Showing posts sorted by relevance for query my story chapter 1. Sort by date Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by relevance for query my story chapter 1. Sort by date Show all posts
Tuesday, 18 February 2014
This is My Story each chapter is a shortened symptoms of the full story which I will tell If it ever makes into book form. Enjoy Maurice
Chapter 1. Being a Jew versus being a Catholic. A light hearted point of view.
Chapter 2. Drummer Boy.
Chapter 3: Wine, Women and Song
Chapter 4. It all kicks of at Club Elizabeth.
Chapter 5: Nice Maurice and all that jazz......
Chapter 6: It’s all over now.....Or is it?
Chapter 7: The Next big thing and death in my family.....
Chapter 8: What the hell is Innocent Misrepresentation?
Chapter 9: A new life, new home, criminals and drugs.
Chapter 10: Back in Dublin’s High Court AGAIN!
Chapter 11: First stop Cuba and then Mandy Smith .(part 1 and part 2)
Chapter 12: It's all over now with Mandy Smith and Dame Shirley Bassey goes wild!
MY STORY: PART 1:
Being a Jew versus being a Catholic. A light hearted point of view.
I was born in Dublin, Ireland, as where my parents and my grandparents, that is except my grandfather on my father’s side, he was born in Riga, Latvia. So I suppose that makes me a true blue blood Irish Jew with a drop on Latvian blood. Being brought up in Ireland during the 50’s I remember that the country was very Catholic dominated. The Catholic Church had a huge influence on everyday life, although as a youngster all I knew is many of my Catholic friends went to church on a Sunday where I was meant to go to synagogue every Saturday, a rule I must add that was not always strictly carried out in my home. Between the age of 0 and 13 religion never meant a lot to me except we Jews seemed to enjoy many different holidays which meant I could miss school.
I wasn’t a big fan of the Passover, it’s fair to say, although my parents were far from strictly observant , they did stick stringently to the rules of the festival . Passover (Pesach in Hebrew) is one of the most important festivals in the Jewish year. At this time Jewish people remember how the children of Israel left slavery behind them when they were led out of Egypt by Moses over 3000 years ago. The celebrations last for seven or eight days, depending on where you live.
I remember that every Passover all are dishes, cups, glasses and cutlery were replace by the set used solely for the Passover and all food was brought in that had the stamp ‘strictly for Pesach’ on them. Bread was replaced by matzos (unleavened bread), looks somewhat like a water biscuit.
On the evening before the Passover begins, a special dinner was held called a Seder ('Order') with family and friends in the home. It was a great fun time for us kids but the one big drawback was that the Passover normally fell at the same time as Easter and I was always devastated as my Catholic friends got stuck into their giant Easter eggs, which I didn’t receive as there was no such thing as a ‘strictly for Pesach’ Easter egg and hot cross buns were strictly OUT!!!!
My late father was a doctor and on the weekends I would go with him as he made his house calls. He worked a very large working class practice and I would imagine that 90% of his patience were Catholic, I loved the smell of frying bacon wafting out of some of his patience kitchens , but was never allowed to taste it (strict Jewish dietary law) In fact the first time I tasted bacon I was in my early 20’s!
The Jewish Sabbath came in every Friday and again I adored Friday evenings as we celebrated the Sabbath meal at my darling grandparents. My grandma was the most wonderful human being I had ever known and I adored her. One of the blessings for Jews were to invite visitors to join the family to partake in the Friday evening meal, my over generous adorable grandma almost always invited out of town visitors to join the family meal many of them non Jews, although the visitors were delighted to be invited they must have been rather confused by the Hebrew prays and all the male member wearing skull caps (yarmulkes ).
As a Jewish kid it always seemed so much easier being a Catholic than being Jewish i.e by the age of 13 when traditionally a Jewish Male enters adulthood by the celebration of the Bar Mitzvah. Something I must admit I didn’t look forward to. I had to study a piece from the Torah which I read on my Bar Mitzvah day in Hebrew in front of a packed synagogue followed by a dinner dance at night , in fact in many cases the Bar Mitzvah is as big as a wedding and the Bar Mitzvah boy, me, has to make a speech thanking his parents, grandparents, chief Rabbi etc for all the good things they have done for him, the speech is meant to be heartfelt and at times funny, a bit like the grooms speech at a wedding, then the most embarrassing you had to lead off the dancing by dancing with your mum and worst your sister, I think I refused that one!!! The Catholic communion seemed far less fussy, you get to wear a cool suit say a few prayers and Bobs your uncle your done. You can see the picture unfolding here. It’s a lot easier being a Catholic kid than a Jewish Kid.
One of the biggest drawbacks for Jewish kids and were Catholics definitely have one over on us is CHRISTMAS! Yes, we have Hanukah, which we are told as children is the Jewish equivalent to Christmas, but it’s NOT!! Yes, we get presents. But we don-t enjoy the same atmosphere as Christmas, the songs, the lights, the Christmas Trees, Santa Claus and the traditional Christmas Turkey, Christmas pudding etc etc. Luckily, as I said, my parents were very liberal and ALWAYS put up a Christmas tree and a visiting Santa Claus at our home. I always felt sorry for my Jewish friends whose parents were traditionally orthodox and wouldn’t hear of any form or recognition of Christmas in their homes.
The Jewish mother: It always seemed to me that my Catholic friends had it a lot easier than me, they didn’t have to spend Sunday morning at Hebrew school (Cheder) They were allowed to stay out later and even play in the woods at the end of our street. You see Jewish mums more or less rap their kids in cotton wool and fuss over them a lot more than non Jewish mums, well that’s the way I saw it anyway. A day playing outside with my friends would always end with “But muuuum, Frankie is allowed to stay out until it’s dark why can’t I, It’s soooo unfair!!”
Another Jewish festival is Yom Kippur also known as Day of Atonement, is the holiest day of the year for the Jewish people. Its central themes are atonement and repentance. Jewish people traditionally observe this holy day with an approximate 25-hour period of fasting and intensive prayer, often spending most of the day in synagogue services. I wasn’t a big fan of this particular festival; as I don’t think most Jews are. Traditionally Jews don’t start taking part in the fasting side until they Bar Mitzvahed (13) but us kids used to pretend we were adults from as early as 10 and started fasting. So what was it all about having no food or water for 25 hours? Repentance , asking the Almighty to forgive you for the since that you made during the year. Now again Catholics had it a whole lot easier, they would pop into confession tell the priest that they had sinned he’d give them a few Hail Mary’s and Bobs your uncle (again) and you were forgiven.
I was brought up in quite a liberal Jewish home my parents had a very mixed lot of friends and It was instilled into me that integration was important. I went to a Protestant boarding school and to be honest in all my years in Ireland I never came across Anti Semitism except as a kid my then best friend Frankie Benet accused me of killing Jesus!!! I ended up crying and swearing I didn’t even know him so how could I have killed him?
I am a practising Jew and belong to the Jewish community of Marbella where we have the first purpose built Synagogue (see photo) since the Spanish Inquisition and delighted to learn that Spain has introduced new laws that would allow the descendants of Jews expelled from the country during the Spanish Inquisition to obtain citizenship. Until now the descendants of Jews expelled from Spain during the 15th century – known as Sephardic Jews – could claim Spanish citizenship only after living in the country for two years, and then only if they renounced their previous nationality. Like Ireland I have NEVER in all the years I’ve lived in Spain come across any real form of Anti Semitisms except possibly from a few uneducated buffoons.
So there you have it is being a Jew Better than being a Catholic. I don’t know I’ve never been a Catholic.
Chapter 1. Being a Jew versus being a Catholic. A light hearted point of view.
Chapter 2. Drummer Boy.
Chapter 3: Wine, Women and Song
Chapter 4. It all kicks of at Club Elizabeth.
Chapter 5: Nice Maurice and all that jazz......
Chapter 6: It’s all over now.....Or is it?
Chapter 7: The Next big thing and death in my family.....
Chapter 8: What the hell is Innocent Misrepresentation?
Chapter 9: A new life, new home, criminals and drugs.
Chapter 10: Back in Dublin’s High Court AGAIN!
Chapter 11: First stop Cuba and then Mandy Smith .(part 1 and part 2)
Chapter 12: It's all over now with Mandy Smith and Dame Shirley Bassey goes wild!
MY STORY: PART 1:
Being a Jew versus being a Catholic. A light hearted point of view.
I wasn’t a big fan of the Passover, it’s fair to say, although my parents were far from strictly observant , they did stick stringently to the rules of the festival . Passover (Pesach in Hebrew) is one of the most important festivals in the Jewish year. At this time Jewish people remember how the children of Israel left slavery behind them when they were led out of Egypt by Moses over 3000 years ago. The celebrations last for seven or eight days, depending on where you live.
On the evening before the Passover begins, a special dinner was held called a Seder ('Order') with family and friends in the home. It was a great fun time for us kids but the one big drawback was that the Passover normally fell at the same time as Easter and I was always devastated as my Catholic friends got stuck into their giant Easter eggs, which I didn’t receive as there was no such thing as a ‘strictly for Pesach’ Easter egg and hot cross buns were strictly OUT!!!!
My late father was a doctor and on the weekends I would go with him as he made his house calls. He worked a very large working class practice and I would imagine that 90% of his patience were Catholic, I loved the smell of frying bacon wafting out of some of his patience kitchens , but was never allowed to taste it (strict Jewish dietary law) In fact the first time I tasted bacon I was in my early 20’s!
The Jewish Sabbath came in every Friday and again I adored Friday evenings as we celebrated the Sabbath meal at my darling grandparents. My grandma was the most wonderful human being I had ever known and I adored her. One of the blessings for Jews were to invite visitors to join the family to partake in the Friday evening meal, my over generous adorable grandma almost always invited out of town visitors to join the family meal many of them non Jews, although the visitors were delighted to be invited they must have been rather confused by the Hebrew prays and all the male member wearing skull caps (yarmulkes ).
I was brought up in quite a liberal Jewish home my parents had a very mixed lot of friends and It was instilled into me that integration was important. I went to a Protestant boarding school and to be honest in all my years in Ireland I never came across Anti Semitism except as a kid my then best friend Frankie Benet accused me of killing Jesus!!! I ended up crying and swearing I didn’t even know him so how could I have killed him?
So there you have it is being a Jew Better than being a Catholic. I don’t know I’ve never been a Catholic.
Sunday, 13 March 2016
Rich and Famous in Marbella....
Marbella has a reputation of been the playground of the rich and famous and I’m often asked by visitors how many really rich people have I met over the years who enjoy the Marbella life style. In fact Piers Morgan did one of his life style programs on this very subject about Marbella but I felt that he unfairly leant too much on what once called (no longer thankfully) the Costa del Crime. Since the extradition agreements between Spain and many European countries came into a power, many of the ex criminals who resided here during the early ‘80s fled to countries like South America. Sure we have criminals still residing here, which country that boasts a playground as stunning as Marbella doesn’t, but thankfully they don’t carry out their dirty business here, most of them hoping that they will be forgotten about by the countries they’re most wanted in.
The first really famous person I bumped into when I initially was investigating Marbella as a possible place for myself and my young family to set up home, was the then ex Formula 1 world champion James Hunt whom I eventually did business with by taking over his fashionable discotheque Oscars.
This photo was taken in Oscar's of James with Princess Gunilla Von Bismarck and the late Dai Llewellyn.
NOTE: You can read about this period of my time with Oscars by copy and pasting this chapter from My Story.http://italkfm.blogspot.com.es/2014/01/james-hunt-and-me.html
Now to richest. I suppose I could kick this category off by naming Sheik Ashmawi , a billionaire who made most of his fortune in aviation oil . Lives in Marbella in a stunning palace. It is said he owns 600 luxury cars. I went into business with the Sheik when I opened the Costa del Sols first Auction Rooms named a properly Marbella Auctions which ran successfully for a couple of years until I was doubled crossed by my partner something that seemed to happen a lot to me!!!
Here is a video in french so i haven't a clue what they are saying but it shows my friend who called me his 'little Jew' which shows part of his super rich life style (hope it's complimentary)
Click on this link if you want to read the part in My Story http://italkfm.blogspot.com.es/2014/03/my-story-chapter-13.html
Wealthy money men came and went (most without the fortune they arrived with) . Their was a famous saying: To make a small fortune in Marbella you need to start with a large one! No truer a word was said than in the case of Yugoslavian Bob Petrovic (Pictured with me, Peter Stringfellow and a bevy of beauties aboard his multi million yacht the Blue Crystal ). Read this extraordinary story from My Story by copy and pasting this link http://italkfm.blogspot.com.es/2014/03/chapter-14-mr-petrovic-ill-buy-you.html
Bob was spending hois fortune at such a rate most of us knew that at sometime or other he must run out. Notably when i bought the Marbella Football team and flew over the famous English Manger Peter Read. He bought one of his top players a brand new Ferrari and open a Discotheque in Puerto Banus. One day he asked my to book Kool and The Gang to play there. I tried to explain that Kool and the Gang would cost a small fortune and no way could he recoup the cost in a 300 seater club , but as is his way he insisted. He also made the appearance by this hit making band into a TV show which I hosted and here it is...
Bob sponsored my first radio show The Late Late Breakfast Show on Onda Cero Radio.
I couldn't talk about the rich and famous without mentioning Irish paper and cardboard Billionaire Michael Smurfit who's home in Marbella is on the market for 65 billion Euro! and here,s a look around his super yacht the Lady Ann Magee which is often moored in Marbella's Puerto Banus I have been aboard and had dinner on this floating palace and been entertained is his palatial home..
This brings mt onto to the richest of them all Marc Rich whom I met about ten years ago and became as close a friend as one can with a multi Billionaire with somewhat of a checkered past. Marc was was an international commodities trader, hedge fund manager, financier and businessman. He was best known for founding the commodities company Glencore and for being indicted in the United States on federal charges of tax evasion and illegally making oil deals with Iran during the Iran hostage crisis. He was in Switzerland at the time of the indictment and never returned to the United States. He received a controversial presidential pardon from U.S. President Bill Clinton on January 20, 2001, Clinton's last day in office. Here I am with Mark enjoying many of are fun nights out.
Marc was a very private person and hugely charitable in fact I know of 85 million dollars he's donated to many charities. The Marc Rich foundations has funded many medical and scientific life saving discoveries only a few years ago he has seen his funding develop a device that is an aerobic attachment allowing wheel chair bound people to walk some for the first time in their life.
Marc's ex wife Denise Rich's was quite the oppeset to him out going and exciting I always enjoyed her company.....
Here she is at home in New York...
and aboard her super yacht.
Marc sadly past away two years ago.
So there you have it. Some of the super rich I have known over the years.
Marbella has a reputation of been the playground of the rich and famous and I’m often asked by visitors how many really rich people have I met over the years who enjoy the Marbella life style. In fact Piers Morgan did one of his life style programs on this very subject about Marbella but I felt that he unfairly leant too much on what once called (no longer thankfully) the Costa del Crime. Since the extradition agreements between Spain and many European countries came into a power, many of the ex criminals who resided here during the early ‘80s fled to countries like South America. Sure we have criminals still residing here, which country that boasts a playground as stunning as Marbella doesn’t, but thankfully they don’t carry out their dirty business here, most of them hoping that they will be forgotten about by the countries they’re most wanted in.
The first really famous person I bumped into when I initially was investigating Marbella as a possible place for myself and my young family to set up home, was the then ex Formula 1 world champion James Hunt whom I eventually did business with by taking over his fashionable discotheque Oscars.
NOTE: You can read about this period of my time with Oscars by copy and pasting this chapter from My Story.http://italkfm.blogspot.com.es/2014/01/james-hunt-and-me.html
Now to richest. I suppose I could kick this category off by naming Sheik Ashmawi , a billionaire who made most of his fortune in aviation oil . Lives in Marbella in a stunning palace. It is said he owns 600 luxury cars. I went into business with the Sheik when I opened the Costa del Sols first Auction Rooms named a properly Marbella Auctions which ran successfully for a couple of years until I was doubled crossed by my partner something that seemed to happen a lot to me!!!
Here is a video in french so i haven't a clue what they are saying but it shows my friend who called me his 'little Jew' which shows part of his super rich life style (hope it's complimentary)
Click on this link if you want to read the part in My Story http://italkfm.blogspot.com.es/2014/03/my-story-chapter-13.html
Wealthy money men came and went (most without the fortune they arrived with) . Their was a famous saying: To make a small fortune in Marbella you need to start with a large one! No truer a word was said than in the case of Yugoslavian Bob Petrovic (Pictured with me, Peter Stringfellow and a bevy of beauties aboard his multi million yacht the Blue Crystal ). Read this extraordinary story from My Story by copy and pasting this link http://italkfm.blogspot.com.es/2014/03/chapter-14-mr-petrovic-ill-buy-you.html
Bob was spending hois fortune at such a rate most of us knew that at sometime or other he must run out. Notably when i bought the Marbella Football team and flew over the famous English Manger Peter Read. He bought one of his top players a brand new Ferrari and open a Discotheque in Puerto Banus. One day he asked my to book Kool and The Gang to play there. I tried to explain that Kool and the Gang would cost a small fortune and no way could he recoup the cost in a 300 seater club , but as is his way he insisted. He also made the appearance by this hit making band into a TV show which I hosted and here it is...
Bob sponsored my first radio show The Late Late Breakfast Show on Onda Cero Radio.
I couldn't talk about the rich and famous without mentioning Irish paper and cardboard Billionaire Michael Smurfit who's home in Marbella is on the market for 65 billion Euro! and here,s a look around his super yacht the Lady Ann Magee which is often moored in Marbella's Puerto Banus I have been aboard and had dinner on this floating palace and been entertained is his palatial home..
This brings mt onto to the richest of them all Marc Rich whom I met about ten years ago and became as close a friend as one can with a multi Billionaire with somewhat of a checkered past. Marc was was an international commodities trader, hedge fund manager, financier and businessman. He was best known for founding the commodities company Glencore and for being indicted in the United States on federal charges of tax evasion and illegally making oil deals with Iran during the Iran hostage crisis. He was in Switzerland at the time of the indictment and never returned to the United States. He received a controversial presidential pardon from U.S. President Bill Clinton on January 20, 2001, Clinton's last day in office. Here I am with Mark enjoying many of are fun nights out.
Marc was a very private person and hugely charitable in fact I know of 85 million dollars he's donated to many charities. The Marc Rich foundations has funded many medical and scientific life saving discoveries only a few years ago he has seen his funding develop a device that is an aerobic attachment allowing wheel chair bound people to walk some for the first time in their life.
Marc's ex wife Denise Rich's was quite the oppeset to him out going and exciting I always enjoyed her company.....
Here she is at home in New York...
and aboard her super yacht.
Marc sadly past away two years ago.
So there you have it. Some of the super rich I have known over the years.
Sunday, 23 February 2014
Please note that each one of these chapters are synopses and far from the complete story. I've had emails informing me that I have left out names. places and events etc. I apologise and if I ever get around to writing the full story be assured that your information will be of a great help. Thank you. ........
MY STORY Part 3
Wine, Women and Song
So now I was back living in Ireland with my mum and dad again, no band and no idea what I wanted to do except of course to be rich
and famous. The year was 1967 and Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band was Number 1 in the charts. It was an excitable time musically. My ever generous father bought me my first car, a Triumph TR3 (told you I was spoilt!) it was 10 years old (see photo), although it looked great, to be truthful it was in fact a bit of a banger and spent more time and money in Adrian Elkinson’s Garage being repaired than it did on the road , eventually my lovely car simply died and I had to return to borrowing my mother’s for Ford Capri.
I had read a book about the high flying life of Manhattans advertising executives , private jets, fast cars and even faster women and decided that’s what I wanted to do next. My father had a good friend, Desmond O’Kennedy who was the owner of O’Kennedy Brindley one of Irelands leading advertising companies and persuaded Desmond to give his ‘talented’ son his first job. I was excited with the news about the job, I was on my way, only a matter of time before I would be a high flying executive with the use of private jets and dinning and wining glamorise models in New York, Paris and Rome’s finest restaurants . As you can see by the photograph my 1st job wasn’t quite as I thought it would be! I started off as a tea boy then progressing to the tedious job of laying Letterset! I stuck it out for about 6 months.
Girls. I was a bit different to many of my friends who boasted about their one night stands etc, I was only interested in steady girlfriends , although I had a few one night stands until I met Jennifer, she was to be my first love and we were crazy about each other although I had a feeling her dad and older brother weren’t too happy with her dating me, I felt and I might be wrong but it was because I was Jewish though nothing was ever said. Up to that point I don’t remember having much sex, possibly few gropes outside the cinema and of course the German incident, my affair with Jennifer was far from that, we were both young and spent a lot of time enjoying the sexual adventure that young teenagers did, that was until her dad found out and threatened to kill me!
I had to borrow my mum’s car when possible to get around, having to get a 64A bus into work and to walk from Collage Green to Gardner Street where OKB had their offices took about 20 minutes in the rain, which we have a lot of in Ireland, wasn’t very
pleasant and certainly not what an ex rock star would be expected to do!!!1 I needed a car, so again in steps my generous father and after a bit of genital persuading he bought me a very flashy bright red Triumph Spitfire with ‘go faster stripes’ down the side (see photo)
It was 1968 and time for change of Job and girlfriend! I can’t remember where I got the idea but I introduced the first mobile discotheque to Ireland. I got together with one of Ireland trendiest disc jockeys B.P Fallon and persuaded my dad do give me the money to get the mobile unite specially built. At 15 pounds a time or extra for psychedelic lighting (about 500 Euro in today's money) it didn’t take long before bookings started to come in for private parties. I then hit on the idea that we should introduce recorded music to fashion shows. Up to that time ALL fashion shows were accompanied with some ould geezer on keyboards. The first fashion show job almost put an end to my new enterprise. It was held at the then fashionable 5 star Gresham Hotel; on arrival we were met with strike placards demanding that the mobile disco would not replace a musician’s income. The strike was called by the Irish Federation of Musicians!!! But the show went on and we continued to replace musicians throughout the country bringing the very latest music to the world of fashion shows. I had set a precedent that saw the end of live music at fashion shows in Ireland forever.
(Photo: BP Fallon and myself looking after the music at a fashion show held in a store in Grafton Street, the model was Louise Mansfield and on the mic was Kay Toal. Notice the crowed at the windows, both myself and BP were well known so there was always interested wherever we went, especially after the press carried the story about my run in with the Federation of Musicians made the headline)
It was around this time that I decided to break up with Jennifer and started to date a young model called Mia, it wasn’t very serious, more a friend than a girlfriend. I was enjoying the success of the mobile discotheques. I Was also excited about a new phenomenon taking place in London ‘Discotheques’ I was sure I could bring this to Ireland and make it my next BIG thing.
A friend of mine called me, knowing I liked models, tipped me off about a stunning model appearing at a fashion show in Dublin’s mansion house, so without further ado myself and my friend Ronnie Chandler took ourselves off to see this model. Wendy walked on stage wearing a one peace swim suit, I almost collapsed!! I swear I had NEVER seen a girl like her she was without doubt the most beautiful girl I had ever laid my eyes on , I fell head over heels there and then! This was my dream girl. Wendy Gilbertson was a year younger than me, she was born in Scotland but moved with her family to South Africa when she was six months old. Her Father was posted to Dublin as MD of Yardley Cosmetics. Wendy was then in a relationship with the then Lord Mayor of Dublin’s son, but that didn’t deter me, I was starry eyed about her and nothing was going to get in my way.
I hatched a plan to try and get Wendy alone, so I called her agency and asked if they could supply a couple of models for a photo shoot to publicise the Mobile Disco business. I said I had seen a girl called Wendy and if possible I would like her. They sent Wendy and her sister for the photographic session that next day which took place in the back garden of an apartment I was then sharing with Ronnie, I should say bedsit! The photo appeared in the Irish Press. (Wendy is on the left, with her sister Linda). There was just one major problem, my flat mate, business partner and best friend Ronnie was also crazy about her, I suspect most guys who laid eyes on Wendy felt the same as us. I was still dating Mia so Ronnie decided to make a play for Wendy but for some reason Wendy fancied me so it was goodbye Mia and hello Wendy!
As I said, I was now taking a serious interest in London’s discotheque scene, I had visited a few of the clubs and loved Tramp and Annabel’s two of London’s top clubs where the rich and famous hung out. So I decided it was time that Dublin should have one of these Discotheques. There were two small Dublin clubs that superseded me to the prize of claiming being Irelands first Discotheque but my plans were to be more in line with the top London clubs to include a strict membership and a top class restaurant etc. It was 1969 I was still only 19 and engaged to Wendy. I set about finding a premises’ for the club, I had decided it needed to be a basement as were Tramp and Annabel’s and would have to have an upmarket address. I was driving into town one day through the Dublin’s fashionable Leeson Street when I spotted a basement To Let. I took down the telephone number and arranged to visit the premises. It was the basement made up of two large rooms with a garage attached making up part of a four story Georgian House number 62 Lower Leeson Street.(photo: Elizabeths was in the basement behind the lamp post)
It was perfect this was to be my ‘next big thing’.
At the time my company Mobile Discotheques was still very busy in the fashion show world and it was there that I came up with my next idea. Liz Willoughby was then Irelands top model there wasn’t a magazine or newspaper without Liz on the front cover she was after all an Irish icon. One evening after a fashion show I was having a backstage chat with Liz when I explained an Idea I had of her becoming my partner as I felt her name would be a great asset to the club and short track to it’s success, she would also be a great draw in getting a jet set clientele. I was amazed and excited when she agreed on the spot.
I had the partner I wanted, I had the premises I wanted, all I needed now was the small matter of finding the finance to build the club and guess where I went? Correct; my dad yet again. His reaction was what great stories are made of. “A what-o-theque???” he exclaimed. I explained about the success of discotheques in London and how I was sure Dublin’s jet set would love one here.
“So tell me about how you intend to serve alcohol?” The only way you could get a licence to sell alcohol in Ireland in those days was to buy an exciting licence premises that, even then, could have cost upwards of a million plus ( I was eventually responsible for instigating a change in these archaic licensing laws for restaurants by setting up in 1970 the Restaurants Association of Ireland, which to this day is still strong body) I explained to my perplexed father that, because I planned a restaurant in the club I could get a wine license and would sell it by the bottle or glass.
“Wine!!!!” My father laughed, “Are you going to tell me that people will go into your club and order wine??” You should understand why my father was so amused. In those days the only wine that was drunk was possibly a bottle of Mateus Rose and then only on Saturdays. The next question my father asked was about music, so I explained it was records only, this again amused him, “You can play records at home why would people pay to hear them with you and do you plan to have bands??” Again I explained that discotheques don’t have live musicians. By this time my father was laughing out loud. “You must be off your head” he replied. “NO ONE will go and pay good money to listen to records, are you trying to tell me someone puts a record on and then a load of strangers get up and dance, who chooses the record???” I explained about the job of a disc jockey. “ You mean someone dresses as a jockey and plays records, people can only drink wine and you think the Irish will go for this? The answer is no, forget it, it won/t work and I’m not giving any money towards this crazy, ridicules idea!!!”
(photo: My father Dr Stanley Boland on his beloved horse Christobel, setting off with The South County Dublin Hunt)
To be continued........
NEXT CHAPTER: BARBARELLA'S, SACHS HOTEL, BIG HOUSES AND BROKE!
MY STORY Part 3
Wine, Women and Song
So now I was back living in Ireland with my mum and dad again, no band and no idea what I wanted to do except of course to be rich
Girls. I was a bit different to many of my friends who boasted about their one night stands etc, I was only interested in steady girlfriends , although I had a few one night stands until I met Jennifer, she was to be my first love and we were crazy about each other although I had a feeling her dad and older brother weren’t too happy with her dating me, I felt and I might be wrong but it was because I was Jewish though nothing was ever said. Up to that point I don’t remember having much sex, possibly few gropes outside the cinema and of course the German incident, my affair with Jennifer was far from that, we were both young and spent a lot of time enjoying the sexual adventure that young teenagers did, that was until her dad found out and threatened to kill me!
I had to borrow my mum’s car when possible to get around, having to get a 64A bus into work and to walk from Collage Green to Gardner Street where OKB had their offices took about 20 minutes in the rain, which we have a lot of in Ireland, wasn’t very
It was 1968 and time for change of Job and girlfriend! I can’t remember where I got the idea but I introduced the first mobile discotheque to Ireland. I got together with one of Ireland trendiest disc jockeys B.P Fallon and persuaded my dad do give me the money to get the mobile unite specially built. At 15 pounds a time or extra for psychedelic lighting (about 500 Euro in today's money) it didn’t take long before bookings started to come in for private parties. I then hit on the idea that we should introduce recorded music to fashion shows. Up to that time ALL fashion shows were accompanied with some ould geezer on keyboards. The first fashion show job almost put an end to my new enterprise. It was held at the then fashionable 5 star Gresham Hotel; on arrival we were met with strike placards demanding that the mobile disco would not replace a musician’s income. The strike was called by the Irish Federation of Musicians!!! But the show went on and we continued to replace musicians throughout the country bringing the very latest music to the world of fashion shows. I had set a precedent that saw the end of live music at fashion shows in Ireland forever.
It was around this time that I decided to break up with Jennifer and started to date a young model called Mia, it wasn’t very serious, more a friend than a girlfriend. I was enjoying the success of the mobile discotheques. I Was also excited about a new phenomenon taking place in London ‘Discotheques’ I was sure I could bring this to Ireland and make it my next BIG thing.
A friend of mine called me, knowing I liked models, tipped me off about a stunning model appearing at a fashion show in Dublin’s mansion house, so without further ado myself and my friend Ronnie Chandler took ourselves off to see this model. Wendy walked on stage wearing a one peace swim suit, I almost collapsed!! I swear I had NEVER seen a girl like her she was without doubt the most beautiful girl I had ever laid my eyes on , I fell head over heels there and then! This was my dream girl. Wendy Gilbertson was a year younger than me, she was born in Scotland but moved with her family to South Africa when she was six months old. Her Father was posted to Dublin as MD of Yardley Cosmetics. Wendy was then in a relationship with the then Lord Mayor of Dublin’s son, but that didn’t deter me, I was starry eyed about her and nothing was going to get in my way.
As I said, I was now taking a serious interest in London’s discotheque scene, I had visited a few of the clubs and loved Tramp and Annabel’s two of London’s top clubs where the rich and famous hung out. So I decided it was time that Dublin should have one of these Discotheques. There were two small Dublin clubs that superseded me to the prize of claiming being Irelands first Discotheque but my plans were to be more in line with the top London clubs to include a strict membership and a top class restaurant etc. It was 1969 I was still only 19 and engaged to Wendy. I set about finding a premises’ for the club, I had decided it needed to be a basement as were Tramp and Annabel’s and would have to have an upmarket address. I was driving into town one day through the Dublin’s fashionable Leeson Street when I spotted a basement To Let. I took down the telephone number and arranged to visit the premises. It was the basement made up of two large rooms with a garage attached making up part of a four story Georgian House number 62 Lower Leeson Street.(photo: Elizabeths was in the basement behind the lamp post)
It was perfect this was to be my ‘next big thing’.
At the time my company Mobile Discotheques was still very busy in the fashion show world and it was there that I came up with my next idea. Liz Willoughby was then Irelands top model there wasn’t a magazine or newspaper without Liz on the front cover she was after all an Irish icon. One evening after a fashion show I was having a backstage chat with Liz when I explained an Idea I had of her becoming my partner as I felt her name would be a great asset to the club and short track to it’s success, she would also be a great draw in getting a jet set clientele. I was amazed and excited when she agreed on the spot.
I had the partner I wanted, I had the premises I wanted, all I needed now was the small matter of finding the finance to build the club and guess where I went? Correct; my dad yet again. His reaction was what great stories are made of. “A what-o-theque???” he exclaimed. I explained about the success of discotheques in London and how I was sure Dublin’s jet set would love one here.
“Wine!!!!” My father laughed, “Are you going to tell me that people will go into your club and order wine??” You should understand why my father was so amused. In those days the only wine that was drunk was possibly a bottle of Mateus Rose and then only on Saturdays. The next question my father asked was about music, so I explained it was records only, this again amused him, “You can play records at home why would people pay to hear them with you and do you plan to have bands??” Again I explained that discotheques don’t have live musicians. By this time my father was laughing out loud. “You must be off your head” he replied. “NO ONE will go and pay good money to listen to records, are you trying to tell me someone puts a record on and then a load of strangers get up and dance, who chooses the record???” I explained about the job of a disc jockey. “ You mean someone dresses as a jockey and plays records, people can only drink wine and you think the Irish will go for this? The answer is no, forget it, it won/t work and I’m not giving any money towards this crazy, ridicules idea!!!”
(photo: My father Dr Stanley Boland on his beloved horse Christobel, setting off with The South County Dublin Hunt)
To be continued........
NEXT CHAPTER: BARBARELLA'S, SACHS HOTEL, BIG HOUSES AND BROKE!
Tuesday, 11 March 2014
Chapter 9: My Story.
A new life, new home, criminals and drugs.
After losing my property court case on the grounds of innocent misrepresentation, and Barbarellas burning down I honestly felt there was a sign from the almighty that my time in Ireland was up and perhaps I should move to pastures new. So after selling Glencarrig and doing a deal with James Hunt in Marbella to take over his discotheque Oscars, I began the process of uprooting the family and moving to Marbella. Wendy thankfully was very supportive of this move as she was partly brought up in Cape Town and was never to keen on the Irish weather anyway. So with three young children a nanny in tow we boarded the plane to Malaga and our new life.
On my last visit to Marbella I found a very nice ground floor 4 bedroom apartment on the beach next to Puerto Banus and felt this would be the perfect start home for our life in the sun. Again Wendy approved of the apartment and didn’t take long to settle in. Meanwhile I had urgent business to do in getting Oscars opened and some much needed funds to top up are every diminishing cash pot. Thankfully I met up with a young man called Daniel Wolf who although from Belgium spoke fluent English and most importunately Spanish and joined me as a right hand man setting up the club. Oscars thankfully was in very good condition and all it really needed was a good clean up etc.
I loved Puerto Banus at night and started to visit it practically every evening to hang out in the Irish owned Patricks 19th hole bar. Although I wasn’t much of a drinker I really wanted to start spreading my name around by making new contacts, after all I was setting out to rebuild my life in a new country, a new home, new friends, new language and a new business. I met many old clients from the Elizabeths days in the port which was comforting away from home. I remember one night vividly; I had rented a white Seat Panda and had driven into the port parking in what was in those days was a large field directly behind the port buildings. As I’ve said I’m not really a drinker, but on this particular evening I had one more than I should have. Making my way back to the car park to drive home I was greeted by dozens of white Seat Pandas and hadn’t a clue which one was mine so I decided to walk back to the apartment thinking I would collect the car the next morning. When I returned it was obvious I was not the only one confused by the rows of white Seat Pandas as there was at least a dozen still left!!! I had to try my keys in each one until I found which my car was.
Most Sundays we would spend the day on Victors Beach. One Sunday Wendy was approached by a woman who said she was member of a
TV commercial film crew who were in Marbella to film a new commercial for Coca Cola, she asked Wendy would she be interested in the principle part. At first we thought it was a wind up but shortly after a contract was hand delivered to our apartment and Wendy ended up starring in the world wide TV commercial for Coca Cola (Photo: The Sunday Peoples write up. I wish I had a copy of the commercial it’s self) .
We were settling into the Marbella life style quickly and enjoying it immensely. The kids also loved the outdoor life, especially the swimming pool and the beach, they also settled into their school. So all in all things were already looking up I hoped. It didn’t take long for me to start meeting and making friends with a whole new Marbella crowed. One of them being an Alan Brooks. Alan had a lovely girlfriend at the time who I introduced to Wendy as both enjoyed playing tennis. Alan approached me one day telling me he was bored doing nothing and could he make an investment in Oscars. I was grateful of the extra cash and after working out a deal we shook hands and I had a new partner. One day whilst Wendy was playing tennis with Alan’s girlfriend he came around for a chat. He told me he needed to let me know something about his past now that we were going to be partners and that was that he was wanted by the police in England for stealing cars. He explained that he owned a car dealership in Blackpool specialising in top end cars like Jaguar and Rang Rover. He sold the cars but never paid British Leyland and simply upped and left UK for good. To say I was shocked would have been an understatement I was left speechless, I had known of a large criminal community who lived in Marbella as there was no extradition agreement at the time between Spain and UK but certainly never wanted to knowingly mix with any of them. After Alan had delivered this shattering news all I thought of was; 1. he’ll steel from me and .2. Oscars will be full of crooks. I immediately told Alan there would be no deal and he could not buy into the club. To say he was furious would be an understatement but I stood by my decision and that was that, my first encounter with a Marbella criminal!!! Incidentally I wasn’t that surprised when I read the headlines a few months ago that read: Notorious drug smuggler, 61, who lived a champagne lifestyle in luxurious Spanish villa is caught bringing £134million of cocaine into Britain on his yacht. I think I made the correct decision?
This was taken on the day of Oscars launch party, take note of my dyed hair colour.
By the time Oscars was ready to open and all the licenses were in place we had been living in Marbella for almost 6 months. I had got to know a lot of expats living in and around Marbella and it wasn’t that difficult to have a full house at Oscars opening party. The place looked wonderful the staff that Daniel employed seemed top class. Now all I needed was to hear those cash registers ringing!!! Everything felt so right I thought. .
As well as Marbella’s reputation of harbouring UK criminals it was also well known for the famous celebrities who lived there, names like Rod Stewart, Sean Connery, arms dealer billionaire Adnan Khashoggi to name but a few. I hadn’t met anyone famous yet until one morning there was a knock of the apartment door, when I opened it I nearly collapsed because there stood in front of me larger than life Bruce Forsyth. I just stood like an idiot with my mouth opened, you must remember at that time he was hosting the BBC television show The Generation Game so he was one of television’s most recognised stars (almost 30 years on Sir Bruce still is one of the most recognised face on British TV. Good on him) . “Sorry to disturb you” he said “but if you have a phone I would be very grateful if you let me use it?” So among the chaos of the children getting ready for school Bruce bloody Forsyth was sitting on my sofa on my bloody telephone!!! After the call Bruce explained that a friend of his had lent him the apartment above us and it had no phone as he had heard our phone ringing and needed to make an urgent call he came down to ask us. I introduced Wendy to Bruce who suggested that the four of us should get together for dinner as Winnie, Bruce’s wife, would love to meet Wendy after he learned that she played tennis. So a friendship was struck up between the Bolands and the Forsyth’s, but not for long unfortunately. (Photo: Bruce and myself at Aloha Tennis courts. Notice my Oscars T-shirt which read 'If you have the balls we have the club.' a play on the fact that Marbella was a very popular golf resort)
We had been out with Bruce and Winnie a few times. Bruce was in Marbella to oversee the decorating of his new apartment and after a month he and Winnie left our apartment block and moved into his own apartment. Invited Wendy and myself for drinks to celebrate the move. One evening we were dinning with the Forsyth’s when I noticed a bandage on across the bridge of his nose. After enquiring what had happened He told me that he had walked into the glass doors leading out to his terrace, (something I’m sure we have all done) The next morning I got a call from a journalist friend of mine who happened to spot me with Bruce last night in the port and enquired about the bandage on his nose. I explained what had happened etc and that was it. But the next day in the Daily Mirror there was a short piece about Bruce’s unfortunate accident with a glass door and added as reported by his good friend Maurice Boland. I had hardly read the article when my phone rang. It was Bruce before I could even say hello he went into one saying if I thought our friendship was a way of getting information about his private life to sell to some rag of a newspaper I was greatly mistaken and that he never wanted to see me again! He slammed down the phone before I could reply. And that folks looked like the end of the Boland, Forsyth’s beautiful friendship! (More to come on this story in a later chapter)
Oscars was now open but doing dreadful business in fact all the discotheques and that was because of the newly found
popularity of Disco bars, most notably Joe’s in Puerto Banus. Let me explain; Prior to the popularity of the disco bars people would stay in the port until 1-1:30 am and then make their way to the clubs to enjoy the music and dancing but now Joes in the port and Willies Salsa in Marbella port were not only pulling the crowds in but keeping them there by providing room to dance and top DJ’s . (Photo:Inside Oscars)
It looked like my timing in opening Oscars was a disaster. We were approaching New Years Eve 1984 when I felt we had a half chance to make a little money. It was a tradition in Spain that clubs, restaurants and now bars would charge a one price and that would include a ‘drink as much as you like’ policy. I asked Daniel to find out what all the other clubs on the Marbella’s Golden Mile (the main road between Puerto Banus and Marbella town) where charging for their New Years Eve party and under cut them. Wendy and I joined friends for dinner at a restaurant in Marbella’s old town’s Orange Square to celebrate New Year’s Eve. After dinner my friends suggested we should all go to Oscars to finish the evening. I was very hesitant, in fact slightly embarrassed, as I didn’t want them to see what was usually a pretty empty club, but I agreed and prayed at least there would be enough people to make it look respectably busy. When we turned onto the road in front of Oscars we were met by what looked like hundreds of cars parked out in front of the club for as far as the eye could see!!!! As well as being relived just couldn’t believe what I was seeing. Oscars was heaving and Daniel and the staff greeted myself, Wendy and our guests with the widest smiles I had ever seen on their faces since opening of the club. It was simply a brilliant night. Maybe now I thought Oscars has taken off at last.
I met with Daniel the next day with a plan. Why not always charge one price and let our clients drink as much as they wanted, after all alcohol was cheep in Spain at that time and felt that most would never drink more than say a bottle. So the next day we launched this idea and thankfully the club began to work for a while at least. As business began to waver again I started introducing all sorts of incentives like Sunday afternoon sessions, worked a few times then it seemed once the sun was shining and that was practically every day on the Costa del Sol the people would rather spend Sunday afternoon on the beach rather than the club. I tried introducing food, that to was more are less a waste of time. Oscars just wasn’t working.
DRUGS: By this time I hated going into work in the evening knowing that Oscars wasn’t working and more than likely empty. I remember one night arriving at the club only to be met by an excited Daniel he told me about a very wealthy Arab who was inside the club drinking. He was known by my staff as a big spender he was also well known as one of Marbella’s richest Arabs. I was brought over and introduced to him and his two female companions. Unfortunately they were the only clients in the club. After about ten minutes he asked me to join him. When I sat down he inquired if there was somewhere private he could use. I suggested my office and asked me to join him. When we entered my office he asked me to lock the door, I reluctantly did as he asked it was then he removed a large plastic bag from his pocket which was full of white powder. Shit drugs!!! He rolled up a 1,000’ peseta note and inhaled the line that he had carefully laid out on my desk; he then laid out another line and called me over handing me the note.
I didn’t know what to do, if I refused he might take it as an insult, so I nervously took the 1,000 Pts rolled note a proceeded to also inhale the large thick line of the white stuff, I remember praying that nothing would happen and It looked like my prayers were being answered as I felt nothing happening. The Arab gentleman then laid out another two very thick lines again he snorted his one and offered me the other line and again I snorted it up like a vacuum cleaner. I just couldn’t believe what i was doing. I remember clearly Jack Cohn warning about one of the dangers of living in Marbella was the popularity of cocaine among the jet set and that I should be doubly carful to stay well clear of any temptation to use the drug. I laughed at the time saying to Jack I’d never seen a drug never mind take one!!! And here I was snorting cocaine. He then got up and left the office. I just sat there wondering what had I done, it was then I felt what I thought were my front teeth disappear and a magical high taking over my body, in fact I felt wonderful!!! I walked out of the office trying to act normal but I couldn’t stop smiling, smiling at nothing. I made my way onto the dance floor and started to dance on my own. My staff just stood laughing knowing exactly what had just taken place behind the shut door of my office. Within half an hour I started to come down from my high but so did the Arab so both of us went back to my office. I couldn’t wait to get more of this white stuff as the buzz was incredible. I don’t know how many lines I took that night but I know they were a great bowel mover and spent some considerable time on the toilet. From that night on the Arab started to visit Oscars regularly brining along with him his friends, I was delighted with the money they were spending, I was also delighted to join them in my office for more incredible highs . I must say Wendy hadn’t got a clue that I was now using cocaine regularly although I was beginning to sneeze rather a lot. One of the noticeable problems I was having was getting to sleep after arriving home from the club at around 7am every morning. I asked one of my new Arab friends had he any suggestions to help me sleep. He suggested I smoke some hashish to relax me. I really didn’t want to go back smoking after taking so long to quit. So he showed me an alternative way of smoking hash. He took a small pin and pushed through the centre of a playing cards, then he cut a small piece of the hash and placed it on the end of the pin. He then put a match to it until it began to smoke. He then placed the glass over the pin so that hash smoke would fill the glass, he then lifted one side of the glass and inhaled the smoke that filled the glass, and that’s what I did every morning when I returned from the club. I would us my bathroom so Wendy and the children wouldn’t see me doing drugs. One morning after yet another night of cocaine highs I was in my bathroom inhaling hash when one of my children started to knock on the door saying “Daddy what are you doing in there?” I just looked up at my reflection in the mirror and remembering Jack Cohen’s warning about staying away from drugs I put down the hash filled glass, walked out of the bathroom kissing my little son on the head as I past and from that day on almost 30 years ago I never touched another drug again!
To be continued....
Next: The TV show that lands me back in Dublin’s high court!
NOTE: ALL CHAPTERS OF 'MY STORY' CAN BE READ BY SCROLLING DOWN
A new life, new home, criminals and drugs.
After losing my property court case on the grounds of innocent misrepresentation, and Barbarellas burning down I honestly felt there was a sign from the almighty that my time in Ireland was up and perhaps I should move to pastures new. So after selling Glencarrig and doing a deal with James Hunt in Marbella to take over his discotheque Oscars, I began the process of uprooting the family and moving to Marbella. Wendy thankfully was very supportive of this move as she was partly brought up in Cape Town and was never to keen on the Irish weather anyway. So with three young children a nanny in tow we boarded the plane to Malaga and our new life.
On my last visit to Marbella I found a very nice ground floor 4 bedroom apartment on the beach next to Puerto Banus and felt this would be the perfect start home for our life in the sun. Again Wendy approved of the apartment and didn’t take long to settle in. Meanwhile I had urgent business to do in getting Oscars opened and some much needed funds to top up are every diminishing cash pot. Thankfully I met up with a young man called Daniel Wolf who although from Belgium spoke fluent English and most importunately Spanish and joined me as a right hand man setting up the club. Oscars thankfully was in very good condition and all it really needed was a good clean up etc.
Most Sundays we would spend the day on Victors Beach. One Sunday Wendy was approached by a woman who said she was member of a
We were settling into the Marbella life style quickly and enjoying it immensely. The kids also loved the outdoor life, especially the swimming pool and the beach, they also settled into their school. So all in all things were already looking up I hoped. It didn’t take long for me to start meeting and making friends with a whole new Marbella crowed. One of them being an Alan Brooks. Alan had a lovely girlfriend at the time who I introduced to Wendy as both enjoyed playing tennis. Alan approached me one day telling me he was bored doing nothing and could he make an investment in Oscars. I was grateful of the extra cash and after working out a deal we shook hands and I had a new partner. One day whilst Wendy was playing tennis with Alan’s girlfriend he came around for a chat. He told me he needed to let me know something about his past now that we were going to be partners and that was that he was wanted by the police in England for stealing cars. He explained that he owned a car dealership in Blackpool specialising in top end cars like Jaguar and Rang Rover. He sold the cars but never paid British Leyland and simply upped and left UK for good. To say I was shocked would have been an understatement I was left speechless, I had known of a large criminal community who lived in Marbella as there was no extradition agreement at the time between Spain and UK but certainly never wanted to knowingly mix with any of them. After Alan had delivered this shattering news all I thought of was; 1. he’ll steel from me and .2. Oscars will be full of crooks. I immediately told Alan there would be no deal and he could not buy into the club. To say he was furious would be an understatement but I stood by my decision and that was that, my first encounter with a Marbella criminal!!! Incidentally I wasn’t that surprised when I read the headlines a few months ago that read: Notorious drug smuggler, 61, who lived a champagne lifestyle in luxurious Spanish villa is caught bringing £134million of cocaine into Britain on his yacht. I think I made the correct decision?
This was taken on the day of Oscars launch party, take note of my dyed hair colour.
By the time Oscars was ready to open and all the licenses were in place we had been living in Marbella for almost 6 months. I had got to know a lot of expats living in and around Marbella and it wasn’t that difficult to have a full house at Oscars opening party. The place looked wonderful the staff that Daniel employed seemed top class. Now all I needed was to hear those cash registers ringing!!! Everything felt so right I thought. .
We had been out with Bruce and Winnie a few times. Bruce was in Marbella to oversee the decorating of his new apartment and after a month he and Winnie left our apartment block and moved into his own apartment. Invited Wendy and myself for drinks to celebrate the move. One evening we were dinning with the Forsyth’s when I noticed a bandage on across the bridge of his nose. After enquiring what had happened He told me that he had walked into the glass doors leading out to his terrace, (something I’m sure we have all done) The next morning I got a call from a journalist friend of mine who happened to spot me with Bruce last night in the port and enquired about the bandage on his nose. I explained what had happened etc and that was it. But the next day in the Daily Mirror there was a short piece about Bruce’s unfortunate accident with a glass door and added as reported by his good friend Maurice Boland. I had hardly read the article when my phone rang. It was Bruce before I could even say hello he went into one saying if I thought our friendship was a way of getting information about his private life to sell to some rag of a newspaper I was greatly mistaken and that he never wanted to see me again! He slammed down the phone before I could reply. And that folks looked like the end of the Boland, Forsyth’s beautiful friendship! (More to come on this story in a later chapter)
Oscars was now open but doing dreadful business in fact all the discotheques and that was because of the newly found
popularity of Disco bars, most notably Joe’s in Puerto Banus. Let me explain; Prior to the popularity of the disco bars people would stay in the port until 1-1:30 am and then make their way to the clubs to enjoy the music and dancing but now Joes in the port and Willies Salsa in Marbella port were not only pulling the crowds in but keeping them there by providing room to dance and top DJ’s . (Photo:Inside Oscars)
I met with Daniel the next day with a plan. Why not always charge one price and let our clients drink as much as they wanted, after all alcohol was cheep in Spain at that time and felt that most would never drink more than say a bottle. So the next day we launched this idea and thankfully the club began to work for a while at least. As business began to waver again I started introducing all sorts of incentives like Sunday afternoon sessions, worked a few times then it seemed once the sun was shining and that was practically every day on the Costa del Sol the people would rather spend Sunday afternoon on the beach rather than the club. I tried introducing food, that to was more are less a waste of time. Oscars just wasn’t working.
DRUGS: By this time I hated going into work in the evening knowing that Oscars wasn’t working and more than likely empty. I remember one night arriving at the club only to be met by an excited Daniel he told me about a very wealthy Arab who was inside the club drinking. He was known by my staff as a big spender he was also well known as one of Marbella’s richest Arabs. I was brought over and introduced to him and his two female companions. Unfortunately they were the only clients in the club. After about ten minutes he asked me to join him. When I sat down he inquired if there was somewhere private he could use. I suggested my office and asked me to join him. When we entered my office he asked me to lock the door, I reluctantly did as he asked it was then he removed a large plastic bag from his pocket which was full of white powder. Shit drugs!!! He rolled up a 1,000’ peseta note and inhaled the line that he had carefully laid out on my desk; he then laid out another line and called me over handing me the note.
To be continued....
Next: The TV show that lands me back in Dublin’s high court!
NOTE: ALL CHAPTERS OF 'MY STORY' CAN BE READ BY SCROLLING DOWN
Sunday, 13 April 2014
JAY LENO EMBARRASSES ME. A LITTLE WHITE LIE FOR PAUL ANKA AND I'M ASKED TO FIND 10 MILLION TO BUILD A CANCER HOSPICE!
It was the summer of 1999, it certainly didn’t feel like a year since I’d last appeared in Las Vegas, but here I was, this time accompanied by my wife Wendy, jetting into McCarron International Airport and yet again as a guest of Caesars Palace Hotel. We were meant to be flying British Airways but because of a delay at Malaga it would have meant we would miss our connecting flight at Heathrow to Vegas, so after I kicked up enough fuss we were kindly put on a flight to Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport and from there onto the KLM flight to Vegas. I was particular excited by this trip as Debbie had faxed me an advanced list of guests that she had already lined up and yet again she got top marks for the amazing array of celebrities including: Gladys Knight, Huey Lewis, Wayne Newton, Sheena Easton, Lance Burton, Clint Holms and many more.
View of Las Vegas Boulevard from the air. One of the 8th wonders of the world.
As last year, I flew in on a Friday giving me the weekend to go through everything before the 11am (8pm Spanish time) start on Monday of my week long scheduled live broadcast from Vegas to Spain.
One of the first things I planned to do was try and get hold of Paul Anka, who I read was performing in town. I’m a huge fan of Anka’s so this would be a very special moment for me to meet up and interview him, I also planned to invite American talk show icon Jay Leno by telephone link to join my guest list . So all in all exciting times ahead as we were asked to fasten our seat belts, put are seats in the upright position as we approach Vegas. This also is the first time I’ve flown into Vegas by night and I can only describe it as spectacular.
Saturday morning I left Wendy in our 22nd floor suit enjoying her breakfast of muesli topped with fresh strawberries, blueberries and kiwi fruit mixed in with honey yogurt accompanied by cinnamon toast and fresh coffee as I joined Caesars Palace’s public relations chief executive Debbie Munch for my breakfast and to go through the schedule and guests that had been booked for my up and coming week of shows. I told her that I heard that Paul Anka was appearing in town, but wasn’t sure which hotel he was appearing at, that I was anxious to interview him and was it possible for her to find out and invite him onto the show. Debbie called through to reception to ask where was he was performing only to find out that he wasn’t in town. I was really disappointed and told her I was sure I had read somewhere that he was appearing in Vegas at the time. Debbie suggested that perhaps he was at Lake Tahoe’s Harrah Hotel, she did say that IF he had been in town he would be staying at the Mirage where the owner Steve Wynn (who also owned Treasure Island and the Bellagio and now owns Wynns) gave Paul Anka his own personal suit.
Not wanting to give up so easily on my pursuit of Paul Anka I decided, after breakfast, to call the Mirage in the off chance that he was in town and this is more or less how my conversation went:
Mirage receptionist: “Good morning this is Michael and you’re through to The Mirage Hotel and Casino resort how can I help you?”
M: “ Hi, could you please put me through to Mr Paul Anka’s suit.”
M.R: “Who shall I say is calling?”
It’s necessary to explain at this point the next part of my conversation and why I used the name Radio Europe rather than Onda Cero. I believed that it was much more convincing to let the celebrity believe he was speaking to a major radio station with the name Radio Europe than Onda Cero. Now that I’ve cleared that up, let’s get back to the conversation.
M: “It’s Radio Europe and I have an arranged interview with Mr Anka.” Perhaps a little white lie slipped out there!.
M.R: “One moment sir, putting you through.”
Am I in luck? I thought, IS Paul Anka really in town? I waited for what felt like an age when a very sleepy sounding voice came on the line....
PA: “This is Paul Anka whom am I speaking with?” He whispered.
Shit, I had woken him up.....
M: “Good morning Mr Anka this Maurice Boland from Radio Europe, so nice to speak to you.”
Before I could explain further.....
PA: “What is it you want Mr Boland? I had a very late night last night, I'm trying to sleep at the moment and you have disturbed me!”
This was not going well......
M: I’m so sorry ( white lie number two coming up) but I arranged with your office an interview.” You’ve got to love a trier.
Again before I finished he interrupted.....
PA: “ Mr Boland, I don’t for one second believe that my office arranged this and if they did I certainly know nothing about it!” He was now sounding annoyed: “Now, if you don’t mind I would like to hang up and go back to sleep!”
Shit again, I’ve been stumbled. I needed to do something and something quick as I was losing him. White lie number three coming up....
M: “I’m so sorry but you do know your album Amigos is number one in Europe." (most of you possibly know Paul Anka is not just a multi platinum singer but also and prolific composure and the album Amigos features duets of iconic songs that he has written with Tom Jones She’s A Lady, with Ricky Martin on Diana, My Way, which he wrote for Sinatra but this time duets Julio Iglesias and Celine Dion)
PA: “Really?” I detected a sudden excitement in his voice, had I pressed the right button I wondered.
M: “Yes, It’s a massive hit and I play tracks from it all the time on my radio show.” (Not a lie!)
I heard Paul shout out boastfully to whoever was in the suit with him that Amigos was a massive hit in Europe and that Radio Europe was on the line congratulating him. Anka was now AWAKE and I was about to reel in my catch
PA: “Look Mr Boland.”
M: “Call me Maurice.” I interrupted
PA: “Look Maurice, I’m tied up much of today and this evening, I’m having dinner with Mr Wynn, then early tomorrow morning my private jet will be flying me back to LA, so why not come to my hotel around midnight and I’ll give you an interview.” It worked; his ego got the better of him.
Around midnight I was ushered into Paul Anka’s personal suit at the Mirage by ‘his people’ It was so enormous it looked more like a large villa!
One of the new added parts to my Vegas shows was the Casino Game. I would set a simple quiz question and then invite the listeners to phone into the Marbella studios with the an answer . The first to get it correct would get three slot dollars which I would play on their behalf hoping they might win anything form $10 to $25,000! I would leave the studio and walk the few yards to an arranged slot machine, put the three coins in and pull the leaver. The listener could hear all this going on as I was mic’d up and so was the slot machine. This was a hugely popular part of the Vegas shows.
When I got back to the studio Debbie grabbed me and told me that Martha had heard what was said, she was not happy and about to leave! Without a word I walked straight up to her and said: “Martha you look wonderful and how much younger and stunning you looked in real life” Luckily she bought it and sat down simply saying; “Thank you so much.” That was a close call. Not a word was mentioned about the racist comment, in fact we got on so well that after the show we had lunch in Forum joined by her sister Lois who was one of the Vandellas and we spent most of the afternoon playing the slots!
Another memorable interview and almost as embarrassing, was with Americas TV talk show host Jay Leno, which turned out to be one of the biggest but yet funniest put downs that has ever happened to me. I had just finished interviewing Evil Knievel, who was in Las Vegas to launch a special edition Harley Davidson that had a photo of him embossed on the petrol tank making his historic jump through the fountains at Caesars Palace nearly killing himself when it all went wrong and he slammed into the hotel wall breaking almost every bone in his body. It was during the commercial break that followed that I handed Jeff (my producer) a piece of paper with Jay Leno’s private telephone number asking him to phone to ask Jay if he minded doing a quick link interview with me. I could tell by Jeff's doubting tone that he thought I was winding him up; “ You mean this is really Jay Leno’s private number?” I explained that I had interviewed him in the past and hoped he would remember me. By the time the commercial break was over and I returned live I could hear Jeff in the back ground saying: “Yes Mr Leno,thank you Mr Leno, putting you through now.” As always The show was being broadcast in front of a packed audience, so I was doubly chuffed knowing they would be very impressed that I had one of Americas most famouse celebraties on the line that is until :
Me: “Hi, Jay welcome back on my show and this time from Las Vegas instead of Spain ” Hoping that might just jog his memory of who I am.
Jay: “Hi Maureeece (as I told you in an earlier chapter that’s how the Americans pronounced my name) your very welcome to my country for a change.”
Yep, I thought; 'this sure is credible', here I am in Las Vegas with one of Americas most famous and richest celebrities chatting to me like a long lost friend, but then half way through the interview this happened.....
Jay: “ Can I ask you a question Maureeeece?”
M: “Sure, fire ahead.” I replied expecting him to ask what I was doing in Vegas etc.
I wasn't expecting this....
Jay: “WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?”
You could sense the silent embarrassment spread throughout the audience. It felt like an eternity until Jay burst out laughing saying: “Only Joking!” Jeff and the audience then broke into fits of laughter followed by spontaneous applause. I just sat there hoping that my blushing would subside quickly. What a relief I thought as we proceeded with a fun packed interview.
I had seen advertising hoarding all around Las Vegas announcing that Hulk Hogan and the rest of the famous WWF wrestlers were in town for a televised match at the 17,000 seater MGM Grand Garden Arena . That’s for me , I thought, So I took myself off to the MGM hoping for an interview with the Hulk. I marched up to the entrance stalls and proudly announced that I was from Radio Europe to conduct some interviews with the star wrestlers . A burly security guard certainly didn’t look as impressed as I hoped he might be. “Where’s your letter of approval?” he barked. I never thought of that, so I tried to convince him that I left it back in my hotel. No way Jose would he buy that, pointing at the arenas main entrance gesturing me to leave and meaning for me to leave now, if his expression was anything to go by! So with my tail between my legs I made my way out through the hoards of people making their way in. Once outside and feeling a little dejected and sorry for myself, I decided to wonder around the back to see if perhaps I could blag my way in through another entrance.
Jeff brought in the Las Vegas Sun newspaper for me to read pointing out a half page about; 'the Irish presenter from Spain broadcasting live from Caesars Palace' .
Sadly my time in Las Vegas came all too soon and as I bid Debbie farewell she said that she looks forward to me returning again next year I remember thinking on the plane on the way back to Spain if I did return to Las Vegas how could I top this years show? (I did go back the following year and the only clue I’ll let you in on now is that I felt slightly sea sick every time I broadcast the show! More in a later chapter)
Sadly thee end this trip to Las Vegas came all too soon and as I bid Debbie farewell she said that she looks forward to me returning again next year. I remember thinking on the plane on the way back to Spain how could I top that this years show. (I did go back the following year and the only clue I’ll let you in on now is that I felt slightly sea sick every time I broadcast the show! More in a later chapter)
It didn’t take long before I settled back into my Marbella life presenting my radio show on Onda Cero. One evening after my show , I was about to leave the studio when I answered the phone. It was a woman who introduced herself as Joan Hunt,(see photo) she asked to speak to Maurice Boland? No sooner had I said it was me than she started to explain that she was building a cancer hospice in Arroya del Miel (a small town about 30 minutes from Marbella direction Malaga) and she needed help..
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Me: “Okay Joan what is it you need?”
Joan: “I need help to raise 10 million pesetas.”
I was stunned, that is equivalent to 60,000 Euro in today’s money! After catching my breath I asked again; “So what is it you want me to do?”
Joan; “I hear you could help me raise the 10 million.”
Now let me put this into some sort of perspective. Back in 1999 the sort of money you might be expected to raise at a charity event would be tops 1 million pesetas (6,000 Euros) and I mean tops and here I was being asked to find 10 million!!! Joan went on to explain that the builder wouldn’t complete the roof on the hospice unless he got the 10 million that was needed in advance.
M: “When do you need this by?” I asked
Joan: “Within the next 4 weeks!” she replied. I honestly thought it was a wind up at first but it didn’t take long for me to realise that she was being deadly serious. She went on to explain that her husband had died of cancer here in Spain and as she couldn’t find any palliative home care at the time she decided that she would do something about it, so she set about building Spain’s first cancer hospice. There was something very persuasive about this woman's plea for help, something that touched me from the moment she made contact. As I had lost my father to cancer and always wanted to do something in his memory I agreed to see if I could help.
With only 4 weeks to see how much towards the 10 million I could raise, the first thing I did was to sit down and make out a plan of attack. I realised I needed as much help as I could rally, so I got on the phone and rang nearly everyone I knew who could help. I then started phoning around as many golf, tennis and bowls clubs on the coast, that I could get hold of, asking them could they please put on a day of fund raising for the hospice during the coming month. I did the exact same with bars and restaurants and thankfully almost all agreed to help.
Just one more thing to round off my campaign and that was what I called my 'Bob Gildof moment'. I thought if he could do it to help Feed The World then I could do it to help Raise the Roof! I rang my friend the brilliant composer Paul Sedkowsk and asked him could he please compose a song to help raise the roof for the hospice?
“Sure.” He said “When do you need it by as I’m pretty tied up till after Christmas. would that work for you?”
“No Paul, I need it in 3 weeks.” I explained
I knew Paul could do it and left at that. Then I called my favorite female vocalist on the Costa, the incredible Mayte to ask her if she would lay down the vocal track when Paul was ready and she too agreed without hesitation.
Exactly 3 weeks later we recorded Paul Sedkowski’s penned Raise The Roof For Cudeca joined by the children from Stagecoach. Job Done!
(Please watch the video below it truly is amazing)
So all was now set for the start of this marathon uphill battle to raise 10 million within 4 weeks time!
What was to happen next was truly nothing short of a a miracle.
To be continued.......
Coming next on My Story: My wife pleaded with me not to ask Cliff Richard if he was gay! I'm invited to Barbados to broadcast and the man from Club La Costa says yes.
Saturday, 19 April 2014
BARBADOS PART TWO......
I woke up after a wonderful undisturbed nights sleep only to find Wendy was not in bed beside me.
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After breakfast of fresh fruit we decided we should go and have a bit of a look around the island, do our tourist thing, knowing I'm normally not a great fan of, we settled on a quick visit to Holetown which we agreed is as good a place as any to start. Wendy, as usual, wanted to look around the shops and I had the most unusual habit when visiting a new country and that was to look around the local supermarkets. I know, I know I’m a bit weird in this, but I just liked looking to see what produce etc they keep on their shelves.
Rory had ordered our rent-a-car but it wasn't due until later that afternoon so he suggested we just jump on a bus as they pass regularly outside the hotel. Taking his advice we rose to the challenge to ride in one of the local buses.
After a look around we decided that a cool drink was now needed . After finding a local cafe and ordering our drinks I started to read a tourist leaflet that I had picked up along the way about the history of Holetown: Holetown was first settlement in Barbados and was originally named Jamestown, after its benefactor, King James I of England. The first English landing in Barbados was in 1625.
It acquired the name "Holetown" because of the off loading and cleaning of ships in the very small channel located within the immediate vicinity of the town.
After returning to the Lone Star and still more than a little worried about my guest list I decided to take a walk along the beach to check out what was happening around us. It wasn’t long before I came across a small beach restaurant with a brilliant steel band providing the entertainment. I just sat for a while on the sand listening to them and when they were finished I introduced myself asking them if they might be interested in coming to the Lone Star on Monday to open my show. They were delighted and promised to be there in plenty of time to set up. With another guest secured I walked back to the hotel and spent the rest of Saturday with Wendy sunbathing and swimming. That night we were recommended a restaurant called the Cliff for dinner.
It is said that The Cliff is probably the best known and celebrity-frequented restaurant in Barbados. The open-air setting on a coral clifftop above a small cove and described as the "most romantic restaurants in the world' It's Split across different levels and dramatically lit by Olympian-style torches, there's not a bad table in the house.
I instantly fell in love with the restaurants stunning setting. The food was definitely Michelin standard. I remember sitting watching a passing cruise ship on the horizon with its fairy lights twinkling on all decks, I promised Wendy that one day I will take her on a cruise that will take us back to Barbados. Little did I know this promise would feature later in My Story but without Wendy and certainly not in a romantic way! But all that comes in a later chapter. After dinner the restaurant manager came over to offer use a drink on the house, I started to chat with him explaining what we were doing in Barbados etc and asked him if he knew of anyone presently staying or living in Barbados who would make a good guest. His eyes lit up as he suggested that perhaps Michael Holding the legendary Jamaican cricketer would be perfect for my show. Knowing how crazy the Caribbean people are about cricket I asked him if he knew how I could get get in touch with him. "Better than that!" He said; "he’s sitting over there." Pointing at a table close by. I immediately made my way over introduced myself by telling him what a big fan I was of his (Okay, Okay a little bit of exaggeration here, but a man has do what a man has to do!) I wasted no time in inviting him on my show and again I was delighted when he agreed. I made a mental note to read up on International cricket as I knew nothing about it.
When we got back to the hotel we decided on a quick nightcap before bed. Pattie Boyd was at the bar and invited us to join her and her boyfriend Rod Weston who had just flown in from UK. She suggested we join them tomorrow evening for a casual meal at a small bar in Holetown called Ragamuffins. She explained it was where everyone goes on a Sunday night from the local bus driver (don’t need to see him in a hurry!) to the wealthy banker. She said its great fun so we agreed to join them.
That evening we met up with Pattie and Rod and took a taxi to Ragamuffins . The bar was exactly as Pattie described, very local with a cross section of clients. Just after a delicious plate of Jerk chicken and chips. I got the surprise of my life when suddenly from nowhere three women dressed in shocking pink mini skirts started miming to the Supremes hit ‘Baby Love’. An odd looking trio would be the best way to describe them; the one in the middle had to be all of 6ft 5in the other two were short and very muscular. Everybody were cheering and in floods of laughter. Pattie leaned over and said; “You know they are three men?” Of course I knew!!!!!
Here is a review from Tripadvisore: ‘Oh my if you want a slice of local fun, this is the place to be. The infamous ' drag show' on Sunday nights is so much fun, BUT do book way in advance. We were there this week with a host of celebrities like Cilla Black and Danni Minogue which was so much fun to see them getting down and having a great time. The food is pretty ropey but you are not going for that. You won’t starve at all but you will laugh your head off. The ' Girls' are amazing, so funny and it’s a really good show, something so different.'
Unfortunately there was no famous celebs that night but I did end up getting the three girls, sorry boys, to agree to come on my show. If anyone reading this is heading off to Barbados for the first time I highly recommend Sundays at Ragamuffins .
I awoke very early on Monday morning, slipping out of bed quietly so as not to disturb Wendy, I sat on the terrace watching the reflection of the most stunning sun rising on the very calm Caribbean sea. I only had one thing on my mind, it was that pile of junk sitting in our room,I just couldn't see how it was going to be technically possible to make it good enough for me to broadcast to Spain in a couple of hours.
The show was scheduled to go live at 1pm local that’s 7pm Spanish time. Rory had assured me that the Cable & Wireless engineers would be here latest by 10am to set up and test the connection. It was now 10:15am and not sight nor sound of them. By 10:30am and still nothing, I walked up to the Rory’s office to see if he could find out where the elusive engineers were. Rory, as usual, was calm as he assured me not to worry they would be here soon! By 11:30am I was breaking out in a cold sweat still looking at the pile of junk lying on the floor of the suit! At last there was a knock on my door, ‘thank goodness’ I thought as I opened the door only to find the members from the steel band arriving to set up. I brought them in and let them get on with it.
I hardly heard the the engineers from C&W knock on the door over the racket of the steel drums. With not an a apologies in sight in they walked as calm as cucumbers and without a word gathered up the junk and started sticking wires and plugs in everywhere!
I hoped Wendy was keeping my guests happy as I kept tapping my finger on my watch trying to let the engineers know that I was panicking . Then the guy fiddling with various nobs on the sound desk looked at me and calmly said “Sorry sir. We can’t make a connection with Spain.”
“Are you fucking kidding me!” I yelled, “What do you mean YOU can’t make a connection to Spain?” I was now practically in tears it was 12:55pm with 5 minutes to go and I was sure back in Spain the radio station was announcing that they would be going live shortly to the Boland Show coming from Barbados.
“There is no ISDN agreement between Spain and the Caribbean” explained a super cool engineer.
“You had over a fucking month before I came out here to find that fucking out!”
I then popped out still not letting my guests know about the panic going on behind the closed terrace doors.
“Who’s Julie?” asked one of the engineers as he popped his head around the sliding door.
I ran back inside “We have Julie connected now” smiled the man fiddling with the sound deck. Julie was driving my show back in Spain . They had connected exactly with 1 minute to go!!!!!
WE MADE IT !
In the picture below is Rory Rogers, The Lone Star manager and Pattie Boyd
It was only after the show that I find out they routed the ISDN connection through London. Clever lot the Cable & Wireless engineers are but I could have strangled them at the time.
Miracles do happen, well they did for me in Barbados! With that shaky start behind me we ended up with a faultless week of shows with some amazing guests. A final note to the trip; what should have been a free ISDN line connection ended up costing the Lone Star $12,000 for the five days of shows! I hope that didn’t contribute to the hotel going bust but thankfully it was taken over by British multi-millionaire David Whelan the owner of English Premier League club Wigan who became the new owner of the Lone Star Hotel and Restaurant after purchasing it for over US$13 million.
Here is the Lone Star's website: www.thelonestar.com
Here are a few more photos of Barbados
From left to right: One of the entertainers from Ragamuffins (she's a he!). Mr Cool, the engineer from Cable & Wireless. Wendy with Pattie Boyd.
My Story Chapter 22 coming shortly
Sunday, 9 March 2014
Part 8: My Story.
What the hell is Innocent Misrepresentation?
The year was 1982 and Wendy and I couldn’t have been happier now a sale was agreed on Glencarrig; we had our third son Daniel to complete our family. I asked for and got an 8 week closing date on the sale of the house giving me time to find something for us to live in. To say we were relieved is an understatement. I had three wonderful healthy children, a stunning wife and money soon to be in sitting in my bank account. In fact so happy was I that I decided to throw a big celebration party in Glencarrig as a sort of goodbye to the house we hated so much knowing nothing could go wrong, now that the contracts had been signed and the deposit paid.
It felt that at last my life and my family’s life had turned for the better. I couldn’t have been happier that was until
Wendy recived a call from her father, who was now living back in Cape Town, telling her that her mum was gravely ill and suggested that Wendy should immediate make arrangements to travel to be with her. Her mum sadly passed away shortly after she arrived. (photo: Wendy's mum and dad)
With Wendy away I set about looking for a new property to purchase, this time I wanted to find something well within my budget allowing me surplus for investment etc and with the recession deepening the choice of excellent properties available with heavily reduced asking prices had now become the perfect purchasers market . The 1980s in the Republic of Ireland was one of the state's bleakest times. An extremely irresponsible budget by the majority Fianna Fáil government in 1977, which included abolition of car tax and borrowing to fund current spending, combined with some global economic problems to ruin the Irish economy for most of the 1980s, causing high unemployment and mass emigration. The Charles Haughey and Garret FitzGerald governments made this bad situation much worse with more massive borrowing and tax rates as high as 60% (with one Fine Gael finance minister suggesting people were not being taxed enough). Ireland was being referred to as ‘the sick man of Europe’. So I was doubly delighted that we had sold Glencarrig at such great price.
Four weeks after the house contracts had been signed I had a call from my lawyers asking me to come in to see them as soon as possible. I hadn’t a clue what it was about but I immediately made myself available at their offices in Dublin.
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The senior partner John Gore Grimes ushered me into his office and delivered the devastating news that the purchaser didn’t want to go ahead with buying Glencarrig and wanted his deposit returned immediately!!! I was dumbstruck; I felt that I had been just given the news that I had a week to live. Words could never describe how I felt at that moment.. I remember thinking this just cannot be happening; this must be the worst nightmare I’ve ever had, surely I will awake shortly and all of this conversation never happened. Surely he couldn't get out of a contract he had already signed and paid a deposit?. Unfortunately this was no bad dream this was happening there and then in my lawyer’s office. He explained that the purchaser, after signing the contract, did a search on the property and found the new Southern Cross motorway, which was still on the drawing board, would affect part of the paddock area. He also claimed he specifically asked me about the pending motorway and that I told him that it wasn’t going to affect my land and that I also advised him he should at least get his lawyers to check it out. John could see how devastated I was and explained that all is note quite lost and that we should sue him for what’s called in law Specific Performance which translates in law meaning that; it compels a party to execute a contract according to the precise terms agreed upon. Before I had time to think he then landed another hammer blow; that the execution of this recommended action could take up to a year before it gets to court. A YEAR!!! Not only was the bank putting pressure on me but the recession had sent the property market into freefall and I couldn’t even put the house back on the market before the case gets to court. I was now in deep trouble.
I began to think things couldn’t get worse, until that is, one Saturday afternoon.
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I was at home watching Ireland playing England rugby international when the phone rang. Anyone who’s experienced financial difficulties will understand what I’m about to say; I hated the phone ringing, I was always fearful it was the bank or someone looking for money I didn’t have, but the weekend at least gave you a rest bite from that worry, I answered the call which was from Barbarellas manager informing me that he had just been called by Dublin Fire Brigade telling him that there was a fire at Barbarellas. I jumped in my car and met him at the club. Barbarellas was destroyed!! Standing there looking around the smouldering club I knew I had lost the Barbarellas and my last source of income!!!
The call came eventually that the court case had been set and that a series of meetings with my appointed senior and junior counsel would take place immediately in the Four Courts law library. Nicholas Kearns was to be my senior counsel. (See photo)
I briefly knew Nicholas and I also knew he had an excellent reputation. The day the case was heard in the high court was one of the most stressful days of my life, something I never wanted to go through again, little did I know that I would be back here in a few years time, but that is a whole different story which I will cover later in an up and coming chapter.
I remember during cross examination the purchaser admitted that he was a conveyance lawyer and that my senior consel asked him why then did he not check before signing a contract re the planned Sothern Cross motorway? After all he was obviously on notice or he would never have asked the question whilst inspecting the property in the first instance. The purchaser replied that he had in fact asked me and that I had told him that to the best of my knowledge that the land was not going to be affected and he should check it out. I felt then that the purchaser was in trouble, being a conveyancing lawyer he SHOULD have checked it out, after all he must have heard of Caveat emptor, ‘Let the buyer be aware’. I believed I now had an excellent chance of winning this case. My lawyers, senior and junior counsels were all also quietly confident, in fact so much so that Nicholas promised that if by any chance I should lose this case he would defend me for free on appeal in the Supreme Court.
The following week was like living on a knife edge. I slept terribly and would wake up on the hour every hour thinking the unimaginable that I would lose the case. Finally the decision day had arrived. As I sat nervously in court surrounded by my legal team the judge handed down his verdict that he was awarding the case to the purchaser and that his deposit plus interest needed to be returned immediately. The court was packed, not only with both sides legal teams but my family and a large press contingent (Photo: Dublin's Four Courts where my case was being heard)
. You could clearly hear a gasp going out when the verdict was delivered. The judge said he was truly sorry that this was that outcome as he had no alternative but to make this decision based on the law of Innocent Misrepresentation. He went on to explain to me by giving an example of what Innocent Misrepresentation means: A man trying to sell his car he knew to be faulty by advising the purchaser to get the car checked out by the AA. The point being that the purchaser of the car would feel confident that the car must be okay as the seller would never have recommended that the AA should check it out. He went on to explain to me; I should never have advised the purchaser, after being asked if the motorway was going to affect my land, to ‘check it out’ I should have simply said ‘I don’t know. This is what’s called ‘Innocent Misrepresentation’!!
Hard to believe that years later my case would become a case study at the University of Dublin's law school stating that I should never have taken this case to court as I had no chance of winning !
I had said ‘things couldn’t have got worse, who was I kidding?’
Early in ’83 I sold Glencarrig for just enough to clear my debt and leaving us with a little to help start all over again. I was now 34 years old with a wife and three young children what to do?
I remember a family member Jack Cohn always enthusiastically talking about a place called Marbella known as the playground for the rich and famous, located in southern Spain on the Mediterranean. Louis Murray also recommended that I should take a trip to check the place out as it was a great favourite with the Irish and possibly a place to think of re-establishing myself. So with nothing to lose except the airfare and a hotel I went out and had a look around. I immediately investigate the nightclub scene only to find out it was booming, clubs like Pepe Moreno and Joys were packed. I liked the atmosphere, the wonderful weather and low prices compared to Dublin, a perfect place I thought to bring up a young family. So I started in earnest to see what the possibilities of starting up a club in Marbella.
I just can’t remember exactly how but I was introduced to the ex Formula 1 champion James Hunt. At the time he owned a discotheque called Oscars and was interested in selling it.(Photo: James Hunt in Oscars with Princess Gunilla von Bismarck and I think it might be Sir Dai Llewellyn)
I was shown around the club by his lawyer and liked it on sight. It was so different than the basement clubs in Dublin. Firstly it was a standalone property, it had magnificent gardens (I was told that the club was originally a chinese restaurant therefore the eastern style gardens) it was all mirrored and brass with marble floors, all so different to anything one would see in Dublin. I loved the place and now the only thing standing between me and my 'next big thing' was a question of; D.I.N.E.R.O I hadn’t got any or very little that is. I felt sure once I reopened the club and brought my expertise into play it be as simple as printing money. A meeting was set up between James and myself which was spent on his luxury yacht eating, drinking and frolicking around in the blue seas of Marbella. After many hours of negotiating he agreed to let me have the club on a 12 month lease agreement with the option to purchase. I was delighted and flew back to Dublin victorious waving the contract which I signed with James Hunt like Neville Chamberlain waving the agreement for peace that he signed with Adolf Hitler.
Pack your bags Wendy were off to live in Marbella.
To be continued.......
NOTE: Please remember that each of these chapters that make up part of My Story are just synopsis and when I get around to it I will complete the stories by adding not only words but some of the photographs that I have received since I started this journey. Thank you.
What the hell is Innocent Misrepresentation?
The year was 1982 and Wendy and I couldn’t have been happier now a sale was agreed on Glencarrig; we had our third son Daniel to complete our family. I asked for and got an 8 week closing date on the sale of the house giving me time to find something for us to live in. To say we were relieved is an understatement. I had three wonderful healthy children, a stunning wife and money soon to be in sitting in my bank account. In fact so happy was I that I decided to throw a big celebration party in Glencarrig as a sort of goodbye to the house we hated so much knowing nothing could go wrong, now that the contracts had been signed and the deposit paid.
Wendy recived a call from her father, who was now living back in Cape Town, telling her that her mum was gravely ill and suggested that Wendy should immediate make arrangements to travel to be with her. Her mum sadly passed away shortly after she arrived. (photo: Wendy's mum and dad)
With Wendy away I set about looking for a new property to purchase, this time I wanted to find something well within my budget allowing me surplus for investment etc and with the recession deepening the choice of excellent properties available with heavily reduced asking prices had now become the perfect purchasers market . The 1980s in the Republic of Ireland was one of the state's bleakest times. An extremely irresponsible budget by the majority Fianna Fáil government in 1977, which included abolition of car tax and borrowing to fund current spending, combined with some global economic problems to ruin the Irish economy for most of the 1980s, causing high unemployment and mass emigration. The Charles Haughey and Garret FitzGerald governments made this bad situation much worse with more massive borrowing and tax rates as high as 60% (with one Fine Gael finance minister suggesting people were not being taxed enough). Ireland was being referred to as ‘the sick man of Europe’. So I was doubly delighted that we had sold Glencarrig at such great price.
Four weeks after the house contracts had been signed I had a call from my lawyers asking me to come in to see them as soon as possible. I hadn’t a clue what it was about but I immediately made myself available at their offices in Dublin.
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I began to think things couldn’t get worse, until that is, one Saturday afternoon.
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The call came eventually that the court case had been set and that a series of meetings with my appointed senior and junior counsel would take place immediately in the Four Courts law library. Nicholas Kearns was to be my senior counsel. (See photo)
I remember during cross examination the purchaser admitted that he was a conveyance lawyer and that my senior consel asked him why then did he not check before signing a contract re the planned Sothern Cross motorway? After all he was obviously on notice or he would never have asked the question whilst inspecting the property in the first instance. The purchaser replied that he had in fact asked me and that I had told him that to the best of my knowledge that the land was not going to be affected and he should check it out. I felt then that the purchaser was in trouble, being a conveyancing lawyer he SHOULD have checked it out, after all he must have heard of Caveat emptor, ‘Let the buyer be aware’. I believed I now had an excellent chance of winning this case. My lawyers, senior and junior counsels were all also quietly confident, in fact so much so that Nicholas promised that if by any chance I should lose this case he would defend me for free on appeal in the Supreme Court.
The following week was like living on a knife edge. I slept terribly and would wake up on the hour every hour thinking the unimaginable that I would lose the case. Finally the decision day had arrived. As I sat nervously in court surrounded by my legal team the judge handed down his verdict that he was awarding the case to the purchaser and that his deposit plus interest needed to be returned immediately. The court was packed, not only with both sides legal teams but my family and a large press contingent (Photo: Dublin's Four Courts where my case was being heard)
Hard to believe that years later my case would become a case study at the University of Dublin's law school stating that I should never have taken this case to court as I had no chance of winning !
I had said ‘things couldn’t have got worse, who was I kidding?’
Early in ’83 I sold Glencarrig for just enough to clear my debt and leaving us with a little to help start all over again. I was now 34 years old with a wife and three young children what to do?
I remember a family member Jack Cohn always enthusiastically talking about a place called Marbella known as the playground for the rich and famous, located in southern Spain on the Mediterranean. Louis Murray also recommended that I should take a trip to check the place out as it was a great favourite with the Irish and possibly a place to think of re-establishing myself. So with nothing to lose except the airfare and a hotel I went out and had a look around. I immediately investigate the nightclub scene only to find out it was booming, clubs like Pepe Moreno and Joys were packed. I liked the atmosphere, the wonderful weather and low prices compared to Dublin, a perfect place I thought to bring up a young family. So I started in earnest to see what the possibilities of starting up a club in Marbella.
I just can’t remember exactly how but I was introduced to the ex Formula 1 champion James Hunt. At the time he owned a discotheque called Oscars and was interested in selling it.(Photo: James Hunt in Oscars with Princess Gunilla von Bismarck and I think it might be Sir Dai Llewellyn)
Pack your bags Wendy were off to live in Marbella.
To be continued.......
NOTE: Please remember that each of these chapters that make up part of My Story are just synopsis and when I get around to it I will complete the stories by adding not only words but some of the photographs that I have received since I started this journey. Thank you.
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