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October 10th 2002 was the thirtieth anniversary of 'Mouldy Old Dough' reaching number one in the hit parade!  The day was marked with two radio interviews by the boys. Rob was star guest on the BBC North's John Harle show and Nigel travelled to Saga Radio where Pete Johnson featured him on his afternoon chat show. It was fitting that the anniversary didn't go unnoticed but sad in a way that they had to turn down invites from other radio stations on the same day. Still, they couldn't be in more than one place at a time!

November 30th was Rob's birthday. It was also the day of the recording of the BBC TV programme 'It's the Number One Party' (due to be broadcast on New Years Day).

Rob and Nigel were invited along together with many other former number one acts. The show was recorded at the BBC TV Centre in Shepherds Bush and was a celebration of 50 years of the pop charts. Many top acts performed their No.1 hits and the audience was made up entirely of singers and bands who had topped the charts. As well as seeing a lot of old friends the boys took advantage of the opportunity to make some new acquaintances. The lads had a long chat with Adam Faith who's first number one was in the charts when they were still at school! Apparently Adam Faith is every bit as down to earth and unaffected by the business as they'd imagined.

Rob was also thrilled to meet Frank Sinatra's daughter Nancy who he's always admired. If the photos they had taken with some of these stars turn out I'll feature them in my first newsletter of the new year.

The boys were also reunited with group members from Slade, The Specials, Scaffold, The Tornados, The Bachelors, Edison Lighthouse, plus countless others. Nigel, an avid soccer fan, was pleased to have been seated next to Peter Osgood the former Chelsea and England centre forward. He was there to represent the England Football Team who had a number one in 1970 with 'Back Home'.

The show was hosted by Dale Winton who was in top form 'camping it up' and being 'outrageous' (Nigel's words not mine) whenever the cameras weren't rolling.

The only sad thing for the boys was that they belonged to the 25% of the audience of the slightly 'older' ilk. Nigel said he didn't know hardly any of the acts there who's success had come from the mid eighties onwards, a situation well illustrated by the fact that he had no idea that the young man he was being introduced to was Gareth Gates. "Who's he?" was Nigel's reaction!

Unlimited free drinks at the party after the show meant that both Rob and Nigel were well hung over the next day!

Rob and Nigel would like to join me in wishing you all a very Merry Christmas 2002 and a prosperous Happy New Year.

 Bill

PS.  As promised, here are a few pictures taken at the party after the show on November 30th. How many do you recognise?

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Recent publicity for the Foretrak train sounds CDs in the railway press has resulted in a bizarre mixing of sales demand. Many railway enthusiasts are now ordering the Lieutenant Pigeon book and CDs. What some of them will make of the 35 minute single goodness only knows!
 

On the subject of Opus 400, recent PRS returns are showing that someone somewhere has been broadcasting parts of it. Great!

So far sales have surpassed initial expectations but the lad's fears that it would be 'discovered' all at once, have a sudden fling, then quickly fade like a damp squib, thankfully have not come to fruition.

Nigel recently told me that he hoped the steady trickle of sales would continue for at least ten years without ever becoming a 'fast flow'.

"That way", he said," the record gets a much longer lease of life. Records which come and go with a bang are seldom remembered".

About a dozen of you have now e.mailed me with the correct solution of what Opus 400 is all about, but about a hundred have got it wrong! Listen to the whole thing in a relaxed state of mind and the answer will become obvious.

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June 2002 issue

Many thanks to the four of you who revealed the current whereabouts of Steve Tayton. In April Nigel went to see him and discovered he's alive and well and living in Arley. Not for much longer however as he plans to move to France with his wife now that the kids have 'flown the nest'.

Don Ker has been appearing with Rob on some of his rock'n roll gigs. Apparently he's as good as ever!

We've compiled a collection of Lieutenant Pigeon and Stavely Makepeace radio and TV interviews going back to the early 1970's. Anyone interested in hearing them?    

Should sufficient interest be shown we'll work out a price for cassette copies (or perhaps even in a digital format). Please e.mail us with your comments.

The first Stavely Makepeace record since 1983!

Although written some 30 years ago, the boys have only just got round to recording a master version of their song "Sitting on top of the world". Again, if sufficient interest is shown, we'll consider ways of marketing it.

Lastly that well known sports writer of London Evening Standard fame, Adrian Curtis, has uncovered something which has surprised us all. After 30 years he's noticed that "GENUINE POTENTIAL" is an anagram of Lieutenant Pigeon. Now how did we miss that!!

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2002 is already well under way so I thought it was time to update the newsletter once again. After the excellent review of Opus 400 in January's RECORD COLLECTOR magazine, sales of the 35 minute single have rocketed. So much so in fact that we are currently out of stock. However, by the time this newsletter is published we hope to have received our second run of CDs. Incidentally, we have been told that the Roman for 400 is CD!  See Sales page

Other news is sparse so far this year. Rob continues to travel round the country with his one man rock 'n roll act and Nigel continues to work with me, Bill Boswell, on our series of various railway publications. The boys did get together in January to put together a backing track for a possible new Stavely Makepeace single. Should enough interest be shown they will complete this and have it out by the summer. It's a song they wrote together 30 years ago and is entitled "Sitting on top of the World".

I'll keep you updated on any progress.

They are also currently recording up and coming star MARINA BERRY, who already has a strong foothold in the business in the home counties and the south east.

More news soon!   Bill Boswell.

2001 saw Rob and Nigel back in the studio recording for the first time for nearly a decade when they devoted nearly nine months to the production of OPUS 400, a 35 minute long Lieutenant Pigeon CD single depicting many of their musical whims which had lay dormant for such a long time. The record has been selling steadily since then and several people have sussed out what it was all about. (Many more have got the answer wrong however!)

Details of how to obtain the CD can be found on the sales page.

The two retro CDs of the band Lieutenant Pigeon, 'Mouldy Old Dough' and 'The Best of Lieutenant Pigeon' were also available at this time and both could be obtained via www.amazon.co.uk  in fact both are still available today.

The Lieutenant Pigeon autobiography "When Show Business Is No Business" was another product out of the stable at this time. It too can be bought through our distributor, details of which are on the sales page.

The saddest news for the boys since the death of Rob's mum Hilda back in 1999, was the news that TV producer Muriel Young died in 2001. It was Muriel who helped more than anyone to launch the careers of the two bands. Back in 1970 she first booked Stavely Makepeace to appear in one of her TV shows. She subsequently featured both Stavely and Lt Pigeon in many of her TV productions right throughout the 1970s.

Talking of Stavely Makepeace, 2001 also saw the first group member reach the magic 6-0!  On October 3rd Don Ker celebrated his sixtieth birthday. Hard to believe that such a young looking Don is only five years away from his pension book!!

The original 2001 issues can still be accessed here.