I think that with the Madonna / producer farago below,my original thesis has been more or less proved. That being able to name the producer of Justify My Love cold on a live radio quiz (“this was not a phone in if you know the answer” jobbie) was more difficult than these things tend to be. It was not even multiple choice. And then all you won was a Texas gig with a PA by Madonna.

A discussion on radio phone-ins at the weekend brought up one of my darkest moments in my pop history. Sneaking into gigs pretending to be competition winners. Y’see if someone won free tickets to a gig they would just add the names to the guest list. Hence turning up early to the venue and claiming to be that person would get you in. You weren’t even cheating anyone, since when the actual winner arrived he would have ID and be let in. Pop Will Eat Itself at Brixton was a high point for this technique.

I also got a free pair of tickets for the Reading Festival in 1994 claiming that if I won I would give them to my newly married, very poor friends who had met at Reading two years before and had not had a honeymoon. It was, in retrospect though, a lousy festival so I got my comeuppance I suppose. Sorry about spoiling it for everyone else who went though.