When our Brian met THE Whitney and James Brown

This week, Brian Moore answers our questions...

Q. What is your favourite song/album and why?

A. Abraxas by Santana. It’s one of their earliest albums and first introduced me to the magic guitar of Carlos Santana, tracks such as Black Magic Woman and the iconic Samba Pa Ti (the latter made even more famous by the Marks & SpencersTV ad) in fact, this isn’t just an extraordinary album it’s a Marks and...oh wait...

Q. What is your favourite film and why?

A. I found Darkest Hour (on television quite recently) very profound and The Green Book equally so but on a different subject. I’m a regular attendee of the cinema so in truth there are scores I could name.

Q. What is your favourite piece of classical music and why?

A. The Blue Danube by Johann Strauss for three reasons: I use it for a gag in my stage show, it reminds me of when I sailed down the beautiful River Danube in Germany and it was written in 1866 which is the same year I was born.

Q. Who is your favourite artist and why?

A. So many...Calvin Harris, Adele, Ed Sheeran, Thin Lizzy (I used to book the latter and was friendly with Phil Lynott).

I like anything melodic be it dance music or classics. This has been the most difficult question to answer! Or if you’re referring to art then Terry Bradley, I find his work striking and it’s great that he’s from Northern Ireland.

Q. What is your favourite play and why?

A. Blood Brothers - beautifully written and very poignant.

Q. What is your favourite musical and why?

A. The Commitments. I saw it in London and will go back at the first opportunity - musically brilliant and left everyone on an absolute high!

Q. What is your most special moment in the arts and why?

A. Sharing the Royal Albert Hall stage with James Brown at the DMC World DJ Mixing Championships. Accompanying Whitney Houston from her dressing room in the London Hippodrome to the stage for “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” was also pretty special.

Q. What ‘classic’ just doesn’t do it for you?

A. Any Bruce Springsteen song - all those millions of people can’t be wrong but he never did it for me.

Q. What do you plan to read/watch/listen to/revisit during the Coronavirus period?

A. I’ve just finished Phil Coulter’s excellent autobiography, I knew so many of the people he mentioned and I’m planning to read “One, Two, Three, Four” by Craig Brown next (a biography of The Beatles).