Well the utter shabby shame of it, not a blog posted in January. Sorry.
Still, while we were in the bunker we let various ambassadors of Bedlam rove abroad. Mr Paul Oakenfold, superstar DJ
http://www.pauloakenfold.com/splash), was kind enough to take the ensign to Buenos Aires where he is pictured below in the studio. When I used to host the VIP bar at Heaven, then the world's greatest nightclub by a mile, in London's Charing Cross, he would take a break from the dj balcony in the huge main room to be entertained by some of our guest artists in the jam session I "organised" (ha!) up there - some, such as Nile Rodgers, Andrew Roachford, acid jazz gang "Push", Salif Keita's band, the JBs (James Brown's crew) and a rolling cast of stars of the UK jazz scene (Ian Shaw, Steve Wellington, Philip Bent, Dylan Howe, Tony Remy, the brotherly rhythmic power-house of Pete and Steve Lewinson, plus a host of others) were a privilege to watch, others were so jaw-droppingly bad that it was also entertaining, but for wicked reasons. The lottery of what you'd be served was part of the fun.
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| Lord of the Rave, Oakie in the studio wearing his Bedlam motorcycle tee. Very rare, if not indeed unique shot of him mid-mix. |
Nile, meanwhile, was busy on tour in Europe with Seal, Alison Moyet, John Miles and these red-hot sizzling Divas below. We are making him a white double breasted suit to wear on stage at the moment, in the most dazzling of Super 100 wool with Japanese Goldfish Shell buttons (no need to write in, we know goldfish don't have shells but the lustre of these buttons is seen to replicate the scales of that most fortuitously propitious of fishes). That other aquatically referenced creature, singing superstar Seal, was clearly taken with Mr Rodgers' rig-out and wanted a snap for his style album:
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| Seal snapping Nile in HIS Bedlam motorcycle club tee flanked by the Divas |
Next to be enlisted into Bedlam's diplomatic corps was my old RADA class mate James Clyde who, having finished his run in the Young Vic's much lauded production of Hamlet with Michael Sheen, popped in to the store for a wardrobe change. He is currently in South Africa for three months filming for the BBC.
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| Actor James Clyde |
Last of the Jazz Age babies, my papa achieved his 83rd birthday in January (born 1929). Here he is, with medals and monocle, wearing his Earl of Bedlam dinner waistcoat, about to set off to the annual dinner of the Worshipful Company of Tobacco Pipe Makers and Tobacco Blenders of which he is an honorary member:
A few years behind him is Harry Letts, who celebrated his first decade. Our commercial print division, Ocean Colour Screen, created a barcode of his name for his birthday t-shirt. If the present Great Depression means his parents can't afford to keep him, they can now scan their first-born at the supermarket check-out to get a fair and current value.
You may recall a few months back the visit from outer space by a gentleman not visibly feeling the pinch who bought con brio from Bedlam. Here we are in his Mayfair office fitting some trousers in between discussing a forthcoming feature in one of his magazines. Phil roves the world in search of the finest money can buy. Mr Wesley is seen here in our "Signor Zoot" suit with new longer length jacket and tortoise shell buttons (unlike goldfish, tortoises do have shells, and I don't know they were too happy about it but we can make them little domed back suits to keep them warm) (we have some practise in this as my daddy's waistcoat, see above, had to allow for a little bump on his back).
Right, that's it for now as another blog, just like a London bus, is hot on the bumper of this one.
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| Our favourite publishing mogul has a fitting for his trousers |
