The Trouble With Stardom

2016 has been a memorable year for all sorts of reasons.
Personally, ever the nonconformist, I've had a great year, just like 2015 before it, and plans are in place to keep forging ahead in 2017. So ambitious it makes you sick.

As we head towards the beginning of yet another journey round the sun this January 1st I am minded to think of just how many well known faces have taken their last curtain call in the preceding twelvemonth. This is quite possibly the single most hot topic de nos jours; social media is littered with asinine comments along the lines of "2016, go and do one". As surely as the route of the orbit is predetermined we know that it will be the beginning of the last go round for a great many more; some household names, others known only to their immediate family and circle of friends. Whichever category you fall into you might consider resolving to make 2017 a year of achievement. It doesn't matter what, and indeed you may not yet know what it is you seek to achieve, but keep your eyes and ears open as much as you can and before too long your goal will make itself known. This seemingly uncommonly high celebrity death rate should serve as a salutory reminder to all of us to stop putting things off, be a 'doer' not a 'talker', and if you are harbouring unfulfilled ambitions try to do one small thing every day to take even the tiniest step towards achieving your goals. Make a list. Keep a diary. Chart your progress. It's easy.

Another strategy I began to deploy far later in life than I should have is to take as much responsibility as is reasonably possible for what is going on in your world. Obviously precious things like good health and prosperity can not be absolutely controlled, but there are a great many areas in which we can take charge a little more. Now and then I will get the occasional student who has every excuse in the book why they haven't  advanced as players or in the industry: not enough time, nowhere to practice, not enough money, not living in the right area, not knowing the right people and so on. Believe you me I've heard them all and more besides.

As the years have passed I have slowly realised that we have more control over our destinity than we would perhaps like to admit to. The easy cop-out is to blame circumstances and other people, rather than actually grasping the nettle (not always easy) to make changes. We live in a peaceful nation which offers both huge opportunity and a safety net if you're unlucky enough to suffer misfortune. Here in the UK the sky really is the limit, arguably more so than anywhere else in the world. That's worth bearing in mind. If you can make it here you can make it anywhere, to paraphrase Mr Sinatra. I'll come back to him later.

The days when a self-selecting elite had supreme control in all sorts of areas of society may finally be heading towards the dustbin of history where they belong. All my professional life I have been a busy, working musician and I managed to establish myself without the advantages of family wealth or nepotism. After a delayed, slow and haphazard start (another story altogether) I managed to make some reasonable headway in the industry and by my mid 30s was busy as well as having a successful band which had forged a decent reputation on the UK jazz scene.

Then everything changed. I started to harness the opportunities provided by the internet explosion. It didn’t happen overnight, it was very definitely a few small steps in the first instance. Some videos that had been captured a few years previously found their way on to Youtube and I started to connect with new people in the UK and further afield.

The launch of the lamented Drummer magazine  (another loss in the past year) presented me with the opportunity of a feature interview as I was doing a project that was deemed 'trendy' at the time. Further web surfing alerted me to the existence of the UK National Drum Fair; a visit to which reunited me with my old friend Ian Palmer, who asked me to participate in a spectacular concert the following September. The same day Jason Keyte confirmed an offer for my big band to appear in concert in East Anglia the following April. On that occasion another old friend Jack Parnell was in the audience, and a recommendation from Jack led to a most fruitful business relationship with Derek Boulton who set me up with a tour headlining theatres across the UK.

All this because I bought my first computer aged 38.
The road to world domination started with a dial up modem.

You may not be seeking worldwide fame and wealth although I hope some of you are, (one friend is determined to win an academy award; talk about aiming high!) If you are then please don't be misled by reality TV; the deal is that you have to be able to do something, ideally to an extremly high  standard. Otherwise, when you have the mansions, the cars and enough bling to sink a ship, if the money won't stop rolling in what on earth are you going to do now that all your goals have been achieved?

This is what is so great about being a player. No matter how far you advance in the industry there's always something left to achieve. Every day someone else is coming up with the latest new idea (as you should be too!) and the possibilities continue to grow exponentially. Quite a while ago I realised that this is what truly motivates me, and having risen to a position in the industry where I am able to share this knowledge with fellow players the world over is truly the most delicious payback for a fair amount of hard work invested up front with no guarantee of a return.

To put it another way there's no such thing as 'good enough'. You try your best on any given day and hope to improve upon it next time around. Truly we are only as good as our last performance, although in the interests of positivity I prefer to be as good as my next performance.

The recent sad passing of George Michael, amongst the latest in an uncommonly large number of well known faces to have passed during the course of this year, actually got me thinking whether international superstardom is all it's cracked up to be. I neither met him nor worked with him though a great many acquaintances did so. He wrote a significant number of iconic pop songs which I neither especially like nor dislike. During my 'professional apprenticship' in the mid to late 80s these songs were much covered in the line of work and many of them will be forever associated with holiday camps, cruise ships, and provincial pantomimes, and playing them was never objectionable.

Since Michael's untimely passing much has been made of his deeply admirable clandestine generosity and philanthropy by stealth. Without doubt there are many more revelations still to come and it is deeply to his credit that all of this giving was done from behind a veil of secrecy. Contrast that with the self regarding alignment to fashionable causes displayed by international irritants such as Bono and Geldof with tiresome regularity. Their conceit in the supremacy of their own opinions and the regularity of same makes me think of the wonderful and sincerely missed AA Gill's description of a well-known Britsh actress as a 'three flush floater'. The 'luvvies' as the popular press delight in dubbing them, do love to hand down virtuous commandments from the ratified and gilded  seclusion of the hills of Primrose and Notting. Sometimes I can't help wishing they would use their influence in a more positive way, perhaps away from the glare of publicity. Either that or just stick to acting. Yes, you Benedict. Your opinions are of no greater worth than a cab driver. Probably a whole lot less come to think of it. Don’t do good in order merely to look good, or worse, make a pitch to join Vicky B on the honours list.

Fame is one of those qualities like expertise; it’s almost invariably bestowed upon us by others rather than self proclaimed (unless you can afford a great publicist). Working overseas recently brought an interesting insight.
"Let me introduce a famous drummer", said the CEO of an internationally renowned musical instrument company in a hotel bar a few months ago. I was amused and flattered but at the same time intrigued  by how some of the people present behaved differently when they thought I was some sort of a 'big deal'; the same people I had passed by every day for a week in the lobby or the taxi line without raising an eyebrow were suddenly hanging on my every word. Funny thing, perception.

The obituary columns of the media have been littered over the years with obsequies for those who have risen to the top only to find themselves unable to deal with the consequences of stardom. I hesitate to refer to these consequences as pressures as there are many who take worldwide acclaim in their stride, but fame is one of those things in life for which nothing can prepare you. Writing songs or practicing your instrument in your bedroom will help you hone your craft but there is no training course that can prepare you for suddenly being of interest to complete strangers.

If you haven't already done so I suggest you read the open letter to George Michael written by the then 74 year old Frank Sinatra. Sinatra's words are witty, insightful and kind but the subtext is ineluctably clear throughout and it is simply the old adage,

"Be careful what you wish for".
It's also worth adding that if you wish for it, don’t pretend it happened by accident. One acquaintance who has achieved a little notoriety in his chosen field is a frequent social media bore claiming that the recognition he has received is some sort of happy accident, which as anyone who knows him even slightly knows is complete nonsense. He's been planning this for years. The only people who achieve fame completely by accident are almost invariably the victims of something terrible.

Similarly another very talented friend had a brush with success in the afterglow of somebody else's limelight. When the limelight faded my friend was left with a sense of entitlement which manifested in all sorts of ways from professional gamesmanship to talking loudly on aeroplanes. Everybody thought he was a great guy, I saw past the facade.

If you are feeling ambitious about what 2017 holds for you, and I hope you are, don't let your ambition be a source of embarrassment. And when you finally hit one of your targets perhaps you might do us a favour and go easy on the 'humbled and grateful'. You're talented, you worked hard and you reached your goal, but don't forget that although the drinks may be free at Club Tropicana sometimes there's a price to be paid elsewhere. Make sure you are ready. It might be your year.