On Miss World (BBC 1) Patrick Lichfield and Sacha Distel helped herd the beef. Even further down-market, The Royal Variety Performance (BBC 1) was hosted by Max Bygraves, who tried the time-honoured gimmick of singing the finale at the start. 'And if you doan like our finish / You doan have to stay for the show.' Thanks. Click.
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'The Truly Strong Man'Clive James
The government has failed us; you can’t deny that. Anytime you live in the twentieth century, 1964, and you’re walking around here singing “We Shall Overcome,” the government has failed us. This is part of what’s wrong with you -- you do too much singing. Today it’s time to stop singing and start swinging. You can’t sing up on freedom, but you can swing up on some freedom. Cassius Clay can sing, but singing didn’t help him to become the heavyweight champion of the world; swinging helped him become the heavyweight champion.
Malcolm (Malcolm Little) X
The government has failed us; you can’t deny that. Anytime you live in the twentieth century, 1964, and you’re walking around here singing “We Shall Overcome,” the government has failed us. This is part of what’s wrong with you -- you do too much singing. Today it’s time to stop singing and start swinging. You can’t sing up on freedom, but you can swing up on some freedom. Cassius Clay can sing, but singing didn’t help him to become the heavyweight champion of the world; swinging helped him become the heavyweight champion.
Malcolm X
"It filled me with dread – she had a reputation for being difficult. She had been headlining on the Royal Command performance the night before we were due to start. She arrived and swept through reception looking like thunder and disappeared into the studio. I thought, ‘I’m the first here, I’d better go in and introduce myself’. I walked in and I said: ‘Morning Miss Bassey, my name is Martin Rushent and I’m going to be your new engineer and co-producer’. She threw a mic stand at me. She told me to get out. She apologised afterwards, I hasten to add"
Martin Rushent
She has a weird energy about her as a woman. We were in this town to do a show and she spread such positive vibes. There were birds singing and rainbows – we could even see a tornado going on! We could actually see it!” Maya exclaims. “I think that every artist has an aura and persona that develops and Bjork spreads such a positive energy. You can just feel it.” She recounts the part of the show where the Icelandic princess allowed her to get involved in the finale, clearly ecstatic at the trust the legendary songstress placed in her to play her instruments. “Now I wouldn’t even let myself play instruments!” she laughs. “But it was so good that she wasn’t afraid of me messing her show up. I suppose its something that you learn when you get older.”
Bjork Guomundsdottir
Anyone who is in love is making love the whole time, even when they're not. When two bodies meet, it is just the cup overflowing. They can stay together for hours, even days. They begin the dance one day and finish it the next, or — such is the pleasure they experience — they may never finish it. No eleven minutes for them.
Paulo Coelho
James, Clive
James, Donald
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