THE INCREDIBLE CHRIS FARLOWE

"At last I got down to my satirical sketch."

S U N D A Y,   2 6  N O V

Didn’t get up for ages because of thinking about Dutronc. I was trying to imagine what it would be like if, by some wonderful luck, he was at The Post next year.

I sat at the dining-room table where it was all sunny, and got down to my satirical sketch. It’s pretty dreadful. I read it out to Chump - open to criticism. She took every line to bits. It was hiliarious! She even wanted to change, “He sighed – it was 20 past seven, 5 minutes late again”  to “He smiled to himself – quarter past 7: dead on time, as usual”!

Article by Paul McCartney in the Sunday Supplement on how they thought up the words of their songs. Practically every song on Sergeant Pepper’s has been taken in the wrong way. ‘Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds’ was simply a painting John Lennon’s son did of a school friend of his called Lucy. But when people heard it they said, “ah yes, L.S.D.” It just shows you how warped people can be.

At the back of my mind there is always this little miserable feeling - whatever I do it is always there. The only way I could possibly get rid of it is by finding a boyfriend. I think there are awful pressures in modern life: if you haven’t got a boyfriend everything is miserish. But perhaps it’s always been like that.

“Heard ‘Gladrags’ twice – it is quite incredible. ”

Mike d’Abo wrote it; if only I knew the fan-club address I’d write to him. It deserves to be No. 1 and stay there for weeks. The way Chris Farlowe goes “bye… bye” at the end… and that gorgeous organ in the background. It’s the most fantastic record I’ve heard since Otis Redding’s ‘Knock On Wood’.

Listened to my Joan Baez LP in the evening. She sings beautifully but I’m not too keen on the songs. Chump and me danced a bit. Then we went for a walk, with the torch. Went right to the end of the garden and back up the lane.

The song reached 33 in the singles charts on 19th December.

What they say today: “Haunting backing with the incredible voice of Chris Farlowe.” “Chris Farlowe is hugely underrated.” “No other version I've heard even comes close! Farlowe owns this song."