Skid Row

Most of us have a claim to fame. Mine is that I was responsible for one of Gary Moore's first ever concerts in England.

In 1970, I was in charge of booking a band for our school dance. As luck would have it, the son of the deputy head was a booker in London and this led to a phone call at home.

It was Clifford Davis who managed Fleetwood Mac. He told me he was bringing a band over from Ireland called Skid Row and wanted them to do a few warm up gigs. He said we only need pay £50.

On a thursday evening, the band went out on Radio One as part of the "In Concert" series. Two days later the Rochester Mathematical School watched Skid Row and a guitarist called Gary Moore who was younger than most of the sixth form who made up the audience.

He was rather good.