Well.
It's been a while since that lastentry. I've been an over-occupied rabbit.
Last Friday saw me filming some of my songs for a new ITV sketch show, 'Comedy Cuts', which airs in the new year.
It's being produced and directed by a couple of friends of mine (yes, nepotism in TV is rife, but I'm not proud: I'll take as many helping hands as people feel like thrusting at me) Ro and Matt.
I think they'd done most of the filming when they realised that they'd like a bit more musical content, and they had some budget to play with, so they dressed me up in a leary Hawaiian shirt, shorts, sandals and a straw hat, and stuffed me into a hammock in various unlikely locations around Central London.
My personal highlight was filming 'Why do people think I'm gay?' on the deck of HMS Belfast. Apparently one of the tourists leant over to one of the sailors during the filming and said 'What's going on then? Are they filming anyone famous?'
'Nah. Just some gay bloke' came the reply.
Best of all though, was walking back up the gangway on the way to the car, and hearing the burly seaman whistling my camp tune as he swabbed the deck.
More incongruous than the locations though, was the weather. With temperatures of less than ten degrees, and sporadic drizzle, my flimsy costume left me shivering all day, despite the crew's diligent efforts to keep my core temperature up with coats and cups of tea. I froze me proverbials off.
Where better then, to spend the weekend, than a cold disused church in Tring.
The other members of
Belcanto had got there at lunchtime on Friday, set up all the gear, and recorded 2 tracks by the time I got there on Friday evening.
The church was absolutely gorgeous - properly rural, slightly crumbling, and with great acoustics.
The tracks sound absolutely fantastic (Tim, the engineer, has worked with loads of major recording artists, including Prince, or whatever hieroglyphic he now goes by).
It was therefore no small compliment when he said how professional we sounded. He was particularly impressed with the wife's sultry vocal tone and impeccable intonation (so was I, to be perfectly honest), and suggested that she had a future as a pro.
I hope she takes his advice to heart. I know that nothing would make her happier.
The album (provisionally titled 'Broken Glass' after three of our cars got broken into during the recording!) should be ready early in the new year. Watch this space for more details.
