Test Match Special - #40from40: Richard Thompson OBE

Episode Date: July 2, 2020

Guitar hero Richard Thompson joins Jonathan Agnew for a memorable chat and live performance in 2014.

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Boundary on BBC Sounds. Welcome along to Classic View from the Boundary from Test Match Special. I'm Jonathan Agnew. For today's episode, we're going back to 2014 in the Lord's Test Match between England and India. The tourists were victorious in a memorable game that saw Ishant Sharma take seven wickets in the second innings. Gary Balance scored a fine hundred for England. On the sunny Saturday of the test, we were very fortunate to be joined by folk music legend. Richard Thompson came to prominence in the 1960s as the lead guitarist with Fairport Convention

and has had a stellar career in the five decades since. Listed as one of Rolling Stone magazine's top 100 guitarists in history, Thompson was awarded an OBE in 2011 for his services to music. So let's go back to that summer's day six years ago when Richard Thompson brought his acoustic guitar to the Lord's Commentary Box. Take me to the dance and hold me time. I want to see the bright lights tonight. Take me to the dance and hold me tight. I want to see the bright lights tonight. I'm fantastic.

Well, I'll tell you what, also, Acousticates, Horrible in here. It sounded fantastic. through his headphones rich up well play come and sit down come and sit down there's lots of lots of people have arrived but let's get you sitting here bringing a guitar with you but if i think just to complete the picture people do need to have a look at what will go up later because you're not exactly if i'm honest with you dressed not sort of in rock star mode dress wise are you let's be honest it's too hot to be a rock star let's face it you know all that leather and studs i mean i know so actually we're in shorts and flipflops shorts and flip flip it seems appropriate to me

on a day that's pushing 80 and unbelievably humid I know. Well, welcome to Lord. Thank you so much. It's fantastic to be here. Yeah, I mean, have you been before? I used to come as a kid, you know, to watch in the Middlesex, I suppose, the odd test match, you know, when I was a kid or when I was at school. You're local, really? I mean, you're born, and I'm from Highgate, really.

So, yeah, I used to come here and go to the Oval with my dad occasionally. I think the first game I ever saw was Surrey playing somebody. Peter May hitting unbelievable cover drives Tell me about Peter May He's one of those Again people who've seen him Will go glassy-eyed

About the style of Peter May Just the just the elegance You know And you know The speed that the ball would travel To the boundary It's just extraordinary A tall man

So elegant A tall standing up Absolutely Yeah And you know Hints of A sort of ruthless aggression About him as well

Which I think That's what made him Such a great quick Yeah And here coming as a kid, I mean, if you had to sort of pinch ourselves, to remind ourselves, I think, every time we come to lords of how lucky we are to come here. So regularly, it's our workplace for much of the time. But this is special, isn't it, to come here. As a kid, you know, it was, you know, from school, you know, in the afternoons, when there were about three people, you know, here, there'd be a couple of old colonels from the Indian Army. So good shot, sir, good shot. And a few schoolboys, and that was about it. But, um, so you could just wander in. Pretty much, yeah. I'm sure it was cheap in those days.

Who do you remember seeing here, particularly? Any games here particularly? I remember seeing India here. I think it was Middlesex or possibly the MCC against India. That's probably what it was. And MCC against New Zealand, it took like 64, 65 or something. So going back a bit, you know.

Oh, that's, yeah, good stuff. Peter May clearly some sort of hero with you. Who was your... If you had one big cricketing hero, who had it true? Peter May He was Peter May Well I thought Fair enough choice

Yeah I'm you know So many great players Of the years I'm a Jeff boycott A big hero I really I love this so hot

We gloss over that Okay we'll pass over that one Yeah But you know You know the resoluted Openers You know You liked that did you

You liked the stubbornness Yes You know They shall not pass Kind of attitude I thought was always Fantastic Yeah

And of course Fred Tippus Was an old boy Of our school Went to William at his school up in um on the edge of hampsticeeath and uh so he was an old boy so um he was a sort of a bit of a connection um to middle sex from the school i think the school used to feed a few a few potential players you know to middle sex talk us with the wrist spin then when did that when did that

start up why did you start bowling leg spin um it just seemed interesting i think i i i bought a book by um what's the name uh philpot the australian oh yes of course i thought it's fascinating i thought Oh, that's how you do it. That's extraordinary. And I'm still not sure I do it right, but at least it gave me a start. And I could actually, I mean, 15 miles an hour, I can bowl, you know. 15. 15. That's on a good day, but probably more like 13.

That never arrives, does it? Not really, no. That's terribly slow. I've got no arm's speed left, you know. 65 years old. I mean, come on. So. in your prime.

Yeah. I can bowl Googlies. I can bowl a kind of flipper, but, you know, where they're going to land is it anybody's business. So you can go through the full works of respect. Yeah, I can tell people how to do it because I read the book. So I can actually coach other people how to bowl legs when I just can't do it myself. That's incredible.

Well, if we're lucky, we're very lucky. I still play. You still turning your arm over? Yeah. I played for a team called The Sharps, which has started life sort of 20-odd years ago as an all-musicians team. and we had a bunch of really good jazz and folk musicians in the back people like John Etheridge, Danny Thompson

and Rob Coral and I think it's dwindled a bit now to probably two musicians and nine ringers but we still turn out you know and it's a great team and it's good fun we'll try if Shane's in a good mood

two boxes down we'll try and get you to meet Shane Warren afterwards how do that be alright you'd teach him a thing or two I think I could pass on a few... Pass on a few tips. I don't notice a few things he wasn't quite doing properly. What do you mar about him? You must have sat and watched him bowl,

being a fellow wrist spinner. Just phenomenal. You know, strength. Yes. Your physical strength, I mean, just the way he could rip the ball is just ridiculous. You know, when no one else could turn it, he could turn it somehow, you know. And his repertoire, I mean, certainly, I think later on he did, quite have the range of balls.

The flipper went for a start. Yeah, yeah. But, I mean, in his prime year, it's just unbelievable. You know, I think you could pick him, maybe. Certainly from the commentary books, you could probably pick him. But just what he was doing was just ridiculous. Yeah. Ridiculous.

He's surely the greatest, certainly leg spinner, but probably spin-bowl up here, maybe. Yeah, it's funny, because I imagine I first saw Shane Warren bowling in the ashes that the world will be full of wrist spinners as a result. And it's sad, unfortunately, hasn't really happened. I don't quite understand. Apart from you, obviously. Well, it didn't happen in Australia, which is strange, you know. So I don't know.

And because England is suffering slightly from a lack of young spinners coming in. Yes. And what's the reason for that, Josh? Well, I suppose we investigated it last match with maybe county cricket, the pitches that they play on, the opportunities that they get. Yeah. The fact that, as you're discovering, you mature as a spinner, don't you? You probably get better with age.

So do English ones. Yeah, it's also, you know, it's a mind game thing, isn't it? where you figure out how to work people out. So it's a very thoughtful process. Did you like Batsman coming and attacking you, your wristpin? Or were you someone who actually just, were you a bit of a shame-worn? Do you like to boss it a bit?

Or did you have no option? I think the third choice probably. I love the idea of sort of dominating a Batsman. I don't think that ever happened to me ever in my life. But it's a tough part, I wonder why you chose Rispin. It was simply that book and the intrigue of the mechanics. It's so interesting. It's such an interesting thing, you know, to do. And the fact that you can actually, you know, you can turn it both ways, you can do top spinners, you know, you've got this whole repertoire of possibilities.

Just found it absolutely fascinating. You teach me how to bowl a flipper. I've never been able to get close to bowl. Yeah. You can bowl a flipper? I could. I wonder if I still can. Probably.

From the bottom of the hand. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's very rare. Yeah, it's tough. I mean, I'm sure my accuracy rate was disastrous. As I say, I mean, you can't be a point. can't be a part-time leg spinner any sense of the word. No, you've got a bowl

all the time. I suppose, I mean, do you play with a smile on your face, really? I mean, or a very competitive. Well, no, I mean, the games that we play with the sharps, you know, are fairly friendly games and, you know, I'm lucky if I catch the captain's eye these days anyway, you know,

I'll just, I'll just go and skulk in the outfield and see if anyone notices. That sounds great fun. Batting-wise, I mean, you've got one of the world's great bats, and it's pops in here, Rahul Dravid, Come on say hello. So nice to meet you, fantastic. Were you a wall like Rahul?

A bit of a shot player. I always had trouble scoring, right? No, that's not a good. In my youth, I could stay in, you know, I'd be, I used to open and be sort of, you know, seven not a out or something. Right. You know, at the inning. Well, Rahul would admire that sort of thing. That's a, that's a.

That's a whole day. Yeah, that's the whole hour in our case, yeah. Yeah, so, yeah, you know, I mean, I love, you know, the sort of the, the Lenn Hutton sort of approach to, yeah, opening, you know, really just... Isn't that amazing, because you think someone, a folk rock musician, you'd think you'd want the glamour, you'd want to be a David Gower or, you know, a Brian Lara or something? I'd love to be, but, you know, that takes a certain amount of flair,

a certain amount of skill, you know, and talent, you know, to be able to pull that stuff off. It does. It's beyond me, that's for sure. And living in L.A. now, I mean, how do you still manage to keep in touch with cricket? Well, thank you, test match, special. that's the main source really there's some bad sort of pirated feeds that you can get on your computer

where the quality is very bad so on the whole I'm relying on TMS there's a bit of local cricket goes on yeah you know the Compton Cricket Club absolutely yes who are a bunch of LA South Central Gang type of inner city kids

and someone I forget his name I had this idea Paul Smith from Orichshire is involved in it. And we had the lady on here a couple of years ago. It's a remarkable story, isn't it? It's fantastic. Yeah.

The basic idea was to start a cricket team in the worst part of South Central of Los Angeles as a way to get people out of the gangs here, you teach them cricket. And the idea is that this ennobles people. This gives people self-esteem, gives people respectful authority, gives you a sense of teamwork. And as far as it went, I mean, it didn't. didn't translate into 50,000 cricketers. But that particular team, I mean, it has worked for those people who were basically homeless at the time that the team started.

And it has been successful. It's been successful. And they've done, I think, four or five tours to the UK, that they just toured Australia, I think. And they're sort of ambassadors now for inner city cricket, which is, I think it's absolutely brilliant. How did that catch on in L.A. then, to Americans, and are you constantly having to try and explain cricket to Americans

and understand your love of it? Which is actually impossible. I think the only way. where you can explain cricket to Americans is to say that this is how it's different. You know, in cricket you hit 360 degrees, you know, in baseball you hit in a sort of an arc. And of course what Americans really don't like to hear is the fact that, you know, in 1880, say cricket was as popular as baseball in America. Indeed.

And the thing they really don't like to hear is the baseball is another English game. The first reference to baseball is in 1727, the first written reference in England. 27 in England. I don't know that. Okay, so we devised that as well. Yeah, and everything else. Ice hockey, English. It is, I mean...

I bet you're really popular over there, Richard. I bet they love you. Yeah. I go over very big at parties. I don't love it. Do you think cricket will catch on there? No. I don't think so.

I hope it doesn't destroy the truth. Because they'd want to destroy it. You know, they want to turn it into something that it isn't, you know, who said that it's a good. Crickets is an English game, cricket's an Indian game invented by the English, which is a great quote.

It's kind of wily, it's thoughtful, it's cerebral, as well as being physical and daring and all that sort of stuff as well. And I think Americans want to turn it into

something a bit more more asthmataz. Even 2020 couldn't because they're trying terribly hard. They see that as a real breakthrough market. That's what they're really

trying to get cricket established. It doesn't excite me at all. I'd rather they didn't to tell the truth. You know, why? Why bother, really? You know, there's American football, there's baseball, there's basketball, the big three, that you're never going to make inroads into those.

And there's ice hockey, which is the only half-decent American sport as far as I'm concerned. Hence my hat today. The Los Angeles Kings. The current Stanley Cup champions, thank you very much. Oh, they're forgotten. Yeah. Oh, you've forgotten that? Oh, okay.

But, you know, you have to do something about when it's not cricket season. So I go to the ice hockey. You've been coached soccer as well, don't you? I used to, yeah, yeah. That was hilarious, yeah. If you had an English accent, they said, oh, you'll be the coach, won't you? You know, for your kids, you know,

you're six-year-old, seven-year-old kids. And it was great, and I did it for maybe 10 years. It was absolutely great. The coach Charles Fultzenegger's son did, I think. I did at one point, yes, which was hilarious. We wouldn't want to tell him off, I don't think. He'd go and tell his dad. Well, his dad always turned up.

Oh, right. He's always on the touchline, you know, shouting in sort of... That would be quite intimidating, I think, isn't it? Yeah, he's not that big. I mean, he looks bigger on the screen. It's big enough to be. He wanted to send his son home early. Was he suddenly good?

He was good, yeah. He was a good player. I think his name was Wolfgang. And Arnold would sometimes turn up with, you know, two or three humvees, you know, with common pocket side of the pitch, which is, you know. It was always a show, you know, when he turned up. Do you like life over there? Do you like living there?

It's a good climate. But, I mean, you know, I split my time between England and Los Angeles. You know, Los Angeles is obviously for the culture, England, for the weather. Fair enough. Now, come on, let's go back with you, Hugh Cornwell, who I spoke to you. Yes. A couple of hours ago. Really?

Got rich. Oh, fantastic. And they were, I mean, isn't it a remarkable coincidence that you were at the same school? It is actually amazing, yeah. The fact that we both went on to be in totally different kinds of bands and actually lost touch with each other for possibly 40 years. And a few years ago we got back together and it was like no time had passed, which was fantastic.

But yeah, we had a school band called, well, the name changed every week. Those things were, you know, we'd have a weekly rehearsal and we'd rehearse for half an hour and then we'd spend the next five hours deciding what the name of the band was going to be. So every week is a different name. Very confusing. I think that's why we didn't establish a massive following. He said that he knew and you were really special when he was written about age 15. He popped around your house to go and see you.

And he said you were playing Charlie Christian solos. That's easy, isn't it? Well, apparently not at age of 15. Apparently it's ridiculously impossible. You've got the book. I think I had a Charlie Christian book of solos that you could follow. You could learn from the master, you know. Yes.

But I don't know. I went to say, in my class at school were two genius classical guitar players who went on to be professional so I just felt like third rate basically at school anyway extraordinary school it must have been it was pretty amazing yeah absolutely

but actually I suppose I'm guessing but therefore gave you well a bit of confidence about it when I was at school and anyone I wanted to be a musician they were sort of oh yeah okay anyway on with English classes everybody but actually if you have got a pedigree of producing musicians that are there I guess the school itself felt comfortable in promoting

another wannabe musician? Well, not really. You know, rock and roll was not a career choice in 1960, you know, 3, 4, 5, 6. So I go and talk to the careers master, you know, and to tell him I was interested in music and he sort of, well, yes, but what are you going to do for a job?

That's a wonderful hobby. I really like the idea of that. But, you know, accountancy or banking, which you fancy? But, yeah, so music was all, always something that you did because it was so much fun. It was just fabulous fun and you thought well at some point you know I'll have to go back to university or something you know but it was never a choice and for years I kind of looked over my shoulder thinking this is all going to end in a

minute. You see interviews with Beatles from 1964 and they're saying well you know in a couple of years time you know John and I'll start writing songs for other people you know because they could I couldn't see that it could go on for any length of time because it was pop music. You know, it was sort of fluffy, meaningless stuff. But then the Beatles and Bob Dylan never really changed that. And it became this thing where you could have a career. And, you know, the Rolling Stones is still getting up their age 70 and sort of strutting their stuff. What was that pivotal moment then in the 60s when folk music and you morphed it across to folk rock?

What sort of inspired that change? Was it Dylan? Did you just feel within you that it was at the airport convention? Yeah, I think Bob started it. You know, he went electric at Newport Folk Festival, and that changed everything. Then when he was playing in the realm of popular music, really, that's what happened. He shifted into the realm of popular music, so he was getting chart hits, you know, playing electric. Then that changed everything for popular music.

Then popular music could become intelligent. Poplar music could have adult lyrics. It could be writing about politics. It'd be writing about adult things. But before Dylan, none of that was possible. So that was a huge change. And then for us in the UK, in 67, 68, we're looking around thinking,

well, here's folk rock. We love this. We love the loving spoonful. We love Dylan. We love the birds. But we should be doing something that's more from our own culture. So we started looking at music,

traditional music from England, Ireland, Scotland. And then we started doing electric versions of that, music to give us more of an indigenous foundation to what we did. Why was the electric element unpopular in those days? I mean this is, okay, a bit before my times I don't really appreciate it.

Why was it, but not be unkindly so I don't really appreciate because I've only known electric elements in the music really that I've listened to. Why was it controversial? Why was it unpopular with the real, well the diehards, I suppose, those who just felt that electric should be. Yeah, I think, you know, up to

Dylan going electric, folk music in this country and in America was the place for political comment. Everybody in folk music was kind of, certainly a socialist. People like you and McColl were probably, you know, a car carrying communist actually. So socialism, communism went hand in hand with folk music. And it was this whole thing about, you know, hands across the sea, you know, the workers of the world. You know, we all seeing. one time a mirror and you can sing our song you know it's all this thing where we're this tremendous sharing

of world music because we're all workers you know united and so when Dylan stepped over into the other camp all that changed and people felt betrayed by that movement

and another factor in this country with the fact that you had people like you and McCull was very dogmatic about the way that you sang a traditional song here's how you do it has to have a certain dramatic quality

you know you know you would always sit a certain way he'd always sit backwards on a chair with his hand over his ear like this to deliver a song you know and so you had these sort of Ewan McColl impersonates you know would all turn up at Ewan's club

and they'd all kind of do the same thing and everybody would sort of follow the Ewan McCull School or the Burt Lloyd School of how you interpret songs so there's a lot of a kind of die-hard traditionalists who didn't want to see anything change.

They probably still are out there somewhere. But it took a while to break down that barrier. It really did. It's funny, isn't it? Because music of all things I thought has attracted so many different tastes. Yeah. You know, your type of music is not not necessarily, and Henry and so.

I mean, that's music, isn't it? And so everything should go. It's quite odd that there were also restrictions. I hope so, yeah. I would hope it's like that. But, you know, people, you know, They find the area and for some people it's kind of a security, you know, that they're invested in this thing. And they don't want to see it disrupted or dismantled. So they want to hang on to their little piece of what they think is the right direction or the real thing.

Yeah. And of course, writing is very much you as well. Talk with the process of that. I mean, do you just wake up one morning and have a cup of coffee and look at the, oh, it's half past eight. Right, I'm right, a song, did I mean, how does it, how do the mechanics of, of, actually writing a song start. I wish it was that easy. Oh, I'm sure it isn't.

But how on earth do you do it? What comes first? Words? Yeah, that's a good question. I think either can come first. Some people always work to a particular routine where they'll always start words first, always start music first. I really like to do either because it gives you so many more possibilities.

So I tend to write office hours. I tend to get up early. You know, early to try to be writing by 8 o'clock or something. something, what works at lunchtime, see how that's going, you know, carry on in the afternoon, and then sort of knock off early, you know. A creative day is maybe four, five, six hours at the most. And can you come up with nothing in the course of all that? It just doesn't work. No, I mean, you can spend months just, you know, stirring at the wall. I mean, really months without anything that you think is any good. You know, it's writer's block.

That's what it is, really. And having written so much, how do you come with it? There's a different melody or different because you've how many melodies have someone got in their head I wonder yeah you know it's finite

so you tend to do variations I think on on you know someone said steal from everybody except yourself which is a

very good advice so you can take somebody else's tune and just change it you can take you know something by Elgar

and sort of turn it back to front you know you can you can do anything you know Mozart used to roll dice you know Beethoven used to go up

on the roof and sort of count roof tiles, you know, just to get started. Well, once you're fine. Once it's flying, it's fine. But the starting point is always difficult and very hard to talk about as well. Very hard to talk about the creative process. So it's something I do to keep myself kind of flowing is to always have stuff unfinished. So I can start the day by saying, okay, I need one more verse for this song. I know what the tune is. I just have to write one more verse.

And so that gets me going. And then I can start on the next thing without really thinking about it. just flow into it. And having produced or written music for so many bands, soloists, I mean, really sort of wide spectrum. How does that process work as well? I mean, you're writing, I'm going to write this for Elvis Costello.

And is it down to write a song for him? I mean, I really sit down to write something specifically for other people. Sometimes I write with someone in my head. You know, I think someone like, you know, Martin Carthy will be great singing this song. And then I'll finish the song and I think, well, I'm not going to give it to Martin Carthy.

I want to keep it for myself. So that happens quite a lot where you're kind of envisaging someone else's style coming into a song But on the whole I kind of write for myself And if people find the song like the song Then they'll adapt it

Take me to Nashville Because that does sound good fun Nashville Not literally I mean What extraordinary festival though People's sitting and signing hours And you sort of get together

Is that something that you look forward to Well I suppose it's a nice sort of thing. I'm not sure why me, actually. I'm not sure if I belong there, but you go? Not all the time. I mean, I go sometimes, yeah. You know, it's like an award

ceremony. Sometimes I get an award. They haven't noticed I'm not American, I think, yeah. But isn't that the center these days of country music? Central country music. It's also it's become quite a livable city for a lot of musicians. Musicians tend to go where the rents are cheap.

and so that they moved out of Los Angeles a long time ago, most of them, and they moved to Austin and Nashville. And Nashville is becoming a considerable music center. There's a thing called Americana, which is this more alternative Nashville style of music, which isn't quite so commercialized. It harks back to more of the good old sort of 50s, 60s kind of country. So Hank Williams, Patsy Klein era, you know. For me, you know, country music kind of dies after about 1962.

too. But there's a big revival of that kind of American roots idea, you know. So, Nationalists now becoming a place where you hear gospel music and you hear black and white music and R&B and all kinds of stuff, you know. Yeah. At Cropriety, of course.

There's still a regular get-together of course. Involving cricket, too. On the Sunday after the festival, we always play the village of Cropriety. A pretty good team, actually. In the Oxfordshire League. and they could probably cream us if they really wanted to They're gentle with you

Even the 15 mile hour of wrist spin They're kindly We've got Rahul here Is that sort of a favourite guitar Or can you pick up any old guitar This is a brand This is a brand called Loudon And they're made in Northern Ireland

This is my stage one It's fairly beaten up actually I keep the nice ones at home But could you literally pick up any guitar I don't like to get that I love it You know that one Getting carried away now

I do, it's lovely But you see you happen You sat with your guitar on your lap All through that chat He didn't fiddle with it once I thought you'd be kind of You know This couldn't be able to help

But just sort of I was trying to be a gentleman You know the joke about The definition of a gentleman Is an accordion player Who owns an accordion but doesn't play I felt like in the same sort of area there No, that's good stuff

Now, where are you playing... You know, whatever you can, you know. Sometimes, you know, four or five hours a day, sometimes half an hour. How long since you've been thinking of this? Oh, ten. Yeah, yeah. Question by Raoul. I know.

We introduced, sort of introduced, Raoul Twengelbert, Humperdink in Nottinger. He was learning a bit of English cultural music, so we're taking him on, take you on generally. What is it that drives you on and keep doing it? Mortgage. Right, well, that's not a start. Most other things. Um, yeah, and I love it. I love to do it, you know. It's a, it's passion. I haven't changed my passion since I was, you know, 12 or something. So, yeah, it's great. Um, you mentioned this chap earlier on. This one here, I'm afraid. It was back to you the moment. Yeah. Jeffrey, put your, put your headset on here. And meet Richard Thompson. Uh, one of the great guitar. You should have been in here for the last, the last 40 minutes or so. Well, I knew the word of a row going on. You know, we played music. A row. How could you call that a row? anyhow. That's a blunt speaking of Yorkshireman for you. Is that the highest

calling for me is to be insulted by Geoffrey? It's actually, I hate to tell it, by his town, it's quite a compliment. Oh, it's correct. Okay. But there you go. So you watch this man back a few times. Oh, absolutely, yeah, yeah. I have your instructional video as well, which is... Yeah, very smart. Fantastic. Oh, absolutely. Smart thing to do, well, too. Yeah, if you could give some of the England bats, they might improve. Yeah, yeah. Well, trust Geoffrey to have the final word. Wasn't that a lovely chat?

Such wonderful musicianship as well. And if you enjoyed that interview, here's another musical treat, the rock legend Alice Cooper with me in 2012. But I don't know why they're called silly. They're not as silly as they look. Well, they are, because they're very close. And that'd be silly, you know.

But they're very close to being hit, you see. That's why they're silly. That is silly to be that close to the batter. Yes, that's what it is. Yeah. That's why it's cool. But it is very traditional. I mean, look, I mean, when do you old rock,

Stop being rockers? When do you have your hair? First of all, there's not one guy I know in rock and roll that doesn't want to play a professional sport. Almost every American... Someone else said that. It's true. It's true.

And almost all of these guys would rather be in a band. They all play an instrumental band. And one or two of them are in band. It's an amazing thing that when we meet a baseball player or a football player or basketball player, they all go, all they want to know about some music. Hey, I play bass, you know, and I play drums. And we're all going, well, what's it like to hit a

three-pointer or what's it like to you know the swing at a hundred mile an hour fastball yeah you know so i think most guys in bands played sports as kids and were usually pretty good yes yeah so it connects up yeah you're right about sports only cricketers and music they they are getting when graham swan he just seen bowling his spinners there he's in a band yeah i would believe that and i understand this guy peterson is a rocker he that's one word for is that a man did i say rockers Should I said another word? I think probably you stick with Rocker at the time. Look out for plenty more from our archives.

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