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The TV show in East Berlin, is one
of the rare TV appearances I’ve made with Shaky.
Every time Shaky was on television (in the UK) performing
a song that we had sung on, we would get paid a fee, but
that’s not the same as performing with him. Mind
you, I did have a break from touring for some time, which
is probably the main reason for the lack of tv. Anthony,
has several TV and video appearances to his credit, all
in the period I was not touring. I do remember however,
getting up at the crack of dawn a few years
ago (actually December 12th, 1991), to sing ‘live’
on TV AM, with Shaky. I’m reliably informed that the
song we performed was . “I’ll Be Home This
Christmas”. There were another couple of TV’s
that I did, both were Xmas shows where we did ‘Merry
Xmas Everyone’. One was at one of the Wharfs in
Docklands and the other was at The Design Centre in
London. I can’t think of any other shows I did with
him.
Anthony and I have played golf with Shaky at
Wentworth, 2 or 3 times, which was always great fun. A
few years ago, the three of us, took on the boss of Epic
records (Paul Russell, who I used to work with, many
years ago, in the days when I had a sensible job, albeit
for 18 months), and a couple of other ‘CBS
Executives’ at St. Pierre Golf Club in Chepstow.
We beat them!!
Shaky and I also played at the United Arab Emirates Golf
Club in Dubai, while we were over there for some shows.
Shaky was invited by Cliff Richard, to play in his Xmas
Celebrity Tennis Tournament at The Brighton Centre on
December 21st 1985, along with Hank Marvin, Mike Read,
Annabel Croft and others. I fixed him up with a bit of
pre-tournament coaching from a pro-tennis player, who’s
a friend of mine, the New Zealander, Onny Parun. After
the match, all concerned, plus me John and Stu,
entertained the crowd with-------- Xmas Carols!!!! Shaky
has always had very loyal fans, from all over
Europe and Scandinavia, and the UK, who’ve stayed
with him from the start, and of course, he’s picked
up new fans along the way. He’s still looking to
make more ‘Hits’, and is always looking
for new songs to record. In fact, shortly after the
‘99 tour, we went into ‘Eden Studios’,
Chiswick, and recorded 3 of the best received songs on
the tour. Stuart Colman (who many people will remember,
had been responsible for many of Shaky’s early hits)
was back as producer. So I’m sure there’s
more to come from him. If you listen to some of the
‘country artists’ from Nashville, then you’ll
probably hear the sort of sounds that Shaky was using
back at the start of his career. He’s
had the sort of success, that very few artists will ever
match. We’ve had fun helping him!
Photographs © copyright Tony Rivers
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TV AM (8.50a.m.!!)
Noel D’Abo, Shaky, John Wallis (boss of the Sheraton Hotel, Dubai)
and me, after our game, on one of the worlds’ best golf courses
My wife Pat, Me, Shaky and Stu Calver at Cliff’s
‘Celebrity Tennis’ Brighton, 1985.
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