Arriving in this world at the Mile
End Hospital in London on the fifth of April
1950 (the same day that Abba's
Agnetha Faltskog took her first breath of air), the event was
of no great significance to anyone other than my mother until sixteen years and
ten days later. It was on that day that Carole Fox gave birth to her first child
Samantha Karen under the same roof as
myself, and as a result put the East End of London well and truly on the map.
Of course there were other events and
personalities that made it famous too. Jack
the Ripper, Michael
Caine, Naomi
Cambell and Bob Hoskins to name
but a few. Sam was the big one for me though in more ways than one. Not only
did she share her birthplace with me but we also have the same birth sign.
My life, as you will read in the man, the songs or the books has taken some strange twists and turns that in
one way or another have resulted in my brushing with fame on more than a few
occasions, but I've never quite made it all the way. Maybe it was karma or
fate, or destiny or god's will, or any other form of mystic mumbo jumbo that we
put our lack of success (or otherwise) down to. Nonetheless, in my mind I've achieved more in
my limited years than some people dream of, and the first person you have to
please in this life is yourself. If you don’t believe in yourself you
should never expect anybody else to believe in you.