Joe Longthorne Lifetime Achievement Award
Posted: Fri Jun 08, 2007 10:05 pm
Saturday 2nd June 2007 – The Palace Theatre, Manchester
Hi all,
Well another outing with the Son of the Legend and this time Matt was not performing in a show. This time he was to attend at a Gala Event for the Variety Club of Great Britain and present a “Lifetime Achievement†Award to one of the nicest men in show business, Joe Longthorne. The evening had been arranged by Paul Iacovou, who also runs Joe’s website http://www.joelongthorne.com
What a wonderful evening he created, the star studded evening was certainly a big success and earned record breaking auction amounts for the Variety Club. Paul was also responsible for capturing the event to film and it will make the concluding part in a forthcoming documentary from the producers of “If I Never Sing Another Song†later in the year. That is certainly something to look forward to.
An added bonus was that Virgin Media had kindly sponsored the evening and had sent complimentary first-class train tickets, so there was no driving for me to do once I got to London. With the prospect of a travel free weekend in front of us, I left Worthing on the Friday afternoon to spend the night at “Monro Towersâ€. I am such a worrier about getting somewhere on time that it seemed like the sensible thing to do so we could be away early on the Saturday morning fully rested. It also gave me the chance to parade the different outfits I had brought along to gain Michele’s advice. I shouldn’t have asked, she shot the first two outfits down in flames but was moderately satisfied with the third, which was just as well as I would have been reduced to running to the nearest branch of M & S for another attempt to satisfy. Never ask Michele a question unless you want an honest reply – wow she’s a hard woman to please. But actually she was quite right and then Matt admitted that she buys all of his clothes for him, whether he is with her or not or whether he wants it or not. In seriousness I bow to her judgement and I do admit to feeling quite good in my glad rags.
All had gone well, a trouble free car journey for me from Worthing to Harrow, a good nights sleep and we were off to the tube station on Saturday morning to catch the British Rail train from Euston to Manchester. As you all know things never quite run according to plan and upon arrival at the local underground station we were told that weekend engineering works were in place and we would have to take a detour. Matt and I are not the best for detours, there never seems to be a straight forward alternative. This incident put us way behind schedule and instead of us being the early birds leisurely travelling to our destination we arrived at Euston Station with only five-minutes to spare. We rushed down onto the platform and jumped on the train, just as the officious man in a union hat blew his whistle and the train slid out at exactly 11.10pm. It is incredible that London Transport is only running late when you are in a hurry but have to go on time when you’re running late – Sod’s Law
With the prospect of a three hour train journey in front of us we settled down and watched the countryside flash by. By the time I was truly settled, having walked several miles to the coffee carriage, then had a visit to the public toilet (not recommended, or at least remember to take your own toilet paper) we were sliding in to Manchester. One quick taxi ride and we arrived at The Palace Hotel, a four star monument to Victorian opulence. Having a couple of hours to kill, Matt and I decided on a quick spin round the city centre before heading back to the Hotel to get suited and booted.
The function was in the hotel’s main banqueting suite and at 6.30pm we made our way to the celebrity get together. Luckily for me, Michele, God bless her, had managed to get me one of the VIP passes and so in I went trailing after Matt. There were about forty people already in the suite and cameras were going off everywhere. It didn’t take long for me to spot Sir Tom Finney, Roy “Chubby†Brown, Ricky Tomlinson, Frank Carson, Liz Dawn, Johnny Casson, Jeffrey Archer and a personal favourite of Matt’s, Roy Walker. The one person I really wanted to meet was 13-times World Darts Champion, Phil Taylor and it didn’t take long before I was introduced and very soon a camera captured the moment for me forever. Brilliant.
Joe Longthorne, the star of the evening arrived and chatted to everyone. The main dinner and presentation was called
at 7.30 in the Palace Hotel’s Ballroom. 600 people took their seats for a wonderful three-course dinner. The event had sold out weeks before and was a fitting tribute a a wonderful man. Dinner was cleared and we settled down to watch the award presentation ceremony which started with video tributes from the stars that were absent and couldn’t attend because of prior commitments. Freddie Starr, Mike Read, Barbara Windsor, Englebert Humperdinck and Des O`Connor’s moving and heartfelt messages were relayed and were delivered with a genuine love for Joe that the audience were often moved to tears. Then it was time for the “Lifetime Achievement†Award to be presented to Joe Longthorne. The ceremony visibly moved him, but being the professional he is, he sailed through with a wonderful performance
which included five songs and finished with a very emotional rendition of “If I Never Sing Another Songâ€.
All too soon the main event was over and it was time to retire to the bar, where Matt ran into BBC Radio Producer Steve Garner who is also the Secretary of the Variety Club North West. He has also been a fantastic contributor to the book Michele is busily writing. With the sun beginning to rise was time for bed.
The next morning saw us repeat the journey back to the railway station for the journey back to Monro Towers. That's when the travel curse us hit again. It took us seven hours to get back to London due to the weekend engineering works!!
If anyone wants to see some of the photographs I took throughout the evening, they are loaded on the Scrapbook under the heading “Matt Monro Jnrâ€
A big big thank you to the Monro family for arranging this special evening, thanks to my wife for putting up with me and thanks to all the members of the Matt Monro website for all your kind comments.
Until the next time
Take care
Paul
Hi all,
Well another outing with the Son of the Legend and this time Matt was not performing in a show. This time he was to attend at a Gala Event for the Variety Club of Great Britain and present a “Lifetime Achievement†Award to one of the nicest men in show business, Joe Longthorne. The evening had been arranged by Paul Iacovou, who also runs Joe’s website http://www.joelongthorne.com
What a wonderful evening he created, the star studded evening was certainly a big success and earned record breaking auction amounts for the Variety Club. Paul was also responsible for capturing the event to film and it will make the concluding part in a forthcoming documentary from the producers of “If I Never Sing Another Song†later in the year. That is certainly something to look forward to.
An added bonus was that Virgin Media had kindly sponsored the evening and had sent complimentary first-class train tickets, so there was no driving for me to do once I got to London. With the prospect of a travel free weekend in front of us, I left Worthing on the Friday afternoon to spend the night at “Monro Towersâ€. I am such a worrier about getting somewhere on time that it seemed like the sensible thing to do so we could be away early on the Saturday morning fully rested. It also gave me the chance to parade the different outfits I had brought along to gain Michele’s advice. I shouldn’t have asked, she shot the first two outfits down in flames but was moderately satisfied with the third, which was just as well as I would have been reduced to running to the nearest branch of M & S for another attempt to satisfy. Never ask Michele a question unless you want an honest reply – wow she’s a hard woman to please. But actually she was quite right and then Matt admitted that she buys all of his clothes for him, whether he is with her or not or whether he wants it or not. In seriousness I bow to her judgement and I do admit to feeling quite good in my glad rags.
All had gone well, a trouble free car journey for me from Worthing to Harrow, a good nights sleep and we were off to the tube station on Saturday morning to catch the British Rail train from Euston to Manchester. As you all know things never quite run according to plan and upon arrival at the local underground station we were told that weekend engineering works were in place and we would have to take a detour. Matt and I are not the best for detours, there never seems to be a straight forward alternative. This incident put us way behind schedule and instead of us being the early birds leisurely travelling to our destination we arrived at Euston Station with only five-minutes to spare. We rushed down onto the platform and jumped on the train, just as the officious man in a union hat blew his whistle and the train slid out at exactly 11.10pm. It is incredible that London Transport is only running late when you are in a hurry but have to go on time when you’re running late – Sod’s Law
With the prospect of a three hour train journey in front of us we settled down and watched the countryside flash by. By the time I was truly settled, having walked several miles to the coffee carriage, then had a visit to the public toilet (not recommended, or at least remember to take your own toilet paper) we were sliding in to Manchester. One quick taxi ride and we arrived at The Palace Hotel, a four star monument to Victorian opulence. Having a couple of hours to kill, Matt and I decided on a quick spin round the city centre before heading back to the Hotel to get suited and booted.
The function was in the hotel’s main banqueting suite and at 6.30pm we made our way to the celebrity get together. Luckily for me, Michele, God bless her, had managed to get me one of the VIP passes and so in I went trailing after Matt. There were about forty people already in the suite and cameras were going off everywhere. It didn’t take long for me to spot Sir Tom Finney, Roy “Chubby†Brown, Ricky Tomlinson, Frank Carson, Liz Dawn, Johnny Casson, Jeffrey Archer and a personal favourite of Matt’s, Roy Walker. The one person I really wanted to meet was 13-times World Darts Champion, Phil Taylor and it didn’t take long before I was introduced and very soon a camera captured the moment for me forever. Brilliant.
Joe Longthorne, the star of the evening arrived and chatted to everyone. The main dinner and presentation was called
at 7.30 in the Palace Hotel’s Ballroom. 600 people took their seats for a wonderful three-course dinner. The event had sold out weeks before and was a fitting tribute a a wonderful man. Dinner was cleared and we settled down to watch the award presentation ceremony which started with video tributes from the stars that were absent and couldn’t attend because of prior commitments. Freddie Starr, Mike Read, Barbara Windsor, Englebert Humperdinck and Des O`Connor’s moving and heartfelt messages were relayed and were delivered with a genuine love for Joe that the audience were often moved to tears. Then it was time for the “Lifetime Achievement†Award to be presented to Joe Longthorne. The ceremony visibly moved him, but being the professional he is, he sailed through with a wonderful performance
which included five songs and finished with a very emotional rendition of “If I Never Sing Another Songâ€.
All too soon the main event was over and it was time to retire to the bar, where Matt ran into BBC Radio Producer Steve Garner who is also the Secretary of the Variety Club North West. He has also been a fantastic contributor to the book Michele is busily writing. With the sun beginning to rise was time for bed.
The next morning saw us repeat the journey back to the railway station for the journey back to Monro Towers. That's when the travel curse us hit again. It took us seven hours to get back to London due to the weekend engineering works!!
If anyone wants to see some of the photographs I took throughout the evening, they are loaded on the Scrapbook under the heading “Matt Monro Jnrâ€
A big big thank you to the Monro family for arranging this special evening, thanks to my wife for putting up with me and thanks to all the members of the Matt Monro website for all your kind comments.
Until the next time
Take care
Paul
If you sound similar to Matt Monro, that can only be a good thing!