大象传媒

by Bob Stanley of

One of the most requested acts on Sounds Of The Sixties is .

Liverpool's biggest star of the pre-Beatles era was a regular visitor to Saturday Club, and I ask Brian Matthew if he remembers meeting him. "Yes, a great many times, and I remember introducing him on Thank Your Lucky Stars on television as well."

I wonder if Billy was particularly shy - his Live At The 大象传媒 set, released in 2006, is the only one of its kind I can think of without any interviews.

"Yes I think he was, extremely. He wasn't the ace chatter for interview purposes. But he was always ready and willing, and a really nice guy, as well as being a damn good singer.

"There was one instance where we recorded Thank Your Lucky Stars near Birmingham on a Sunday. On one occasion Billy was performing on a staircase. He started his number at the top of the staircase, and then I would have to go up the stairs, and have a few words with Billy at the end of his song. Some beastly chap in the television team thought for a joke they would unscrew the banister at the back of the balcony where Billy was standing. So when old Brian leans on it, he'll fall off! Which I did. I mean, I didn't know about this. They didn't warn me and I crashed down, and landed on a mattress about 12 or 15 feet lower down... under which they'd put stage weights. I mean, they could have killed me. I could have killed them when I found out.

"What a dreadful thing to do. It was nothing to do with Billy; he didn't know all this was going on. But he was always very friendly. A good guy, I liked him."