MY BBC RADIO LEEDS INTERVIEW WITH GILBERT!

April 12th,2002

I still cannot believe it but I spoke to Gilbert via BBC Radio Leeds on Friday morning at 9:40AM New York Time.

After reading the message on the gos@yahoogroups.com at 6:45 in the morning about interviewing a Gilbert fan, I replied to Chris Sandys at the BBC via email. The email was short but I told him that I ran a Gilbert Fan site since 1997 and I would love to speak to Gilbert but the only problem is the time difference as I live in New York City.

Without knowing that I would be chosen as the "fan" to speak live to Gilbert, I quickly dressed and ran out of the house without Breakfast. I took a taxi to work as I had left the BBC my work number. I arrived at work and within fifteen minutes I was speaking to Radio Leeds.  Was I dreaming? Chris told me that the show was from 2:00-2:30PM and that he would call back sometime around 2:20PM.  Time moved ever so slow from that point on. I wrote a flurry of emails telling friends and trying to secure a copy of my Beeb Radio debut.  Then, to my horror, 2:20PM came and went and there was no phone call.

Apparently, Gilbert had gotten lost and was running late. Radio Leeds did keep me on the line as I was able to listen to the interview. The radio personality was Dave Woods who asked the usual questions such as the 1982 court case, the Bisto Kid look, who influenced him and would he record a song he didn’t write. They also touched upon labels such as "singer-song writer" and Gilbert mentioned that the title of "Singer Sowing Machine" was a result of people calling him a singer-song writer. He also spoke about naming himself "Just Gilbert" and his uneasiness with Internet sites (oops!).

Then just prior to a commercial I heard my name announced as a fan that they were going to talk to from New York City.  At this point my heart was racing!  What do I say? Luckily, I had posted notes all over my computer screen. Before I knew it, I was on the phone with Dave and Gilbert! Dave asked when I first heard of Gilbert, which was with "Alone Again" back in the summer of 1972. I was also asked what I like about Gibert's music. I responded by saying that if you take a little from Tin-Pan Alley, Burt Bachrach and Paul McCartney, you come up with Gilbert O'Sullivan. I was also asked when was the last time I had seen him which was back in New York City in 1973. He asked if I had been across the pond to one of his concerts. I replied that I did not have the opportunity to do so but that I was hoping that Gilbert would return to the United States since it was almost 30 years since his last concert here. Gilbert spoke up and said that there were some plans in the works for a few shows stateside (there is a God). I was asked which was the quintessential O'Sullivan song. I replied that for me it was "Out Of The Question" from Back to Front.  The announcer didn’t seem to be familiar with it and I think I took Gilbert by surprise. He then asked if I had been a fan through the years to which I said yes.  I mentioned that after CBS and the court case, we didn’t hear from Gilbert but thanks to the Internet, we had found him again. Both Dave and Gilbert laughed nervously as they had just discussed the Internet with Gilbert stating that it was a good thing but it was "too much information and intrusive."

It was this point that Gilbert spoke up and thanked me for all the work that I do on the website. He said that he was aware of the site but prefers to stay in the background.  (I usually correspond with his brothers Kevin & Terry).  Finally, I asked Gilbert if he liked the purple daisies that I had sent the previous night to the Newcastle Opera House. He laughed and said yes and explained to Dave that a bouquet of purple daisies had arrived in his dressing room. I mentioned that I got the inspiration to send them from the lyrics to Gilbert's In My Hole: "I used to have a daisy a purple one called Maise." And that they were purchased in Newcastle. The announcer thanked me for my comments and time and it was over in a flash!

I just want to take the time to personally thank Steve Graves the creator and moderator of Yahoo’s GOS Mailing List for giving me the opportunity to speak to Gilbert. I was one of the first members to join Steve’s mailing list and I am happy that it is so successful.  I am forever in your debt Steve!

PS The color photo is obvious a fake. I have never met Gilbert. However, the photo was created by my staff at work as a birthday card with a very funny fictious story about Gilbert and I as brothers which I will post in the Gallery!

Original BBC Message:

Hello Steve,

A bit of strange request really.

Tomorrow afternoon (Friday 12th April), we have Gilbert O'Sullivan in our studio for half an hour for our Afternoon Show. To fill the half hour, we'd love to speak to someone from a fan site or fans club about what they like so much about Gilbert.

I've just been having some fun on the Internet and come across your page. So, is there any chance we could have a chat with you (or anyone else you could recommend) tomorrow afternoon for 10 minutes over the phone? About 2.20pm?

If you can help in any way, please do not hesitate to get in touch
Best Wishes
Chris Sandys
BBC Radio Leeds
ph. external: 0113 224 7326
fax: 0113 224 7330
email: chris.sandys@bbc.co.uk

To: gos@yahoogroups.com
From: "Steve Graves"
Date: Fri, 12 Apr 2002
Subject: Re: [gos] I Spoke to Gilbert Today!

Hi Joe

I'm really pleased for you. After all the work you've done over the years with your website you really deserved the chance to speak to him. At least us folks on this side of the pond have had the chance to meet up with him after concerts. I hope someone got a chance to copy it, would really love to hear it. Plus, I'm glad that someone in our group got a chance to represent us all. I was pretty miffed last night when I read the message from Chris and I knew there was no way that I could make it. I sent the message realizing that it was a slim chance that it would be successful, but it worked out well. Good for you Joe.
Take care
Steve