasional show in a hospital. It gives them quite a surprise when they see this apparition appear, but it helps to immediately break the ice. It must be funny though, when the hospital patients are trying to explain to their visitor that a man wearing blue feathers was here this afternoon! I suppose the visitor just puts it down to the medication!
So that’s pretty much the story of how it began, and is of course still going on. It probably makes me a bit unusual, but I love being on stage. It’s probably the place where I feel most comfortable, and the mixture of the outfits, the humour and the music hopefully makes the evening what I believe it should be… ‘a show’, ‘entertainment’, and a way of letting people forget their worries for a couple of hours, and go home with a smile on their face. I have, believe it or not had a couple of people in the last year or two say to me… ‘Now that you’re getting a bit older, shouldn’t you think about stopping the dressing up?’ (the cheek!). Well, let’s just say… I wouldn’t hold your breath!