Mike Wilde

When I was about 4 or 5 my sister and I used to ride our bikes on Saturdays to the local Cinema
to see a Golden Oldie Double Feature (those were the days !! ) in Christchurch in New Zealand.

Because my sister was older and is a bit of a tricker she generally got to choose what we saw.
So I remember being absolutely gutted on one occasion because I thought we were going to see Ben Hur and was totally psyched.To my shock the credits went up and it was an Elvis flick.
Elvis in Las Vegas, Elvis in Hawaii .. Elvis in a cowboy hat. Elvis really got around !!
After my initial disappointment I started to notice the Babes, the Songs, the Sports Cars …
did I mention the Babes ?

My fate was sealed. By the way, I had a three wheeler to die for.
An ancient chariot that my mum had repainted. I was a tiny singing Road Warrior.
My first Public Performance was a year or two later at a talent contest in a shopping mall. Again dragged along by my sister !!
We sang (1) ..Raindrops keep falling on my head.. and came Second. I wasn..t really in to it apparently.

Singing in Public ??? Yeah … whatever. Where..s my soccer ball ??
We moved around a lot. Ended up in Auckland in the North Island of NZ by the time I was 11
and at my school we had an annual Eisteddfod. (Talent competition).
It was obligatory so I decided I would sing (2)..I don..t know how to love him.. from Jesus Christ Superstar.
My preparations were going really well until someone ( my mum) pointed out that this song was sung by a woman (Mary Magdalene to be precise) and maybe I should sing something more appropriate.

I was mortified because up until that point it did not occur to me that the fact that I was a boy singing a song sung from a female perspective might be inappropriate.

Anyway … I sang Edelweiss from The Sound of Music, won the Eistedfodd and got hassled for weeks afterwards from my classmates for singing such a wussy song.
This has resulted in a lifetime aversion to Musicals and I think it might also account for why I get nervous in Shopping Malls (see point 1)
This is my story .. and I..m sticking to it.
To Be continued.

P.S. I am actually preparing an Album called WOMANSONG.
It is songs written, sung or both by women that influenced me growing up
because it is the song that counts dammit and that is what is ..appropriate..to me.
mw