Thom Hickey one of the blessed 50s baby boomer generation, was born in London into an Irish family and formally educated at catholic schools and Cambridge University. More importantly he was informally educated by the BBC, The Observer, The New Statesman and The New Yorker. His music professors were radio giants Charlie Gillett, John Peel and Emperor Rosko. The print columns of Richard Williams, Ian MacDonald and Tony Russell were religiously read and annotated.
Further intensive study was conducted at the Hammersmith Odeon, the Hope and Anchor, the 100 Club, Ronnie Scott’s and the Rainbow. Many investment portfolios were foresworn in favour of sourcing recorded treasures from the hallowed halls of HMV, Colletts, Tower and Virgin Records and mail order outfits galore.
He has a continuing belief that you can never watch too many Westerns or Ken Burns documentaries, read enough biographies about Samuel Beckett or Buster Keaton and that there is always just one more Bob Dylan bootleg he needs.
To finance his obsessions he has worked in financial recruitment, as a charity campaigner and been a senior investigator into complaints about the NHS. He now lives deep in the Surrey woods with his beautiful wife, graceful daughter and inspirational son.
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The Immortal Jukebox 
Thom,
A visit the “the jukebox” is always worth the trip.
I’ve been reading Count Basie’s engaging and surprisingly self-effacing autobiography, which you might enjoy if you haven’t read it; and it put me in mind of a guy that those of us in the U.S. who like to reminisce about post-war jazz bands, tend to forget; and that’s Ted Heath – mostly, I guess, because the personnel he relied on was rather different from the bunch of guys who seemed to drift from one musical organization to another this side of the Atlantic. But Heath and his guys played as well as anybody; his arrangements were great; and everybody loved to listen to them.
I realize big band jazz isn’t your main point of musical interest, but you are old enough to remember the time you do have an appreciation for anything with notes in it. Heath’s certainly a guy worthy of the appreciation pieces you do so well.
Regards.
Terry
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Great to hear from you. I have a couple of Ted Heath CDs which I really enjoy. Might be a while before he gets to the top of my very long, ‘to be written about’ list!
Thanks for kind word. Keep visiting. Thom.
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Hey cool dude – thanks for following my blog! I will peruse your blog properly when I return from a trip across the pond. Kerry
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Thanks Kerry. Hope you will find much to enjoy here on The Jukebox. Regards Thom.
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Have you ever listened to Larry Norman? I’d be curious to hear your thoughts, but if you’re unfamiliar with him you would probably need to listen to too many of his songs before you could offer a fair appraisal.
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Thanks Rob. Have to say that I have never come across his work. Thom.
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