London Trip Day 1

The train journey from Truro to Paddington was an uneventful one. It was a great chance to do some light reading, which is something I very rarely get to do these days. For those who require details, the book in question was The Feast of All Saints by Anne Rice. Not her usual kind of novel and not my usual kind of read.

I felt relaxed and not unrepentantly full of anticipation as the train rolled into Paddington. First thing was first, however, and I legged it outside to have two cigarettes – one after the other. I won’t rant about smoking carriages on trains being consigned to history. I won’t. But oh how I could!

I took the smoothness of the train journey as a good omen for the days ahead in London. My stride was almost jaunty, I was quite nearly humming, as I went to get my Oyster card at Paddington’s Underground station. And then I heard the speaker announcement. OK, I was actually surprised that the speaker was clear and loud enough to understand. But then came the message that the Circle Line wasn’t working. Nothing, and I mean nothing, could have been more like a true homecoming than that message. The Circle Line is at the very heart of the Tube network. Thankfully four year’s absence hadn’t entirely eroded my knowledge of the Tube. Hopping on to the Hammersmith and city line, I was off.

Now very few label executives can actually say they are friends with artists on their label. Like the eternal struggle of good versus evil, label executives and recording artists usually clash along the lines of the epic battles you can see in that amazing Russian movie Nightwatch. That’s not the case with me, I’m pleased to report. I was staying with the delightful Emm X, vocalist with the Rados project, a dear friend of almost 20 years.

It was great catching up with her and my godson Nicholas. And England managed to beat France in the Rugy semi-finals. That warmed the cockles of my heart no end. All in all, a very enjoyable first night back in London after having been away for so long. I could have done without the ghost he lives with Emm and her family - but more about ghost later...