Category Archives: Music

When I spoke to Wonder Woman, she had no clothes on …

Posted on November 9, 2025 by admin

By Ray Bennett LONDON – Lynda Carter, in her ‘Wonder Woman’ prime, stepped naked and wet from the shower as I said ‘hello’ to begin our interview about life after three seasons as TV’s top female superhero. Disappointingly for me, … Continue reading →

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When Topol stood me up to go off to war

Posted on September 9, 2025 by admin

By Ray Bennett LONDON – ‘Fiddler on the Roof’ star Chaim Topol cancelled my interview with him in June 1967 but he had a very good reason. He left his starring role of Tevye in the hit West End production … Continue reading →

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Giggling over lunch with the great Cleo Laine

Posted on July 25, 2025 by admin

By Ray Bennett LONDON – It was lunchtime at the Hotel Pontchartrain  in Detroit and things were getting a bit silly. Cleo Laine, who has died aged 97, was talking about Kurt Weill and the Berliner Ensemble when someone mentioned … Continue reading →

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Lalo Schifrin on his love of the music for ‘Tango’

Posted on June 26, 2025 by admin

By Ray Bennett Argentinian composer Lalo Schifrin, who has died aged 93, is known for his concerts, recordings, film scores such as “Bullitt”, “Cool Hand Luke” and “Dirty Harry” and TV shows such as “Mission: Impossible” and “Mannix” but one … Continue reading →

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The look on Anne Murray’s face was one of sheer terror

Posted on June 20, 2025 by admin

By Ray Bennett LONDON – One of Canada’s most successful singers, Anne Murray, who turns 80 today, became a huge international entertainer but she told me two things had made her nervous – performing in Las Vegas and at the … Continue reading →

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When US TV censored hip-swinging Tom Jones

Posted on June 7, 2025 by admin

By Ray Bennett LONDON – Fans of “The Voice” might not suspect that the venerable Sir Tom Jones, who turns  85  today, was censored on American television when he was younger. His show “This is Tom Jones” aired on the … Continue reading →

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Stephen Sondheim was grateful for London’s ‘fresh eye’

Posted on March 22, 2025 by admin

By Ray Bennett It wasn’t only Broadway that Stephen Sondheim loved. In London in 2011 to mark his 80th birthday, the Tony Award-winning composer and lyricist who was born on this day in 1930, accepted a Special Laurence Olivier Award … Continue reading →

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Stuart Margolin and James Garner: ‘a perfect friendship’

Posted on January 31, 2025 by admin

By Ray Bennett Stuart Margolin, born on this day in 1940, was one of the great screen sidekicks working regularly with James Garner. Traditionally, in film and on TV, there have been two kinds of heroes – loners and those … Continue reading →

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Elvis: The man who fell to earth and changed the world

Posted on January 8, 2025 by admin

By Ray Bennett Little more than 10 years after the end of World War II, Great Britain was a cold, grey place in 1956 when Elvis Presley, who was born 90 years ago today, dropped from the sky. He changed … Continue reading →

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When I mixed up Frankie Avalon with another former teen idol

Posted on September 18, 2024 by admin

By Ray Bennett ‘It wasn’t exactly Elvis in Las Vegas’. That was the lede in our story after my colleague Ron Base and I interviewed Frankie Avalon, who turns 84 today,  when he performed in cabaret at a seedy nightclub … Continue reading →

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