Table Manners with Jessie and Lennie Ware - S8 Ep 8: Rick Astley

Episode Date: November 27, 2019

Mum was beside herself when this guest was suggested and demanded we make this chat over cake happen, so, we put in the call and welcomed Lancashire born hitmaker Rick Astley to Clapham! Rick tells us about teaching Mary Berry to play the drums, rickrolling, that performance with Dave Grohl, his own beer and his wife’s speciality of making curried herring (!). He charmed mum over an afternoon tea of pumpkin cake and finger sandwiches - we're never gonna give you up Rick, you're too much of a gent. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hello and welcome to Table Manners. I'm Jessie Ware and this is my mum, Lenny. Hi. How are you, mum? I'm a bit tired, darling. Yeah, me too. Yep. Every hour, on the button. Ah, wow. Yeah, the eight-month regression is cool and the stomach bug that both my children have had over the weekend is...

It's the first time we've actually experienced a double whammy. A double projectile vomit. But it's okay. Today is a beautiful autumnal day. It's crisp, blue skies, my favourite time of year. And we have got a Halloween party coming up. So we have lots of pumpkins. We went to a pumpkin patch.

It felt quite American. It was sweet. It was funny. It was in Wimbledon Common. Wimbledon Park. Wimbledon Park. I wouldn't say it's so much a pumpkin patch. It was pumpkins on the ground.

Pumpkins strewn across a park, but you got a wheelbarrow and it was quite good fun so we picked up like about eight pumpkins so we decided to use some of that pumpkin meat which you call it meat yeah pumpkin flesh pumpkin flesh um for our guests today and i thought of a chai pumpkin cake with cream cheese frosting and maple covered pecans would be quite nice. And then I realised that it's kind of like, it's like the seasonal Starbucks thing, the chai latte we've done. So that's what we're doing. We're doing a bunt cake.

I don't know if it's going to taste nice. It looks very pretty. I've done little finger sandwiches. I've done little finger sandwiches. And we're going to have a cup of tea, maybe a glass of Prosecco. And Bob's your uncle. And Bob's your uncle. Mum cup of tea, maybe a glass of Prosecco. Yeah. And Bob's your uncle. And Bob's your uncle.

Mum, you're really excited about this guest, aren't you? We've been together for so long. Is that how it starts? Yeah. Yeah. We've got Rick Astley. And I'm never going to give him up. Do you know how sick he is probably of hearing that?

Yeah. But actually, an American football team adopted that song about four years ago and it revamped the whole thing. Well, I'm interested about this. Because he was in stock Aitken Waterman. Yeah. So he must know Jason and Kylie. And the Goss. Who's the Goss?

The Gossip. Were they in stock Aitken Waterman? No, Mum. Oh, well, the gossip. Best Ditto was about five. You mean whether Kylie and Jason really were an item? They were an item. We all know that.

Were they really? Yes. We don't really. I want to know. I'm really interested about that kind of hit factory. Apparently, Rick became a kind of viral meme, or Never Gonna Give You Up did. I didn't know this.

I still don't really understand. It's called Rickrolling. And I don't understand it, so I'm going to have to get him to explain. But you know who his best mate is? Who? Mary Berry. Can't believe that.

I think he's probably had a better cake than we're going to give him today. Oh, God. Oh, no. She's the queen. She played drums on his set. You're blowing my mind. When he just did a festival recently.

Have you not seen it on YouTube? Oh, my God. Mary Berry playing drums. Just have a look. Mary Berry playing drums on Rick Astley's set. And there she is banging her drums away, age 83 or something. Oh, my God. Yeah.

I'm excited about this. It's got a deeper voice than George Ezra. Rick Astley coming up on Table Manners Hi I'm Lenny I'm Jesse's mum So excited to meet you Rick Astley Thank you for coming over for tea

Absolute pleasure, glad to be here it's kind of a nice day out there it's gorgeous isn't it it kind of feels nice to be having tea with you ladies this afternoon you've already done like a TV thing with I've been eating already

I've had a big morning of eating we didn't actually eat a lot to be honest but we tasted a lot of wonderful things it was really good mum's hoping that you're going to have a glass of prosecco it just enables her i'm not normally a bubbly drinker but if you're going bubbles i'd like i'll have a big glass of wine okay don't even need to ask me twice but it's funny obviously if you go to a wedding or a function i do yeah you get served something bubbly don't you and i do obviously i'm not yes some people don't like it's not my favorite thing no I'm

all our friends like proper friends they know someone when my wife and I would turn up they just immediately put that back in the you know so nice bucket and you know what we have I always drink wine really red or white I do I love beer still as well I'm a real big so of beer. You've got your own beer? I have, yeah, I have. My wife's from Denmark, from Copenhagen. Really? Yeah, and a Danish company got in touch with us, Mikkeler they're called. And it so turns out that Mikkel, who is Mikkeler,

was a bit of a fan of mine when he was a kid. And he said, I want to make you a beer. So he's made two. And any day now we're getting the third one. So yeah. What kind of beer is it? Well, it was like a Pilsen, a l so we've he's made two and uh any day now we're getting the third one so yeah and they are kind of what kind of beer is well it was like a pills and a lager we've got and they're doing like an amber ale now um a lot of the beers they do i've been on a bit of an exploration with them those guys because we've been to belgium and stuff and tasted some really unusual things

danish beers like blonde beers they can be anything not necessarily no um the whole um is heineken danish heineken is dutch oh shit oh my word woman i'm supposed to be carlsberg is what you're after carlsberg and yeah oh yeah okay there's a massive tradition obviously all over europe with beer and we all have our own way of thinking about it and everything but um this is like craft brewing it's a totally different thing. And they've got bars all over the world. They've got one in Tokyo that we've actually been to, which, believe it or not, has got a Rick Astley toilet.

So the only music they've... Not in the bar. You just play your music? You go in the bathroom. In the loo? In the loo. On the loo? Just, yeah.

Never going to give you up? Anything of that ilk. Yeah, yeah. But usually never going to give you up, yeah. But, yeah, so was pretty we had we had to go to that bar we've been to a few they've got them i mean they're all over europe as well in different places so they opened they wanted to open a bar in london and we're we're involved in that my wife and i and everything so where's it gonna be in london the the first bar um is right in right oh hello there's a cat every time we do a podcast now he's in well I'm

I'm big I'm big on cats we had a brother and a sister who are not with us anymore they passed last year and we had them for 20 years

oh wow yeah yeah and it's like well you know they're sort of part of the family aren't they big time so it's really yeah

kind of what were they called Charlie and Sky so yeah it was it was kind of really hard. We had to have them put down in the end. Not at the same time. I know, it's horrible. Yeah, it was.

It's really, really hard. Rick, where do you come from originally? I'm actually from... I was born in Lancashire in a town called... I'm Lancashire. Are you? Manchester. Manchester United.

Of course. What are you? Manchester United, of course. Yeah, yeah. What are we going to do? I don yeah yeah what are we going to do I don't know what we're going to do what are you again oh my god

I'm United oh you are yeah my husband's Spurs oh right okay well we'll forgive him for that you know what I mean I like Spurs you know what

I always still think of them as the underdog even though I know they're actually pretty successful I know exactly what you mean excuse me we're number what are we 12 don't even think about it right now

12 yeah it's not good right now. But growing up, what did you want to be? Did you want to be a singer? I think I did want to be a singer. I used to play drums when I was probably 15 when I got on the first drum kit ever at school. And I just loved it.

And I kind of knew I was going to love it. And I don't know, really. I got into a band with some friends and we were definitely not the cool kids not by a long stretch what was the music like well we just did covers to be honest what happened to you you went from being a drummer to then being a lead singer kind of did it as a favor it seems like or no I did I did I did a couple of things um once or twice like for instance one of my best friends who I was in a band with his stepdad had a band and their lead

singer when they were doing like the clubs and what have you around Christmas just lost their voice so I stepped in and did it for them I was 17 or 18 or something like that yeah and I was singing like a lot of old rock and roll songs and stuff. But it was an amazing experience. And it also kind of frightened me a little bit and thought, wow, that's really tough. Because doing the club circuit's tough. It's not like doing... You know what I mean? It's not like doing a...

It's just a totally different thing. People are not always listening. Oh, no. People can be mean. Yeah, yeah, yeah, for sure. But then how does Pete Waterman then step into this? Yeah, well, simply because we had some guys looking after us in terms of management and they knew Pete it was getting serious yeah well well they were they actually

managed a lot of people for instance who were on Coronation Street and things like that and Gordon Burns used to the X Factor so they were a bit more TV than they were rock and roll let's say but they did have some bands and one of them had a connection to Pete Waterman got him to come to see our band and a few other bands what was your band called uh at that time we were called FBI because Neddy the guitar player who started the band was a shadows freak and so he had the black strat and everything and he wanted to sort of you know it shadows were his thing for younger viewers get on the internet right now. I don't know what the Shadows are. Jessica! Are you going to explain that? Cliff Richard and the Shadows.

They were his backing band. And they did a particular walk, didn't they? They did indeed. They used to do this. For everyone listening to this, we're getting a... We're getting a full demonstration here. And they used to do a little

they did dance and that's what they did all the way through pretty much that was you know i mean so did your mate do the dance whilst i don't think he ever did it in front of us i don't seem to remember he might have done at one point but what you don't realize they were fantastic guitarists yeah yeah i mean yeah they were amazing I mean of its time and of its moment it was probably super cool do you know what I mean but I think yeah we were teenage kids and I did think hang on a minute what about and you any anything else if you know what I mean no offense to the shadows but I'm saying we should be trying to do our own stuff and we should and that's kind of how I became a singer because I borrowed a guitar. I kind of learned a couple of chords from one of the other guitar player, Will.

And I just sort of came back to practice and said, well, what about this? And they all kind of looked at me and went, well, you're not going to sing it then, big head. So that's how I became the singer, really. So then Pete Waterman comes and watches you. Yeah, a little time after that. Yeah, yeah. And he just liked my voice and he... You have got a really great voice. Thank you you it's very deep and lovely thank you um and he kind of felt

he could do something with that but at the time nobody i say nobody nobody outside the business would have known who pete waterman was he was not a famous person at this point not at all i didn't know he was famous because he was on pop Idol. Well, yes, it became like probably more of a household name through that. But I mean, Stott Aitman, those guys had so many hits at one point, it was just daft. They used to have a whiteboard on the wall and literally they would have five songs they'd written and produced in the top 20 sometimes.

It was insane. So were you best friends with Kylie and Jason? No, not really. Did you know them? Not really. I mean, I met them a couple of times. I think people think we all lived in a flat together and all travelled around on a bus, and we never did.

I met Kylie, I've met her a few times lately, but I mean before. Have you reminisced about? No, not really, no. Swap stories? Not exactly, no. We need to sit down with a bottle of wine to do that i think i have done a bit with jason a bit more because i've done a few gigs where jason's been yeah yeah yeah and um and that's been kind of nice and actually at when kylie um turned 50 um uh we went we went

to a party and stuff and jason was there and also mike stock was there one of the one of the guys from this production team and we had a bit of a natter for quite a while, actually. And it was quite funny because, I don't know, obviously water goes under the bridge. You know, we were kids. I'm not saying we did what we were told. I think, again, there was quite a bit written about that, like, it's this conveyor belt and, you know.

The hit factory. Yeah, and it was a hit factory because they kept having hits and they kept kind of churning them out. But I don't think they ever sat down and they kept kind of churning them out but I don't think they ever sat down and thought let's just churn out another hit to them they loved the whole process of songwriting they loved I think they were more in love with songwriting than they were production to be honest but you'd have to ask them that um but they they kind of found this sound and then or created a sound I should say really because the first when I first went there I signed a deal with them, their production company,

to have a go at making a record. So for me, I'm thinking, great, I'll get to have a go at making a record and see how that works. I wasn't thinking, right, I've just signed to Virgin or Universal or some monster big label and we're going to have this massive. I thought, this is a little outfit,

we'll see how it goes. They just happened to have a number one record, literally like the week that... Which one was it? The first one, the first one i think was princess say i'm your number one which is 1985 i'm your number one there you go boom boom drop the mic um and then uh spin me around by dead or alive you spin me right round right round like a massive show but they're completely different they're not yes yes if you hear this record that your mum's singing did the same you're number one it's kind of like a pop soul kind of it's a totally who's the other one sonia no but she came much later oh she much later we all know

sonia i'd say shortly after that or a little while after that yeah mel and kim and again those three those three artists and record don't sound anything like each other. What was Mel and Kim's song? Oh, a day, day, day, day, day, day, day, day, day, day. Day, day, day, yeah. Oh, there you go. I'm going to need more than coffee for this in a minute. Get the primitive male actress. So anyway, what I was trying to get to was,

they found a sound and they found a way of doing things. And I think they then sort of fitted the artists that they had signed, especially, or they'd kind of cultivated to work with, i.e. Kylie and stuff. They wanted to do that. And Mel and Kim, I think, were on their label even, I think, or a label they helped set up. And I was signed to their production company. I did get released on RCA and BMG, Worldwide, Boom, all the rest of it.

But I did actually sign to their very small production company. And they created their sound and we all fitted into it. And I think DJs, journalists, a lot of people kind of poo-pooed it and kind of hated it, to be honest, because it was kind of very, very... It was pop. It was very pop, yeah. I guess that's like people having an issue with Max Martin at a certain point when he was dominating the charts with Britney and Backstreet Boys.

Yeah, Backstreet Boys. I'd like to see them. That's the tribute. Yeah, but I think Star-Caked King Waltham definitely kind of, either they or somebody within it all or somehow they became a really big name and it was it they were they were almost their records we sang them and then it changed obviously because Kylie became massive Jason became massive I did all right you know so you become an artist in your own right if you like but it's almost like oh this is the next stock Hickin Waterman record who wants it you're gonna have it yeah slightly different with Jason and Kylie because they were already famous because of being on tv but I'm saying if you'd signed to their production company

people's ears were pricked up more because it was a stock aching waterman record and who's this dude called Rick with a quiff who looks about 11 so and then eventually you start to get your own thing going and what was weird for me was that when I went to America, nobody had a clue they were. So it was like starting again, but I kind of liked it because it was like, all the interviews aren't about, I have no problem talking about it, but I'm saying, you know, it was relentless

because they were like a household name here. Do you know what I mean? So it was a bit daft at times. But then your, I'm never going to give you up, became very famous in America recently. Yeah, yeah. Because it was an American football team adopted it. Well, it it's sort of i think what's happened with that song it's just sort of become something else and it's and i'm i don't mind at all because i yes it's my tune

because i sung it but it's also it's so long ago that it belongs to us too well there you go love that's a very nice way of putting it yeah it. But so many people have done crazy and weird things with it. Yeah, can you explain Rick Rollings? Oh, I wish I could. Because I don't understand it. I wish I could. I don't understand what it means. Well, the original one was that somebody sent an email,

and within that email there'd be a link to, obviously, a video. You'd click on it, and it could be somebody baking a lovely cake. It could be somebody doing something rude. It could be somebody baking a lovely cake it could be somebody doing something rude it could be it could be anything it could be like the winning you know in the game yeah it could be anything and then a few seconds into it or at the the really pivotal moment of that video it would click into my video never going to give you up you see which was probably humorous for a few seconds and after a while became unbelievably boring for people because it also did this thing on one of them i think it actually took over your

computer for a while and you had to turn it off to get it to i mean it's like hacking it's like a virus you were a virus kind of yeah so i think it was a sort of more of a mean thing but it also and you know and then from that every now again, it resurfaces and someone makes another prank video or does something. The White House Rickrolled themselves. Somebody on the White House staff, this is when Obama was in the White House. So everybody, including the President of the United States, got an email that day that Rickrolled them.

And I think that's pretty cool as well. That is cool. Yeah. And there's been a few like that. They've been kind of a bit mad. So President Obama knows who you are. Of course he does anyway, though. Yeah, I mean, he might do.

He might do. He's massive in America. I did all right there, definitely. I did all right. Yeah, so, yeah. No, yeah. What did your mum and dad think? What did your parents do?

Were they... My mum... Well, my mum and dad split up when I was about four, i'm the youngest of four kids i'm actually the youngest of five kids they had a son who passed away before i was born and before the next eldest was born i'm the youngest um so um they divorced when i was about four um my mum kind of went to work in an office and do an office sort of job in a local company. And then when she was, I can't remember what age exactly, but I'm going to say late 40s, I think. She played piano really well as a kid, like really amazingly well.

Could sight read, you know, classical and play it and everything. And one of her friends used to do sort of operatic singing at events and things. Not like mega professional, but, you you know they'd go you know and my mum used to put a nice frock on and go and play with this friend of hers and do this thing and cut a long story short she was invited to play in a wine bar and she said and it's not like my mum's posh but I can just see her saying this hi I'm a middle-aged woman I can't go and possibly play in it you know anyway she did in the end and she really liked it cut a long story short she ended up go and possibly play in a, you know. Anyway, she did in the end, and she really liked it. Cut a long story short, she ended up playing piano every night.

In a wine bar? Every night. No, well, she played in a wine bar, but she also played in like a local, I don't know whether you can relate to this, but certain pubs used to have a piano room. Yeah. So there'd be a pub, and people would go to drink in it, and then some people might get a sherry, or whatever it be,

and go into the piano room and listen and maybe sing and what have you and I'm probably making it a bit more quaint than perhaps it was but she had a circle of friends there as well and and she and that's how she she quit her job and became a professional musician how old were you when this happened I was probably a teenager I was I was probably mid to late teens, I think. She learned to drive. It's crazy. My mum's still alive. She's in her 80s.

But she learned to drive and took on being a professional piano player in her midlife. I think that's pretty bizarre. Pretty amazingly bizarre, you know. My dad had a great singing voice but never did anything. He wasn't a singer. He just sang around the house a lot. I think it was pretty weird for them, to be honest. They weren't together no no not at all did you live with your dad i was i was i lived with my dad through the week and spent the weekends at my gran's where my mum lived right so are you a

foodie i am yeah i mean i don't cook no that's okay my wife's a really good yeah do you eat a lot of danish food well, we do certain Danish things. I think what we have kind of, or I have kind of inherited from that is that the Danes have eaten well for a long time. They eat pretty healthy. I know they have Danish pastries. They do have a lot of cheese, though. They do have a lot of cheese, yeah.

And bacon. Well, they ship most of the bacon here, to be honest. Do they? Yeah, they do, yeah. Are they not bothered about it? No, they do, yeah. They're not bothered about it? No, they do like their bacon, but they're always moaning because the best bacon comes here, evidently. Yeah, which is a weird thing. Is Janssen's Temptation from Denmark?

No, Swedish. Oh, Swedish. Anyway. Right, what's that then? It's like a dauphinoise. Oh, really? It's done with anchovies and crisp bread on top. Oh, sounds good.

It's really nice. It's in the book. Okay, okay. It's in our cookbook the book okay we'll get you a copy absolutely bring it on my wife will be all over that so what does your wife cook that's like just a bit of everything well one of the things that she gets asked to make uh is a thing called uh which is in danish is pronounced kaisel which is curried herrings which sounds a bit awful but it is amazing oh it's freaky good so it's fresh herring yeah but what you do is you cut up apple as well into like chunks of apple and you boil egg and cut that up and put it into it and then there's this curry sauce is how i can i can describe it and it doesn't sound that amazing is it hot or cold no you eat it cold on rye bread and the thing

is we it's like a coronation chicken, but with a coronation herring? Coronation herring. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. And listen, believe me, I had to kind of like steal myself to eat it the first time. But my God, once you've had it, it's like, it's slightly addictive. Oh, I get it.

And we moved about six years ago and we used to live across the road from some really lovely people who were still really good friends with them. We were godparents to a couple of their kids and stuff. So sometimes we'd nip over at Christmas. They've got a really big family anyway. But we'd go over sometimes and maybe not do the Christmas lunch with them. But I think we have a few times. But, you know, we'd get together at some point. And Lena, my wife, had to make a huge bowl because they've got quite a few boys as well in their family you

know and girls but they've got a few boys that could eat you know for England kind of thing and she'd have to make the huge bowl of it and she made her own rye bread as well and she still does and they they when we go and visit them now Christmas or not or whatever time of year she has to bring a bowl of this and a rye bread. Is it pickled herring? Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I've got some in the fridge. I like the idea of this.

And it's called kaisa. Yeah, kaisil, because sil, S-I-L-D, is how they pronounce it. But curried herrings, if you find curried herrings, not everyone puts egg and apple in it, I don't think, but I think you should. Oh, yeah, I love that. You know what, I'm actually really hungry. Can we just have the little, we've just made finger sandwiches like they're very like and then

some cake too. We're having tea. Are you ready for a cup of tea? Yeah I'd love a cup of tea. Whilst mum makes a cup of tea and gets the sandwiches. So growing up with in the house when you were younger who did the cooking? Well, we had a housekeeper. Oh, right. Which is kind of, yeah, was a bit odd, really, because... That's what mum was cooking for. Yeah, Mrs Hill, who, you know, became a massive figure in my life. She was never going to, you know, take the place of my mum, obviously.

Thank you. She was the woman in our house, if you like you know what i mean and would be there kind of you know as we woke up and would be there when i got home from school and stuff and in to be in your dad's house rather than your mum's house in a you know a broken family if you want to call it that was kind of odd back then uh it's probably a lot more normal now and so it should be but back then it was kind of unusual because i'm from a very working class town my dad had a little business he had a little garden center but we weren't wealthy we weren't poor by any stretch of the

imagination but we weren't wealthy no thanks just some milk builder's tea would be great please nice and strong help yourself to some thank you my love so the housekeeper lived with your dad she didn't live with us. She just lived down the road. But she'd be there literally as we woke up and stuff. So we had, it wasn't like we just grew up with my dad, if you know what I mean, in terms of him trying to take care of stuff. But my dad did cook sometimes, which again was probably a bit freaky if you think back to those days.

It was a woman's place to be in the kitchen, wasn't it? I don't mean I'm saying that. I'm saying, you you know what i mean that was the way society looked at the world sometimes thank you yeah that's great so so what did mrs hill cook cook what was her me what was your most memorable meal that mrs hill used to make lancashire hot pot i seem to remember that was pretty amazing actually if you get the crust right you know um one of the things i used to love was potato cakes i just grilled potato cake and i haven't had potato cake for years actually thinking about it yeah um so nothing it wasn't i don't think i grew up a foodie in any way straight just not even close to it um i think the most exciting thing to look

forward to was that we used to go to a Chinese restaurant with my auntie's family sometimes, which was like so exotic. It was just off the scale, you know, and it was in a beautiful little part of Cheshire as well. So it was an event to go to, if you know what I mean. And again, something that would be a treat with that, we'd go to a pub where you would you'd have like, you know, scampi and chips or God knows what is pub food back then, you know. I didn't really grow up in a foodie family in that way at all. Are you touring in England? We are going to tour in England, but that's next April. We go to Australia and New Zealand and Japan first

in February and March. Amazing. Yeah. No, I'm really looking forward to it, yeah. And this is for 50? No, no, we're kind of, we're so and this is for 50 no no we're kind of we're we're doing the best stuff at the moment and we're kind of like you already had a greatest hits i might have done a long time ago yeah but i'm not done for a long time yeah and just see

i knew this no okay i knew this and you said it's the 51 i don't even know either i don't even know either it's fine you're real fun I'm sorry so basically what I've done is I've rerecorded a lot of the old songs again so it's all all the original versions are there but we've literally done them again and partly because when we discussed this thing about doing the best of I was kind of saying well yeah but it's all out there yeah how can you just yeah repackage it and say, here is again, folks? It's like, you've got to do something with it.

So we recorded one brand new song. And then I think I did 11 in the end of all the old ones. So I'm never going to give you Up Together Forever and a bunch of others. And a couple of the newer ones as well, I've kind of just redone for fun and just said, well, boom, that's that. And it's been really interesting to do because, for one, some of them are really old like really old and I've been singing them a long time

I did have a I stopped for about 15 years in the middle of it all I say the middle of it all it sounds so whatever I just stopped and never thought I'd do it again because you were just sick of it I was sick of it we'd had our daughter

how many children have you got? just one and I just kind of I wasn't really enjoying it that's for sure and it wasn't really a lot about music i wasn't really doing a whole lot of music i did a lot of you know miming on tv i did a lot of um because again in the late 80s and possibly early 90s i guess you went on tv and mimed you didn't really go on TV and sing nobody sang on top of the pops what? no darling

if you go back to like Duran Duran one of the things I loved about them when they were on top of the pops every now and again they'd just all swap instruments just didn't you know John Taylor and Andy Taylor should be playing guitar and bass

they'd just swap around and say I'll do that tonight I would have thought that yeah but I mean singing was live yeah no no nobody sang live

everyone that was the whole point. No one sang live. However good you were at lip syncing was the thing. Quite often people would go on, they wouldn't even bother to use a microphone. No. They'd just sing to the camera. That's really depressing.

Yeah. Yeah. I want to know how you became best mates with Mary Berry. Well, whilst we have some cake, which is definitely not going to sound and taste as good. One more sandwich before we get into the cake. Let's eat more sandwiches, darling. Now, can I just say, do you want a glass of wine?

Oh, yeah, come on. Do you want a glass of red or a little white? Whatever you're going to open or you've got to open. I'll open. Love it. Because we all drink. Okay. Well, I do.

Okay. There'll be a little tipple. But, yeah, disclaimer, who knows what this is going to taste like but the icing is sweet and uh there's enough of it oh my god you're okay spilt glass that's fine anyway it didn't break by the way yeah everyone has some actually some. Actually, you know what? It's, I hate the word, it's moist. Oh, moist.

If you only knew. What? Oh, my God, tell me. Are you about to say something about moist? Well, I have fans who hold up cards that say moist. Oh, my God. What? What?

Why? That's disgusting. That is a really weird way to say that they're really enjoying your show. No, it's because, you know when you're on stage and you say something a bit, not weird, but just comes out of your mouth and you think, what the, why the... Yeah, I do that all the time, yeah. Okay.

So, I don't know where we were, and it was raining, and I said, oh my God, you poor people, you know, you must be soaked. Are you wet? And it just came out and it said moist and I just burst out laughing and my band and I look right at Simon

playing drums and he's just falling apart and I'm just thinking oh my god and then sure enough like a week later or wherever we were later and someone had come

to the gig again and they hold it and that so that is a really unfortunate it is it is but it's also

it's like a really it's like a really old way of describing that condition, if it is a condition. Do you know what I mean? A condition? I don't know what it is, but it's moist. You know what I mean? I love it.

Let's move on. Well, enjoy my moist cake. The cake's fantastic. It's quite good. It's a terrible word, moist. It's all right, this. I mean, I am definitely not a baker, but speaking of bakers... I'm liking it, by the way.

How on earth did Mary Berry end up playing drums for you at Camp Festival? She was doing a show where the whole thing was about being at a festival and the food at a festival and how you are at a festival, you know. And so she taught me how to make muffins and i don't i don't cook at all really i mean i can i can feed myself if i'm on my own and also because i'm so lucky that i get to eat in a lot of great places here there and everywhere with work and stuff i'm quite happy sometimes to

go home and just have beans on toast or a cheese sandwich because i'm just kind of like whatever i'm over it i don't need to you know but anyway she taught me to make these muffins which were amazing well they were like they weren't sweet in any way um they actually had some basil in them they're savory yeah yeah savory yeah and but really amazing like really good actually kind of i'm just you know i mean i've gone because i've gone sweet with this right now i know I mean, because I've gone sweet with this right now. Is that nice? I think it's all right, you know.

It's almost too moist, I hate to say it. It can never be too moist. That's what she said. And then, I think it was my wife actually who had the idea. She said, well, why doesn't Rick teach Mary how to play drums? So, and the answer came back, yes. So we're like, bring it on. Bless her. So we were doing this festival, obviously,

festival, camp festival. So she, well, it was an amazing, the whole thing was great really, because it's a very family festival and it was just a lot of fun. So early on in the set, we'd arranged that Mary would come up and in the afternoon,

I kind of showed her a little bit on the drums and what have you. And she came up all guns blazing. Did she remember what you taught her? Well, I wouldn't say, and I mean this with all the love in the world, I wouldn't say she's going to be taking over for, you know, she's not going to be taking the seat of the Foo Fighters, Taylor Hawkins, any day soon.

Wow. But just the fact that she came out in front of, I don't know, thousands and thousands of people at a proper festival and just leathered them speaking and what a perfect

sequence into another live situation you found yourself in yeah bonkers yeah yeah you went

you were both playing Supersonic Summersonic yeah yeah Summersonic in Japan which is like supposed to be the most amazing

festival it's really good yeah it's amazing and you were playing and so was the Foo Fighters and you're a massive Foo Fighters fan Summersonic yeah yeah Summersonic in Japan which is like supposed to be the most amazing festival it's really good and you were playing and so was the Foo Fighters and you're a massive Foo Fighters fan I am yeah so

well the weird thing was I have a couple of friends and we have a midlife crisis rock band and the only way we get away with it is because we always

give the money to charity we're called the Luddites and we do little gigs around where we kind of live and what have you we played shepherd's bush empire by the way all the phone all the phone um we got some help to do that but anyway we did it um so we only play like punky stuff from when we were learning and what have you from back when we were teenagers and stuff any of the any of the old fbi members in there oh no no no. No, no, no, no. We're talking like... Surrey's Finest.

No, we're talking like, for instance, if we, let's say we do Sex Pistols, Clash, anything from when we were kids that we remember getting in our first band and going, well, how do you play this? How do you do that? And like I say, I ended up in a band that was a Shadows freak,

love you, but freak. But a lot of the songs that bands have, you know, and we did occasionally, we learned something that, like Teenage Kicks, for instance, because it's, you know, punk, the whole ethic of punk was about almost anyone can do it. They couldn't, but it felt like that. Yeah. So anyway, so this midlife crisis rock band called the Luddites

that I have with my friends, we also murder some Foo Fighters songs. Which ones? We do Times Like These. Great song. Which is a bitch because I have to sing it and drum it. Oh my God, you are Dave Grohl? I would hardly say I'm Dave Grohl, to be honest, but I...

In your head you are. Oh, in my head I am. Of course I am. Yeah, of course yeah yeah um so anyway I am very aware of their music and I've been a big fan of theirs for years it wasn't just that that night kind of thing and so we played at the festival that afternoon or what have you and we were just hanging out it was Japan we were all I say we my wife and the band crew various members we were all a bit jet-lagged we'd had a few beers because we're done we're like you know we've got one more gig somewhere in Tokyo in a day or two we're done we'velagged we'd had a few beers because we're done we're like we've got one more gig somewhere in Tokyo

in a day or two we're done let's have a few beers and we got on the side of the stage behind a barrier watching the band and Dave Grohl

comes walking over and we all moved because we thought because one of the guitar players Chris was he'd come over to some other friends and we thought

that Dave Grohl was doing the exact same thing we thought he's coming to this he must know these people as well so we're all moving out of the way and he's kind of following me and I'm going what what

and then he gave me a big hug and then so we you know said hello and all the rest of it he goes back out this is in the middle of the set oh my god

the plane never met them so then he's out there and then all of a sudden the barrier is moved away half an hour later one of the tech guys hands me a mic and said, Dave wants you out front.

Oh, my God. This is like. For what reason exactly? What? Did Bradley Cooper watch this and reimagine it in A Star Is Born and you were Lady Gaga singing Shallow? If only I were Lady Gaga. Yeah, it was mad. And they reimagined it

in a kind of foo-foo way yeah because I didn't know this at the time but they knew the tune and I think they'd kicked it around

because they'd done it on something or whatever but I didn't know that obviously I didn't know that and so he just whispers in my ear he says

so we're going to do your tune but it's going to be a bit like Teen Spirit sick I'm like yeah how does that work why would why would that not be happening right now so we're going to do your tune, but it's going to be a bit like Teen Spirit. Sick. I'm like, yeah. How does that work?

Why would that not be happening right now in front of 50,000 people in a baseball stadium in Japan? Yeah, yeah. This is a normal Friday night, you know what I mean? I love it. So I turned around to the audience, and I wasn't trying to be rock and roll. I genuinely was not.

It just came out of me, a bit like Moist did, right? I just screamed at the top of my voice come on your motherfuckers because i couldn't i couldn't i don't know it was just like well yeah i was about a yard in front of myself i was about three steps in front of myself looking at myself screaming come on your motherfuckers anyway so so they kicked off and we did it and it was just really really good fun it was really good fun so good that you did it a year later or you yeah well actually they did it they they came to london not long after that uh because of the release of that current album and so they texted and said do you want to come do your thing again i'm like yeah great you know

so i went the weird thing that night was that it was like it was an arena it was Britain I wasn't pissed at all it was kind of like oh oh oh yeah but it was brilliant it was really good fun because partly I hung out with them a bit before this time and I hung out with them obviously in Japan afterwards we all did you know they were just really comfy with everybody as you know they're just proper people you know um and then they did a they they've reignited a festival from the 70s and they curate it and everything in california so we went and did that and we hung out with them and their friends well i just got up and did that one song with them you know i mean it's just i just think it's just a fun it's just a mad weird other universe thing to do. But then the weird thing was that, I call him Dave now.

Of course. Dave. My mate Dave. Yeah. He texted me and said, look, I'm doing this thing for the NME. It's just this little club. I'm going to go along and just play on the guitar a song or two. And I thought you might want to come and we'd just jam a bit.

So I texted him and said, yeah, great. You know, where is it? When is it? Whatever. So I texted him and said, yeah, great, you know, Brill, where is it, when is it, whatever. So you're besties? I wouldn't say besties, but they all are. They're just really, considering where they are, where they've been, what they've done, they're pretty amazing to be around.

They're really comfortable people and there's just no bullshit and there's just sort of, you know. And when they actually go in their little jam room before they play to get warmed up for stage, feels to me and maybe i'm talking shop and i shouldn't be here but i mean it feels to me like a bunch of young guys who've just gone fuck it we're gonna have this do you know what i mean and it's like it's exactly what you want it to be it's not like they're all there getting out of a different limo each and they might be that's up to them how they travel i don't mean that what i'm saying is they come together as this band to go on that stage and it's like there's still a real about it you know what i mean so this was in a small place oh god

this is like four or five hundred people so i got there and rami the keyboard player was there as well and so he came and and we were just and there was a band on first anyway, so there was a bunch of gear on stage. And then Dave, as I now call him, was saying, well, listen, I'm going to do this track from the first album, basically. And then he said, no, we'll do your tune. And then he said, we'll do Everlong, which is one of their all-time monster, amazing tracks. And he said, do you want to play drums or guitar on that?

And I'm like, Dave, what are you talking, I'm not going to, what, what what and he said well i know you i know because he's seen me do it a little bit on the luddites yeah well that and also youtube i'm guessing we don't actually cover that funny enough no but we oh god you're a bit like shit well i'm just like so i just said to him flat i just said no that ain't gonna happen because i'm like the reality of that is something different to discussing it over a beer in a dressing room. It's like, I don't know. Do you know what I mean? Because what I'm saying is the other times there hasn't been a whole lot of time to think about it. It's just Foo Fighters are playing.

I'm going to get up and sing a song I've sung a million times. As long as I do my bit, they're going to be amazing. It'll be great. When somebody like Dave Grohl says, do you want to play guitar or drums? You just melt. Well, I did. So I um i said no i'm not doing that dave anyway so so i think that's a bit wet it's a bit moist well tell you what next time they're in town okay right you can come and bring your banjo no well the thing is what happened was they so so get on the drums. No, well, the thing is, what happened was,

so they go up there, the two of them. Dave plays the first song with Ramin, they're playing away. And then, so the thing was, I was meant to get up and sing Never Gonna Give You Up with him and them. But then he just goes into times like these. I'm like, okay, I don't know what's happening now, but that's fine, I'm all for it, you know. I'm a fan. I'm with the other 499 people, you know.

And I just thought, there's a drum kit there, you know. Oh, bollocks. So I got on the, I scrabbled onto the stage because it was like packed, this place. You couldn't even get, you know. So I got up there and I just thought, right, I'm going to play drums for Dave Grohl and that's going to happen right now.

Here we go. So you stage invaded. So, yeah. So I played like three or four Foo Fighters monster tunes and then we did Never Gonna Give You Up and then he ended with Everlong. And did you play on Everlong? Yeah.

You did? You did it? Yeah. Not so moist. But it was just, anyway, it was just one of them things. That's amazing.

Yeah, no, it was. It was. And the weird thing is, yeah, if it was a friend doing it i wouldn't have battered an eyelid but it's almost like don't get me wrong i'm not being sycophantic but i'm cat one where they are actually but i'm thinking there's a lot of people in that audience as well we're going to have a moment right now of him being able to do that right and what i don't

want to do is mess it up if you know what i mean but it was so informal and so kind of like off the cuff again i know i'm being but what i loved about it was he didn't even bring a guitar he just said i'll just borrow one it's not like three techs came down and said right how big's the stage what are the lights like we need three a day's guitars we need them vacuum packed we need them this we need these tube amps brought in from america it's just, just give me a guitar and let's go. That's amazing. What a dude. Where did he borrow it from? From the band who were playing that night.

He knew there was a band on, so he thought, I'll borrow a guitar. I don't know whether he checked whether he was a lefty or not. You know what I mean? Oh my God, that's so funny. I've been lefty in my guitars. Yeah, yeah. Felix has a lefty. Paul McCartney.

I did not know that. Paul McCartney, come on. Well, I never knew that. Of course not. But I don't know why I never knew it, but I didn't. So you feel like all the poor left-handed people should have to play right-handed guitar. Oh, because it's all upside down.

I just never knew that. There you go. There are people who can do both, and they're just freaky. We ask everyone, what would be their last supper? Oh, my God. So, starter, main, pud and drink. If it was a last supper, I could possibly include... I'm not sure this is the right combination by...

Doesn't matter. OK, but I might go with the curried herrings thing because it's been quite a big thing in our life. It's sort of... And it's that whole epitome of something very, very, very Danish. And I really like Denmark. I've spent a lot of time there. Our daughter lives there.

She's lived there for seven years, studied there and did her master's there and everything. She now lives there. Do you speak Danish? Ja, I tell you, Lillismåledansk. You sound like you're in the killing. Yeah, exactly. Well, there you go.

Or the bridge. Well, I am partial to a jumper, so I speak a little Danish. I understand a lot more than I speak. But our daughter speaks fluently, and like I say, she's lived there all these years. What did you just say? I speak a little bit.

Sorry, yeah, I never thought about that. I thought you were saying, God, these bloody two women are getting on my nerves. Shut up. So that would be the starter? Ja, elsker din kvinne.

No, din kvinne? No, not din. Jom elsker din. It must be I love you. Yeah. Well done. How did you get that? How do you know that?

Because I had a Swedish guy that loved me for a while. You say, jom elsker din. Yeah, ja, elsker din, which is I love you in Danish. The first sentence I learned in Danish was, Vå er din tørtumbla? That's a big poo. Where is your tdtumbler? Where is your tumble dryer, sorry?

There you go, yeah. I thought it was a turdtumbler. Turdtumbler. Turdtumbler. So, okay, so that's starter. I think that would be, I mean, just because we're, there's a bit of reminiscing going on in this conversation, and I kind of think that that might be nice

if it was going to be a last supper thing. The next dish, I think, would be, again, because it's got a lot of really good memories, spaghetti vongole, but with bataga. Have you ever had bataga? Yes. Yeah, which is just... I've never had it with spaghetti vongole, though. Oh, really?

Bataga, what, the cheese? No, no, sorry, no, no. Oh, no, sorry, bataga is the... Bataga is the dried fish thing. The dried fish, yes, yes, yes. Oh, yes, I've never had no. Oh, no, sorry. Butaga is the dried fish thing. The dried fish, yes, yes, yes. Oh, yes, I've never had that. Yeah, we've been to Sardinia a lot on holiday, and I think it is Sardinian, I think.

And it's one of those things you either like it or you don't, big time. And you don't have to have it with vongole. You can just have it on like a spaghetti thing or whatever with some oil. But it's just immense. It's just amazing. And again, we've been there so many times. I have some great memories of the kids all growing up, went with other families and stuff. oil but it's just immense it's just amazing and again we've been there so many times and some great memories of the kids all growing up went with other families and stuff and it was just one

of those things that whenever we we used to have nights at the house that we rented and then we'd go out to like three restaurants and I would always try and get people to go to a different restaurant and they always said no and we'd go to one once in a blue moon we've been there 10 or 12 times I think we go to one and everyone would just moon. We'd been there 10 or 12 times, I think. We'd go to one and everyone would just moan about that it wasn't like the three that we'd go to. So I gave up in the end. So the three restaurants, I knew exactly what I was going to eat

every time I went there. And this spaghetti vongole with taga is one of the things and it's just amazing. Pudding. Oh my God, anything. Oh really? Yeah, I mean, I've got got a certain panna cotta is a real i love it which flavor well the thing is i just actually like the cream yeah and i'll have

anything with it um but i like anything i'm like kind of i still love a chocolate mousse if it's done well i like i like anything tiramisu is still a favorite i'm going a bit old school here there's a few italian restaurants that we've been to for years and years and years and like you know one in particular has the trolley oh i love it you don't always see the trolley and like it's just it just and i just say yeah i'll have yeah any the lot i love it all do you think you've got good table manners i'd like to think so i mean it's always tricky that i think and obviously in a situation like this where we're talking and eating i don't know it's difficult i know yeah i think you've got great table well i'd like to think so

but um i'd like to think so but i can't and what can't you stand in other people when i think one of the things is and obviously i have listened to your podcast and what have you, and I know this question was coming, but one of the things, no, but one of the things that really irks me big time is if you, especially, well, when you're in a restaurant rather, and people sometimes are just plain rude to the people serving you. And it's kind of like, you know, they're doing their job for one thing. It's actually what they do for a living or what they're doing for a living right now.

And sometimes, you know, cause I've, I've been really lucky. We all have to go to some amazing restaurants and sometimes people feel so privileged cause they're used to being in those restaurants all the time that it's like, I don't know. It just really, I almost get embarrassed sometimes. I really do. And I just find it. So it's not table manners for the people you're eating dinner with even

it's almost the extension of it which is I don't know I just really struggle with it at times. Rick it's been such a pleasure. Thank you I've really enjoyed myself I really have thank you very much indeed thank you I will Everyone in this series gets a tea towel so there you go thank you so much. I'm loving that thank you

it's gorgeous as well. Oh yeah. I love it. Jessie doesn't like leopards but I love leopards. I do like leopards just not as much as you. Yeah. So was the leopard your thing then? No it's not a thing. Jessie's just incidental to this series. You know that.

That's fantastic. so there is an alarm going off whilst we do this outro but loved rick astley just as what i expected but like so down i hate using the word, but down to earth, like he's an international hit, like superstar singer. And he's from Lancashire. Yeah, I don't know. That's what makes the difference. Yeah, just so lovely

and so interesting. Not pretentious, just fun and likes what he likes. Sense of humour. Yeah, great. And it was such a pleasure to kind of listen to the story of how he came to be a star.

I really enjoyed it. And I have to say, my pumpkin cake was pretty, pretty, pretty good. It was pretty moist. Thank you so much for listening. This is Table Manners. We're a little tired, but Rick Astley just warmed us all up and just made everything better.

He was kind of autumnal, wasn't he? I don't know if it's because the sun was shining. Steady on, Nigella. He was just a kind of, he was just such a nice, warm human being. And just lovely and just a nice person. As you hold your Primitivo. And he liked Primitivo. Just a lovely drinking button

Jessie, hell of a quiff yeah wow, if Sam, my poor husband had seen that he would have been very sad he would have cried I think thank you so much for listening, if you are enjoying this please subscribe if you're not

you haven't sworn today I think I did one S-H-I-T. I think it's making all the difference. Okay. I think our listeners are going to double. Okay. I'm going to really try to not swear as much. Good darling.

I didn't realise it was such a problem, and I'm sorry. And on that note, I'm going to atone for my sins and go to bed because I'm bloody knackered. Thank you so much. Thank you for listening. The music you've heard on Table Manners is by Peter Duffy and Pete Fraser. Table Manners is produced by Alice Williams.