Freddie Starr RIP Page 2

Laughing out loudLaughing out loudLaughing out loud

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6JnhQxef9A

He was a rock and roll singer himself at the start.

Now I am a "Supporter" :D I was reading the in depth news of Freddie's funeral and was shocked to find that if it hadn't been for a generous funeral director who put up £20K to pay for it all so he could be buried in Liverpool, he would have been buried in a pauper's grave in Spain.

OK, he clearly mismanaged his money and in the last years of his life pursued a disastrous court case which left him penniless, but you would have thought that some of his allegedly close showbiz friends would have stepped in to give him the send-off he deserved.

You mentioned in another thread Herc, something about a stand up comic who said 'slither' which got me googling and I found out he was called Roy Jay and there is an old youtube video of him on Wogan. During another gig he bared his backside to the audience in frustration they were not laughing at his jokes and it ruined his career. He moved to Benidorm and did gigs there until an alcohol related death. After a few weeks passed where no-one claimed his body a friend and local businessman arranged a burial for him. I liked one of his jokes "my new girlfriend is a sex object. I ask for sex and she objects".

My God, that was some weeks ago and shows what influence I have on people on this forum (not like a certain other). :D

Yes, and I think it was about catchphrases and how they.........er, catch on, and he tried his hardest to get his "slither" accepted as one by saying "slither (as he sort of slithered across the stage).......you'll all be doing this tomorrow", and nobody did. I seem to remember he also wore a white suit with old style black prisoner arrows all over it, presumably to make him stand out, which it didn't.

And the story I read was apparently he was well endowed and on one drunken performance got fed up with the audience and so got his cock out and said something along the lines of "this is all you're good for and want".

Needless to say, his career nose-dived from that night on, and as you say drank his life away in Spain.

I think we can safely say Roy Jay was no stranger to drink and drugs.

In many ways, he was as much a rebel as was Freddie Starr: neither of them would hesitate to tell you (or indeed nightclub audience) exactly what they thought of you - especially after a few drinks.

Luckily for Freddie, he managed more successfully than Roy to keep his excesses within reasonable limits when not doing so might have blown his career to smithereens.

In 1981, Roy was in the process of filming an advert for Smith's crisps when the silly sod was caught snorting a line of cocaine on set.

He was promptly fired and replaced at exceedingly short notice by Lenny Henry who had to abandon his own comedic style and assume that of Roy Jay throughout the filming.

It's sad to think that, had Roy taken the drug in private, the advert would have gone ahead and it would probably have done absolute wonders for his career.