Pet Texts

If anyone is wondering why Chris is playing keyboards standing in a tent, it’s to keep any rain off his keyboard rig. There is no roof on the stage and the weather hasn’t been great in Sunderland! Neil x

This was the view from our dressing room at Sunderland Stadium of Light yesterday about an hour before we went on stage on our first night as special guests of Take That. I’m pleased to report we got a fantastic reception from the huge crowd. As you can see, Take That’s production is spectacular. We’re back there again tonight. Neil x

It’s 25 years since “Please” was released and there’s a thoughtful piece about it in the online journal, The Quietus. Link below.

A Russian singer called Mitya Fomin has released a record called “Paninaro 2011 (Огни большого города)” based on “Paninaro ‘95”. It’s authorised by us and we quite like it. Go to the link to watch the video. We think the title means “Paninaro 2011 (The lights of a big city)”. Neil

It was a great honour to present the “Composer of the Year” award last night to the inspirational Estonian composer Arvo Pärt at the Classic Brit Awards in the Royal Albert Hall, London. Arvo Pärt dedicated his award to the Russian political prisoner, Mikhail Khodorkovsky. The awards will be shown on ITV1 on Sunday, May 29^th, at 10.30pm. Neil

Great to see a plaque commemorating Dusty Springfield has been unveiled at the house in Kensington where she lived from 1968–1972 before moving to the USA. Neil

Yesterday I recorded a podcast for “The Word” magazine with my old “Smash Hits” colleagues, David Hepworth and Mark Ellen. Go to the link below to hear us talking about working for “Smash Hits”, touring with Take That, the greatest record ever made and lots of other stuff. Neil

Just voted in the referendum on the voting system. Didn’t make my mind up until the last minute… Neil x