'The Tube' was the first time the plebs had gone on the television. The lunatics taking over the asylum.

The first thing I learned was the 'St Louis Blues' when I was eight. Both my grandmothers, my mother and uncle played the piano. This was post-war Britain, and they played boogie woogie and blues, which was the underground music of the time.

Whenever I go on holiday, I like to time travel and imagine what it must have been like 500 years ago. I love the Tuscan landscape, which is reminiscent of a Claude Lorrain painting.

The first time I heard Jack Teagarden on the trombone, I had goose pimples all over.

My first time overseas was taking 10,000 tons of beer to Vietnam.

The first time I had disposable income, the two things I cared most about were a television and a couch.