Tell me more about your uncle...
My uncle was a man called Henry Cohen
and my dad and he had a chain of
garages. My unclealways had this boat
out in Newhaven but always talked about
the marinas - he always used to say,
“Why haven’t they got something like
that in Brighton? I wouldn’t have to go
all the way out to Newhaven to get my
boat.”
And, from that dream I watched this
man, a wonderful inspiration of a man,
I watched him fulfil his dream where he
took an idea and he ran with it, he got
people to back him - big backers and
he got the council to agree the planning
permission. They reclaimed beach
land. In fact, they claimed what was the
original Black Rock swimming pool, and
he built Brighton Marina. He went on to
build another one in Holland and then
retired to Spain and that’s where he died
eventually.
So your family has made its mark on
Brighton
I’m very proud of the fact that my uncle
did that with family growing up here in
this town, they made a mark here, you
know, with the businesses that they ran,
with the garages and then Henry with
the marina and then what I’ve achieved
in music. So, we’ve kept that sort of
line of success going and this town
has been very good to us. I’m a very,
very proud Brightonian. I’ve often been
referred to as Mr Brighton because I’ve
always gone on about it wherever I’ve
lived and whenever I’ve been on the
radio or whatever I’m always referring
to Brighton, boring people silly about
it I guess. But I’ve always been very
passionate about it because it has been
my home all these years. Even though
I’ve lived in other countries, I’ve always
come back and it was a wonderful
playground as a kid, running up and
down that beach and in and out of the
lanes and all that sort of thing and then
playing in those clubs in the 60s. It was
a magical place to be and it still is a
magical place but it had a different feel
back then, I have to say.
It’s always had a bohemian feel about it.
Brighton’s like that, but it was a fantastic
place to grow up in, absolutely fantastic.
Was it the city that inspired you to do
the Walk of Fame?
When I was in America and recording
with Leo in the studios, it was at that
point where we would go to the studio
every day, we would pass by Hollywood
Boulevard and that’s when I used to
see the Walk of Fame and I asked Leo
why the English are so bad at shouting
successes from the rooftop. I asked him
16
why we couldn’t have something like that
in the UK then I told him I was going to
look into to it and he said I was crazy,
he said they would never let me! I must
say that the place to do it is going to be
Brighton because Brighton’s always been
regarded as the Hol lywood of England
in that all the stars live here. I thought,
“Well, it’s the perfect place to do it.” So,
when I did return home, I went to work on
it and I got the trademark. I trademarked
it and much to Hollywood’s dismay, they
tried to stop me. Typical Americans, they
said, “Oh no, you can’t do that, we own
the Walk of Fame.” I said, “You own it in
Hollywood, you don’t own it here. I do.”
And I trademarked it back in 1996/97.
And then I decided I’m going to go with
this and at that point, I’d met the guy who
then owned Brighton Marina and he said
he’d love to have it there.
I did all the research and decided the
first thing I’m going to do is to make
sure the public, the community vote for
who should be on there then formed the
Walk of Fame Academy and we had our
meetings at the Hotel du Vin that had just
opened up then. We then put forward all
these nominees, through the media - The
Argus, Southern FM for the public to vote
on to find that first 100. And I wanted
to do it like that because I wanted it to
be democratic. Because in Hollywood,
people probably don’t realise this, the
Chamber of Commerce own the Walk
of Fame and they’re a bit like a council,
and they charge the artist, the inductee,
$25,000 to have that plaque - they’re
chosen by a committee, it’s not by the
people, and usually the $25,000 is paid by
the film company or the record company.
I didn’t want to go down that route. I
wanted to create something that was a
true accolade and when I did the launch
with my wife - we’ve been together
for 25/26 years - she organised it all.
Out of 100 nominees only 75 of them
were living, and 37 of them came to the
opening night, which is quite a feat. If
you’re ever trying to put on an event with
stars, believe me, it’s not easy getting
them there. It worked and I’ve kept to
that formula ever since and now I’ve
launched the Bristol Walk of Fame and
we’re doing a big one in London. And the
Music Walk of Fame, which is going to be
an international one in Camden and we’re
doing a big one in Manchester that you’ll
be hearing about very, very shortly. It’s
going to be massive.
the Roger or the Adam, when you’re at
the back, you’re the song writer or the
producer, you know, the public don’t get
fed up looking at you because they don’t
know who you are and so you’re never
under that strain and that pressure. You
can do a lot more - you’re not limited
and you do not have to stand in front
of a microphone every night and… it’s
different. I’ve had my own albums out
and I do all of that but I’ve not gone out
there and performed them as a solo artist,
I’m the sort who’s more at the back.
Song writing, that’s been my passion.
Royalties from all these hit records – that’s
my pension, I have sold over 33 million
records around the world and so I can’t
recommend it highly enough and that’s
why I’d love to bring on the next lot of
kids and give them their pension for their
lives. They’ve only got to write two hits
and that’s it. You know, I mean, I bumped
into a good friend of mine, Noddy Holder
from Slade. Every year, we meet up twice
at these annual dos that we go to, along
with all the old farts in the rock and roll
business, and every year I sit there with
him and it was exactly the same the year
we were on the Top of the Tops doing the
Show Must Go On and Noddy was there
with Slade singing Merry Christmas…
And he pipped us for the number one
slot. So, every year when I see him I go,
it’s Christmastime and we’re having the
lunch and I go, “It’s again for you, isn’t
it?” Because every year he just sits back
and counts the money. Every year, year
in, year out, it is Christmas for him, you
know? No wonder he doesn’t bother to
go and perform anymore, he doesn’t need
to.
Would you have liked to have been in
the spotlight more or were you in just
about the right place?
Tell me about your book that will be
appearing on our shelves soon…
I’ve been saving the contents of the book
all these years. So, it took, I guess, a year
or so to get it all down it’s something
I’ve long wanted to do because first
of all, I’ve had a very, very colourful life
and I’ve had an incredible journey ,all
the experiences and success I’ve had
with the music. I thought what, if I don’t
get this down, it’s going to go with me
because there are things that nobody
else knew about or only certain people
and some of those people are not with us
anymore. So, I thought if I don’t put this
down in writing here, this will never get
told. So, that’s what inspired me to want
to do it. It wasn’t down to ego and I want
a book. Because it is a gruelling task, as
you probably know. You start with a blank
piece of paper and you think, “How do I
start here?” and then it just goes and…
my god, it just seems to take forever.
You know, one of the advantages of
not being the front guy like the Leo or
When you’re talking about your own life,
you know, luckily enough I’ve got pretty