My Parents
Firstly, my undying thanks to my parents, May Louise Dellow and Ernest Joseph Dellow, without whose support and forbearance throughout many years of practising both on the drums and later on the keyboards, I would never have been able to pursue what has always been my first and abiding love : music. Thanks, Mum and Dad, and may you both rest in peace.
My Teachers
I have many, very mixed, memories of my school life and my teachers. Some of them, as far as I can remember, were sent straight from the Devil's own gestapo ( and you know who you are, Mr. Styles ). Some, on the other hand, I remember with great fondness - perhaps surprisingly, some of those are the ones who wielded the cane on a regular basis. There are too many to name them all here, and I can't really remember much before Junior School, but the ones who deserve a mention are as follows.
From my alma mater, Abbs Cross Technical High School :
Mr. Sharp ( whose first name I believe was Paul ), and who suffered me not only as my English teacher but also as my form teacher somewhere around the third year. It was he who was primarily responsible for my subsequent love affair with the English Language, despite the fact that he practically had to use a taser to get any homework out of me at the time.
Judy O'Brien, my 'O' level art teacher. As well as allowing me to draw Star Trek cartoons during class time, she was of great help to all of us in her class at the time in getting us through the Art 'O' level. She was also quite good-looking, I seem to remember ...
David 'Edgar' Broughton, my form teacher somewhere around the fifth or sixth form. It was with his help that the makeshift trio of myself, John Blackwell and Colin Freeman were allowed to perform 'Hold Your Head Up' and 'Stairway To Heaven' in high school assembly - one of my fondest musical memories to this day.
From my junior school, Branfil :
Mr. Sumner, who I believe was my second-year class teacher. If anyone's reading this who knew him and remembers what he looked like then, I still think there was more than a passing resemblance to Sting - which given the surname, makes me wonder ... but whether they're related or not, Mr. Sumner was probably the first teacher I remember from my formative years who was responsible for keeping me in line and introducing me to the concept of discipline. Whilst I don't seem to recall fully appreciating the benefits of corporal punishment at the time ( it's hard to think philosophically when there's a three-foot ruler repeatedly making contact with your arse ), to coin a phrase, 'it never did me any harm'. Mr. Sumner was firm but fair - one of the 'old school' of teachers who, I have no doubt, genuinely cared about his pupils and about educating them.
... and last, but most importantly, Mr. Jenkins. Mr. Jenkins was, as the name would suggest, of Welsh origin, and the first memory I have of being told that he would be our class teacher when we moved up from the second to the third year was one of abject terror. I was never one of the best-behaved kids in the class; indeed, at it's peak, I believe my reputation reached a point where I was being blamed not only for things I hadn't done, but things that hadn't even happened yet. Mr. Jenkins, on the other hand, had a reputation for not putting up with any nonsense : he ruled his class with a rod of iron, and to misbehave or speak out of turn was to invoke certain punishment - very often a ruler administered either to the backside or the palm of the hand. This was at a time when the law was such that so long as a teacher didn't leave a child maimed for life, they were pretty much free to dole out punishment as they saw fit : with that in mind, there were more days than enough when I went home with my arse looking like a relief map of the surface of Mars.
That said, I spent two years under the watchful eye of Mr. Jenkins, and during that time I came to learn that like Mr. Sumner, his strict sense of discipline was always governed by fairness and a genuine love for his pupils and for his profession. As strict as he was, I came to regard Mr. Jenkins as a friend, father-figure and role model ( not to take anything away from my actual father, you understand! ). Looking back now, although he almost certainly caned me more than any other single teacher in my entire school life, I remember Mr. Jenkins not only with great fondness, but with the utmost respect and admiration also.
Helen Ramsay, ne้ Borowski
Undoubtedly one of the best vocalists I've ever had the pleasure of working with. If Helen had never introduced me to her uncle, I would never have borrowed that first Bird organ, and in all probability my keyboard-playing career would have been stillborn there and then. I owe you a lifetime of scales and arpeggios, Helen. Not least, though, I owe you my undying thanks for your vocal contribution to "Lost In You" : having not only given up several days of your time to help me, but on top of that, having to work with a bad cold and a nightmare of a producer ( yours truly ), you still produced a finished article that was infinitely better than I would have dared hope.
Cannon
This was the first "serious" band I was in, and I enjoyed seven glorious years with Pete, Andy, Bob and Ken. I found out long after the event that it was only by the skin of my teeth that I got the job as keyboard player at all ( see bands ). Thanks for giving me the job, guys, they were seven of the best years of my life.
Sonja Kristina, Francis Monkman and Richard Wynne
When I decided to do the "Covered Up" project, Back Street Luv was an automatic inclusion, as one of the first songs to steer me on to the path of electronic keyboard music. When I listened ( repeatedly ) to the song back in 1971, I never dreamed at the time that I would one day have the equipment or the ability to record my own version of the song, and if someone had told me that in doing so, I would find myself enlisting the help of two of the band members and the man responsible for the Curved Air website, I would have laughed out loud. If someone had told me that Sonja Kristina herself would write two additional verses for the song simply because I asked her to, I would have stopped laughing and had that person committed. Nevertheless, more than thirty years after I heard the song for the first time, that's exactly what did happen. Even as I write, I still can't believe it. I've enjoyed all of the covers I've done, but none more so than this, and the kind contributions and assistance of Sonja, Francis and Richard have helped make the song what it is. Nothing I might write here would be thanks enough, but I hope one day to be able to return the favour.
The ex-members of "Dellow"
Not only for the privilege of playing with such fine musicians, but also for their assistance in recording the solo work that I've done since the band split up. Although everyone from the band was great and they've all helped me in various ways, I feel an extra mention is due for Pete, who after all co-founded the band with me, and without the loan of whose drums my son Richard might never have taken an interest in playing music.
The vocalists who have helped out with my solo work
To all of the various singers who have assisted me in the solo work I've done, too numerous to list in full, but amongst them : Abigail Deacon, Alex Wenman, Eve Robertson, Lola Edun, Liz Wagener, Tamiya Johnston, and not least of course, Tracy Gilmore, thank you all for your contributions, without which much of the solo work I've done since the breakup of the band would never have got finished.