Hey little sister, what have you done?

The Bromley Contingent

Jane Cheese, Billy Idol's sister (pictured second left), was the inspiration behind the monster solo hit it gave her lip curling brother back in nineteen eighty something or other. Jane's Twitter account makes me laugh: 'Not much to say, but I'm Billy Idol's sister.'

And Mr. Idol himself was the inspiration for this most inspiring of cover versions. I love it.

Martin Heaton

I feel honoured that Martin Heaton, award winning songwriter and stalwart of the local acoustic scene, is in the same Songwriters Circle as me. But whereas I may come up with a new song once in a blue moon, Martin, I'm convinced, writes songs in his sleep - such is his amassed output of blinding new material.

So, Martin, what music was in your house when you were growing up?

My dad played the piano a little - mainly Methodist hymns and, although he couldn't sing, he liked to listen to Paul Robeson 78s on the wind up gramophone. Mother was a very good singer and sang all day, every day - mainly traditional Scottish folk songs: my first memories are of me on her knee on the hearth by the fire waiting for the bread to rise as she sang The Skye Boat Song.

What was the first single you bought with your own money?

It had to be and was Bob Dylan's Blowin' in the Wind.

Can you remember your first gig?

At the age of thirteen or fourteen I was going to school youth clubs and every now and then they'd have a dance night: on these occasions one or two likely lads would be allowed to perform. I can remember singing Colours by Donovan - but I didn't get paid! That would come later when I'd sing with Joy, my older sister, at the local folk club.

Nail your colours to the mast - Rock & Roll, or Folk?

I'm a big fan of people like Chuck Berry, Bruce Springsteen, Richard Thompson, so, I guess I'll have to say Folk Rock.

How old would you have been when you first picked up a guitar?

About thirteen and it belonged to my sister's boyfriend. She loved folk music and always had a good guitar player on her arm. In fact, one of them took time out to show me a few chords and even sold me one of his old guitars: it was a 1957 Sovereign which I paid £3 for and still own to this day.

You write from the heart - is there a piece of you in all your songs?

I think a lot of my songs are about personal experiences. Although I try and avoid this, a lot of things that have happened in my life seem to have been quite significant in one way or another: that's when the autobiographical thing creeps in. I am, by nature, a very truthful and honest person, so to write or sing anything other than that would be wrong. So, yes, most of them have me in there somewhere.

What sort of venues do you prefer playing?

A cosy cellar bar with candles on the tables is ideal for me - you get instant feedback from the audience and they're good fun to play. But you can't beat the pure sweat and excitement of a 200+ venue or outdoor festival when you're opening for a big name. More CD sales, too!

Beatles or Stones?

I've never liked The Beatles* - I was brought up on Bob Dylan, Pete Seger and Joan Baez. But the Stones always figured large in my life. More exciting, more rebellious.

Saturday night record?

My Girl by Otis Redding.

Sunday morning record?

Richard Thompson's Tear Stained Letter. The eight minute live version.

Ketchup or Brown Sauce?

Marmite.

Do you share your bag of sweets on a long train journey?

No!

*A big thank you to Martin for taking the time. However, his bold faced admission that he never has and never will like The Beatles meant that this blog post very nearly ended up in the waste paper basket!

'Tonight's the night when I go to all the parties down my street'

A number of years ago I was trying to fix up an interview with the reclusive Joe Jackson. A few email exchanges with his management company in Germany was as near as I got and, ultimately, I was told the media shy Jackson was 'unavailable at this present time'.

I remember being a pit hacked off but, hey, his loss. One of the questions I had in my little black book for him went something like this: 'Do you still go to all the parties down your street, or are you more of a tea pot and telly man these days?'

Joe, if you're reading this...

It's all good

If I had to take an educated guess, a wild stab in the dark if you will, it's probably safe to say that a fairly high percentage of my readership is familiar with Breaking Bad. That being the case, I'm also assuming (a dangerous word, I know), that the majority of that demographic will also be acquainted with its delicious spin-off series Better Call Saul.

I won't spoil it for anyone who hasn't yet found Season 1 over on Netflix, other than to say it's every bit as good as its theme tune played by Nottingham band Little Barrie. Season 2 is promised for 2016. Man, that's gonna drag.

Falling in love again

Everybody fell in love with Clare Grogan in the eighties. And I was no exception. How could you not? She was a film star (Gregory's Girl), a pop star (Altered Images), even a TV star (who can forget Kochanski in Red Dwarf? She and Lister were like Bacall and Bogart in space. Sort of). In short, she was gorgeous.

When you count how many records she sold with Altered Images you soon run out of zeros on your calculator. And yet, when you ask her how much money she saw from her none too shabby pop career, it's a sum not far off the square root of fuck all. Now that the dust has finally settled on that part of her life (it took some of the best legal brains in the land nigh on twenty years to divvy up the spoils) Grogan netted a grand sum of two bob and a conker. And she's not bothered.

I'd love to say she told me this over a cup of coffee in her local Starbucks in Crouch End but, alas, it was just one of the nuggets that came out of her splendid interview with Mark Ellen and David Hepworth on the latest Word in Your Ear podcast. That and opening for Siouxsie & The Banshees on their 1980 tour at the tender age of seventeen.

And when she spoke so movingly and so passionately about her young daughter and the whole adoption process, I fell in love with her all over again.