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"After school, my first gig was on television.

I had my first single ["I Love My Dog"] and it became a hit.

And from then on, I was on the road. It was my induction, if you like, into the life on the road,"

he laughed,

"with all these other groups, Jimi Hendrix being one of them, you know, starting fires on the stage, and me in the back room there drinking port and brandy with Engelbert [Humperdinck].

And it was all very, very fun-ridden.

We had a great time."

...Engelbert (Humperdinck), then someone, Sounds Incorporated I think, then Jimi Hendrix, then me - a prelude to The Walker Brothers, for the teenyboppers, sort of, winding them up. An amazing mixture of personalities.No one knew who Jimi Hendrix was at that time really. You’d hear, hey, there’s a fire onstage! And we came rushing down and there was this guy kneeling down burning his guitar. I was incredibly petrified, so petrified I couldn’t wear my new Arnello & David high-heeled shoes. I had to put on my plimsolls to actually move. All these people, the black arena… I remember an awesome concoction which Engelbert turned me onto, port and brandy. And that really did me more damage than anything else I was about to encounter six months down the line! On the other side you’d got Hendrix and his gang who were often puffing away, so it was quite a wild tour.

"I got to know Engelbert Humperdink during one of the strangest Rock Tours starring the Walker Brothers and a wild guitar blazing Hendrix!

That infamous Tour was undoubtedly destined to speed up my physical downfall during my early 60’s career. Rock and rolling around with that group of extreme artists introduced me to more dangerous intoxicants than at any time before.

Engelbert, in a amiable effort to subdue my stage fright, persuaded me to swallow a mouthful of his unique potent brew of Brandy and Port, something which I resorted to habitually thereafter and which to my eventual weakening and contraction of Tuberculosis, a year later.

Trouble was a song I wrote about TB."

Programm

Why Cat Is Sad

It was a rather disheartened Cat Stevens I met this week. He was sad for a number of reasons. The stage musical he has been working on has been turned down by most theatre managements in the West End. His latest single, "A Bad Night," hasn't come up to his expectations (though it’s No. 21 this week) and Cat now feels it’s time to extend his career into other spheres of show business.

"I’m at the crossroads now," he told me in a pub next door to his parents’ restaurant. "I don’t know how long I can continue as a pop singer. ‘Bad Night’ was an experiment. I’m not sure if it has worked out. I’m a little disappointed that it’s not doing better but I’m glad I took the chance."

Since he first appeared on the pop scene just ten months ago, Cat has had four hit records and an LP in the best sellers. He was one of the stars in a West End Christmas show and also appeared on a major concert tour.

"Everything happened at once for us," said Cat, sipping vodka-and-lime. "I didn’t have enough time to sit down and ask myself 'What next?’ I was just being carried along by it all, but now I must decide. I’m not going to do very much in the next month or so, except perhaps recording and writing. I also want to concentrate on record production which has been taking up a lot of time recently.’’

Cat has been producing the first record by one of his closest friends, Peter James. "He writes brilliant songs," Cat enthused. "I’ve just to do the mixing and we’ll issue the record as soon as possible."

But just what is Cat himself going to do next?

"I honestly don’t know," he replied despondently. "The next obvious step is films. I’ve had a few offers but the parts just weren’t me. Naturally I’d love to make a movie and I’d also love a TV series. These are the important things that really establish an artist,"

I asked Cat how things were progressing on his musical ‘Mexican Flower.' A pained look crossed his face.

"The musical is okay but no theatre management is interested. I have a lot of faith in 'Mexican Flower’ and if I have to, I’ll raise the money myself somehow. There are so many things I want to do though," he added. "You’ve got to keep going forward all the time and I must decide what to concentrate on before long."

Whichever road Cat Stevens decides to take he should be successful. With his talents and drive it would be difficult to fail