Class Acts
ASK ANYONE TO NAME a famous Liverpudlian “Now, this camera was only brought out for very when playing in Hamburg back in the early Sixties.
from the Sixties and there’s a good chance they’ll special family occasions such as weddings, funerals “I had a dark room in our parents’ house on
pick Beatles bassman Paul McCartney. But Paul and barmitzvahs. I took the picture and carefully Forthlin Road: it was a room that went dark when
wasn’t the only one in the family who was put the camera back, but then I had to wait for it got dark at night. Thanks to books I got out of
destined for the big time; his younger brother Mike Dad to finish the roll of film to get it developed. I the library, I began to understand this wonderful,
found fame in his own right, and was also singer in kept on at him trying to get him to take more magical thing they called photography. I started
a band, Scaffold, a comedy group who had a photos of anything just to finish the film. He didn’t taking pictures of my comedy group, Scaffold.
number of top-10 hits including their most famous know why I wanted him to keep taking photos. And I took photos of my brother who was in a rock
songs, Lily The Pink and Thank U Very Much. Eventually off it went to the chemist and finally I ’n’ roll group. I experimented all over, taking
Having been lucky enough to be picked to go got the photos back. I remember flicking through pictures absolutely everywhere. It’s like everything
and interview Mike McCartney at his home on them thinking, ‘Where’s my albatross? He’s given in life – you’ve got to do it. That’s why I agreed to
Merseyside, we start our journey before 9am, me the wrong film, the stupid chemist! Oh, but do this interview, because you’re exactly like me
leaving plenty of time to make our 11 o’clock hang on – there’s a picture of Dad and there’s two at your age. You’re doing it. You’re not just sitting
appointment. This is in case of any disaster with of Aunty Mil… but where’s my albatross?’ And at home.”
the school minibus, which is on its last legs… or then finally I see it on the one picture – tiny little
rather, wheels. Thankfully we make it, despite the dots… my seagulls! That’s the moment I realised Pool of love
satnav playing up and a worrying light flashing on there’s more to photography than meets the eye. I We were slightly worried on the way in case we
the dashboard, and pull up outside Mike’s house learned about all these weird things like depth of didn’t get any good answers from Mike and maybe
with 20 minutes to spare. field where you can make it fuzzy in the wouldn’t have enough to write an interview with.
We decide to go and see if he’s ready anyway. background and the foreground and then you get But by this point, 15 minutes of non-stop
The door opens to reveal Mike in his dressing the clear picture in the centre. I’d thought it meant conversation has passed and we haven’t even
gown; he was having a bath when the bell rang, so you had to take the picture in a field…” asked the first question!
we leave him to it and go for a stroll down the Suddenly Mike jumps up and runs into the other One thing we want to know is why Mike stayed
road until we reckon he’ll be ready for us. room, bringing back an old camera – a Rollei living on Merseyside while many other stars moved
This time he opens the door and jokingly tells us Magic, which, he explains, ‘our kid’ bought for him down to London or elsewhere. He tells us about
off for being five minutes late! It’s already clear
that Mike is going to be a really chatty, kind and
funny person to spend time with, so we eagerly
troop into the house, noticing a door full of flyers
of various gigs that Scaffold and The Beatles played
back in the Sixties. We sit down in Mike’s living
room on squashy sofas and begin chatting.
He’s particularly keen to tell us about the new
camera he’s got, a Nikon D300. “Photography is
more exciting these days, working on computers,
“I had to
because you’re in total control... or should be!” he
tells us. “I spent all day yesterday trying to get
get out of
photos from my camera on to my computer, but it
hairdressing
won’t accept them. It took the whole day trying
one thing after another. That’s what I did yesterday
because I
and that’s what I’ll be doing today. It’s so I can
show our kid the photos I took at his last concert
broke my arm
and at the fashion show Stella [Paul’s daughter]
just presented. Our kid bought my son a D200 for at Scout camp.
his last birthday, so I had to buy a D300 ’cos I can’t
let my son have a better camera than his dad. But
I had to give
now I can’t open the pictures!
“I should explain to your readers that if I say
up drumming,
‘our kid’, it’s a Liverpool slang expression meaning
‘my brother’. I was talking to an American from the
too, so Pete
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and at the end of the
Best and then
interview it turned out that every time I’d said ‘our
kid’, he’d thought I was talking about my son.”
Ringo got
Developing talent
that job...”
Soon Mike is entertaining us with hilarious stories
about his past, including his first failed attempt at
photography. “I was about 13 and there were
these massive seagulls like albatrosses that would
sweep up from the River Mersey. I thought, ‘I’ve
got to show my dad and my brother this amazing
sight,’ so I crept up to Dad’s bedroom and sneaked
out his precious Kodak box camera.
Country & Border Life104 October 2008
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