The Way I Heard It with Mike Rowe - 102: The Manchester Cowboy

Episode Date: May 15, 2018

This famous aspiring jockey just wanted to hear the roar of the crowd - but this was not the crowd he was expecting.

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This is the way I heard it. David's daydreams weren't so different from the daydreams of any other aspiring jockey. He dreamed of speed. He dreamed of winning. He dreamed of rounding the clubhouse turn as a sold-out crowd leapt to its feet and roared with unbridled enthusiasm. But on February 9th, 1964, as David stood in the wings of the Ed Sullivan Theater, the handsome 19-year-old finally realized that old Basil might have been right all of

along. He recalled their first exchange four years earlier. Good day, Mr. Foster. My name is David, and I'm going to be the best jockey you ever trained. Put me on a horse, and I'll show you what I can do. Basil Foster considered the skinny kid standing before him and handed him a shovel. Show me what you can do with this, said Basil. My stalls are filled with horse crap that won't pick itself up. After a few weeks of daily shoveling, David was allowed to groom the horses. Then he was allowed to feed the horses and lead them around the paddock after their workout. David was anxious to ride, but never complained. He showed up early, stayed late, and patiently completed every job that Basil assigned him.

And on the day, he was finally allowed to ride one of Basil's treasured thoroughbreds. David's natural talents became undeniable. Good Lord, son. Where'd you learn to ride like that? Back home, Mr. Foster, they called me the Manchester Cowboy. Under Basil's watchful eye, David's skill on the back of a horse soon eclipsed that of many professional jockeys with years of experience. There was just one problem. One day, while shoveling the endless piles of horse crap into the endless parade of wheelbarrows, Basil heard David singing. Good Lord, boy, where did you learn to sing like that?

David had jumped a foot in the air and whirled around. Sorry, Mr. Foster. I didn't know you were standing there. Don't apologize, son. Keep on singing. You got real talent. From that day forward, Basil insisted that David sing whenever he was mucking out the stalls, or feeding his horses, or riding his horses, because now Basil was a believer. He knew that David's daydreams would eventually become a reality. He could see the sold-out crowds leaping to their feet, roaring with unbridled enthusiasm.

One day, in a pub in London's West End, Basil overheard a producer talking about a new musical he was in the midst of casting. When the producer described the role he was struggling to fill, Basil didn't hesitate. Stop casting, he said. I've got your boy. Trust me. Back at the stables, David was mortified. A play? I don't want to be in a play, Mr. Foster. I want to race horses. But Basil was relentless. He handed the boy a train ticket to London and said,

This isn't a negotiation, David. Audition for this play. Come back when you're famous. The horses will still be here. So David went to London and auditioned for the play. And, just as Basil predicted, David got the part of the artful Dodger in a musical called Oliver. Oliver, of course, went on to become a smash hit on the London stage,

then a smash hit on Broadway. David was nominated for a Tony Award and eventually invited onto the Ed Sullivan Show to sing his signature song, I Do Anything, in front of an audience of 73 million people. In fact, you can watch his performance right now on YouTube. But if you do, remember, those 73 million viewers didn't tune in to see an aspiring jockey

sing a Broadway show tune. They tuned in to see the act that followed David's performance, the four lads from Liverpool, who on that very same evening made television history. That's what David saw as he stood in the wings of the Ed Sullivan Theater, February 9, 1964, John, Paul, George, and Ringo telling America, I want to hold your hand. But of course, that's not what convinced him to forego his dream of racing horses. No, that only happened when David looked out into the audience and saw a frenzied throng of hysterical and rapturous women come completely and totally unglued. That's the moment when David realized, old Basil might be on to something. Ultimately, David never lost his love of horses, even when he became a teenage heart thrott.

even when his face appeared on the covers of a hundred magazines, even when his popularity temporarily eclipsed that of John Lennon and Paul McCartney. Fact is, the Manchester Cowboy never stopped daydreaming about rounding the clubhouse turn. But thanks to his mentor, a daydream believer named Basil Foster, the aspiring jockey named Davy Jones would send the crowds leaping to their feet, and roaring with unbridled enthusiasm, not from the back of a horse, but from the front of a stage in a little band called the monkeys.

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