Entertainers Wogan: The Best Of

'The show went out three nights a week, live.'

Mr Wogan? You're on!

-'With a live audience,

-APPLAUSE

'and everyone who was anyone dropping in.

'The great and the good,

'the bad and the ugly.

'They called it Wogan. Ha.

'I never knew why.

'So, if you're sitting comfortably,

'I'll show you something I made earlier.'

God knows what they'll make of us in 25 years' time.

Today, we've got a show

stuffed to the gunwales with great showmen and women,

including Liza Minnelli,

Robin Williams,

Tina Turner

and Sammy Davis Jr.

All my guests today became huge international stars,

thanks to a combination of talent, charisma and staying power,

and very little to do with me.

My job was to cling to their coat-tails.

And no better example of this than the very first Wogan,

where I ended up clinging to Elton John.

APPLAUSE

DULL THUMP

Oh! Oh! Oh...

THEY CHAT INAUDIBLY

-I'm glad we rehearsed that.

-Yes, I'm glad we rehearsed that.

-Yes.

There was just one thing during that.

Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean live!

LAUGHTER

-I'll try and find Jayne.

-Yes.

-All right.

I'm going to do that every week, everybody.

LAUGHTER

If I live.

LAUGHTER

These days of course,

Sir Elton is happily married to his long-time partner David Furnish,

so it's fascinating looking back on this interview

which came just after his first marriage, in 1984.

-LAUGHTER

-So, how's married life suiting you?

It's...it's nearly a year, you know?

We've seen each other three times. LAUGHTER

But no, we're very happy. Everything's going very well.

Me and the audience are annoyed, cos we're about the only people

you didn't ask to the wedding.

We would have flown to Australia if you'd asked, you know.

Well, that was the great thing about getting married in Australia

is that everyone you wanted to avoid couldn't get there.

WOGAN LAUGHS

-Thanks(!) That's very nice. For Christmas.

-Yes.

Was it a whirlwind romance, because you haven't really talked about it?

-We saw the wedding...

-Yes.

..and then you've done this world tour and all the rest.

Was it a whirlwind romance, or had you been...

-..cogitating it for a long time?

-Well, I'd often done that. Erm...

But it was, yes, it was kind of whirlwind.

But I, no, I'd met her before.

Renate's an engineer, and I met her on the previous album,

and she was engineering on the Breaking Hearts album,

and there was a chemistry between the two of us, and I had no doubts,

and I thought at my time in life, it's about time I took the plunge,

and we had no serious thoughts about... Well,

-we DID have serious thoughts, because marriage is serious, you can't do it flippantly.

-Yeah.

-She's a German lady.

-Yeah.

-Is there anything of the Teuton in her?

Does she have strict ideas, does she keep you in line?

Yes. I think most people around me keep me in line,

otherwise I'd go completely off the rails.

That applies to people at Watford Football Club, my family,

my mother and father, the people that work for me,

because sometimes, in this business,

you know, you think you're the riot and you can get everything you want,

and you're hot-headed, and those around me just ignore me,

which is the best thing to do. I slam doors, and after ten minutes,

no-one's come, I'm going, "Where are they all?"

And...she's...

I think everybody around me's been pretty level-headed with me,

because I am a monster sometimes. I may be the nice little boy next door,

but you should see me sometimes. LAUGHTER

You used to have a very, very lurid sense of dress,

-but I see that she's quietened down your...

-No, I've toned down, yes.

LAUGHTER

The Vauxhall's outside, Terry. LAUGHTER

It's a tame black and white number you have there,

-apart from the luminous socks.

-Yes, it is, really.

I was going to wear pink glasses, but I think the, er,

the camera people thought it might go crazy. So...

Yes, I'll never tame down as far as that goes.

-I mean, you dress like that at home? You don't!

-Yes, I do.

No, you don't!

LAUGHTER

I'm not saying what I dress around the house in.

LAUGHTER

-This could be dangerous, enough said.

-You don't come down to breakfast dressed like that?

Oh, no, but I've got a fanfare. I play a fanfare every morning.

Da da-da-da, da da, da da-da!

So the staff know I'm up, I can come downstairs, and there's me breakfast on the table,

and it takes the length of the corridor before I get to the solemn bit.

HE SINGS A SOMBRE AIR

By the time I'm downstairs, my bacon sandwich is ready. Brilliant.

-Do you have appropriate music for all of your functions?

-Not really.

LAUGHTER

I've got Otis Redding music for when I go to the toilet.

LAUGHTER

No, not really. I listen to music all the time. There's music all around the house.

When you see groups like Wham!...

-They're fabulous.

-..or Duran Duran...

-They're great.

And I like Boy George, and I think, erm,

I think it's very unfair to pick on them because, erm...

Go and see them first,

and then make up your mind. I've met these bands, and I've...

They've got so much energy, they make you feel exhausted,

because that's how Bernie and I used to be at 21 years of age,

seeing Wham!, seeing George, seeing those bands, Nik Kershaw and people like that.

Fabulous. Good luck to them.

They're making great music, they're not doing anybody any harm.

I think give them a chance. You know, they're great.

I really enjoy their music,

and I think it's very silly just to dismiss things.

But you, looking at them, do they make you feel your age?

I do feel like a grandfather when I walk into the dressing room,

you know, it's... It's kind of like meeting the Queen...

Don't say anything. LAUGHTER

It's kind of like, what do you say?

There is an age gap, one feels an age gap.

But they've always made me feel very welcome,

and I am basically a shy person anyway, and I do, yeah,

I do feel a difference, but, er,

some of the music they make is tremendous.

And they've always been very, very nice to me.

Do you feel that your flamboyance has diminished?

Do you feel that you've changed at all?

Marriage, settling down, obviously is bound to...

I'm getting a bit more Hinge and Bracket, really, I suppose.

LAUGHTER In that direction.

WOGAN CHUCKLES

I'll always be sort of flamboyant in a certain way.

I don't want to lose that part of...

But, yes, I've toned down,

I've had to tone down for my football club, for example,

there's no way I could turn up to Watford in this suit,

the manager would fire me.

Absolutely true. Erm...

And I wouldn't dream of it.

But, you know, it's good enough for your programme!

LAUGHTER

It might lead to a certain amount of racy talk.

I was going to ask, because I'm sure there are lots of people

-who are trying to get their children to learn to play the piano...

-Yes.

..and, erm, children might say, "There's no need for me to learn.

"Look at Elton John. He just bangs it out there."

-Did you actually have a formal training?

-Thank you!

LAUGHTER

-In your own spontaneous way, of course.

-I started to play by ear.

My grandmother and my mother brought me up,

because my father was away in the air force,

and my grandmother played slightly, and my mother's sister played,

and so I started playing by ear, when I was about three or four.

And I picked things up very quickly,

and I think if you have a gift for things, then you do pick it up.

And then my parents insisted that I went to musical education,

which I didn't really want to do, and I...

I qualified for the Royal Academy of Music as a day student, erm,

on Saturdays when I was between the age of 11 to 15,

and I got through all my exams.

I didn't appreciate it much because I'd rather have been home

playing football or something.

But on recollection, I know it's useful. Thinking about it again,

it taught me an awful lot.

I'm very grateful that they did send me there,

because it did teach me a lot, and if you have a gift for something,

you can only improve your technique

by going to someone who can tell you about it.

-So you'd say to youngsters, keep up the piano lessons?

-Yeah.

If they're forced into it and they've no talent, it's a waste of time.

But, if someone has got a talent for something,

and they play by it,

then it is a good idea to go and have instruction,

and listen to someone else, and learn. Yes, it is.

You can always learn about something.

As ever, wise words from Sir Elton John.

Now, Liza Minnelli,

an entertainer who was born into the occasionally painful business

they call "show".

Actress, singer, dancer,

and, of course, daughter of the legendary Judy Garland.

Can I ask how your mother felt about you as a performer? Was she ever...

When it became apparent that you were beginning to come through,

you were succeeding, what was her reaction to that?

-Oh, she was thrilled.

-Was she?

Because we were great, great friends.

And it was the same thing with my father.

And they never stopped me, and they always encouraged me,

and gave me just...

smart advice, you know, for whatever advice counts.

They knew that I wasn't going to suddenly turn around and say,

-"Forget it, I'll paint!" You know, it wasn't going to happen.

-Yeah.

I wanted to sing, and dance, and entertain.

And it was marvellous.

Unfortunately, you know, my mom passed away before Cabaret came out.

So, even before The Sterile Cuckoo came out.

So she saw me on Broadway, but she never saw me...in a film.

-She never saw the major successes?

-No, no.

You must, you must regret that, looking back on that?

No, I don't. I really...

..I think that it's all OK.

It turned out, for everybody, the way it should, you know?

Yeah, because your mum's... was, of course, a tragic,

tragic end.

-Not really.

-No?

-No. I think that...

Well, see, people have a misconception about her whole life,

let alone her end.

She was a very strong, very kind of happy woman,

and she didn't like that to be part of her public persona,

because she felt it was nobody's business.

But she had a huge humour about everything.

And, even though she died young,

she did everything she ever wanted to do in her whole life.

She took every moment, and she ate it.

It was just marvellous.

Yes, you didn't...

But it was sad she went so young.

Oh, yes. That, well, yeah, sure.

I was sad when my father went at 84! LAUGHTER

-I mean, I'm sad when anybody goes.

-Well, of course, yes!

Let's have a look at that...

Because, really, the thing that really made it for you

was that enormous success in Cabaret.

-Yeah.

-And then the Oscar, as well. Possibly more...

Tremendously decadent atmosphere.

Yes, well, it was Berlin in the '30s!

Berlin, I don't remember it myself...

SHE LAUGHS

LAUGHTER

Let's have a look, a little...

-..vignette.

-SHE LAUGHS

# When you haven't any coal in your stove

# And you freeze in the winter

# And you curse to the wind at your fate

# When you haven't any shoes on your feet

# And your coat's thin as paper and you look 30 pounds underweight

# When you go to get a word of advice from the fat little pastor

# He will tell you to love evermore

# But when hunger comes to rap and a-tap and a-tap at the window...

DRUMBEAT RAPS

-At the window!

-Who's there?

-Hunger.

-Ooh, hunger!

# See our love flies out the door

# Money makes the world go round, the world go round, the world... #

COINS JANGLE

# Money makes the world go round The clinking clanking sound

# Of money, money, money, money Money, money, money, money

# Get a little, get a little, money, money, money, money...

# Mark, a yen, a buck or a pound

# That clinking, clanking, clunking sound

# Is all that makes the world go round

# It makes the world go round! # PFFRRRT!

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Surely, now that I look at that, that's got a very rude ending.

-Well, the whole thing is rude!

-A tad, yes.

If I'd heard that in time,

I wouldn't have included that, you know.

-You wouldn't?!

-Before the watershed, we don't break wind.

Well, I tell you, Joel Grey and I couldn't believe it when Fosse -

who directed it, Bob Fosse directed it -

wanted us to do all of these moves.

It was like this ritual dance and a lot of shaking your body parts

and at first we were kind of shy about it

and suddenly he give us this big lecture

and the next day, Joel and I were just shaking everything we had.

-And that's what he wanted!

-Hello! Bob Fosse.

You've got such a good voice and everything.

Are you sorry you weren't around in the heyday of the musical,

you know, when they were doing South Pacific

and all those wonderful musicals?

Sure. I think it would have been wonderful to be around then,

but I've been awfully lucky. I mean, when you think of...

To have one film like Cabaret is incredible in one's career,

but then to have New York, New York on top of that,

which is a whole different...

you know, can of beans, but to have the songs from that

and written for you, I mean, that's...

that's terrific, so I feel like I've at least been in there a little bit.

What's the best bit of what you do?

You do so much - acting, singing, dancing,

cabaret, movies, television...

What gives you the biggest kick? What do you like best?

Well, I think it all comes from acting.

You know, like, in the singing...

Singing, I think, at its best, is acting with music.

Acting is just making the words absolutely real,

and even dancing is movement that is acted well

and that's why I always, in my songs,

I always look for the lyrical content,

if there's a woman I can understand,

if there is something that I can relate to.

It's why I actually... It's why I looked up the Pet Shop Boys.

-Good, well...

-Because of their words. Their words are fantastic.

While you were here in April, you actually recorded a new album,

-didn't you, with them?

-Yes.

-So, will you give us a song from it?

-Really?

All right.

'Here she is with those Pet Shop Boys and Losing My Mind.'

# The sun comes up I think about you

# The coffee cup I think about you

# I want you so it's like I'm losing my mind

# The morning ends I think about you

# I talk to friends Think about you

# And do they know it's like I'm losing my mind?

# All afternoon doing every little chore

# The thought of you stays bright

# Sometimes I stand in the middle of the floor

# Not going left, not going right

# I dim the lights and think about you

# Spend sleepless nights Think about you

# You said you loved me or were you just being kind?

# Or am I losing...

# Losing my mind?

# All afternoon doing every little chore

# The thought of you stays bright

# Sometimes I stand in the middle of the floor

# Not going left, not going right

# I dim the lights and think about you

# Spend sleepless nights Think about you

# You said you loved me

# Or were you just being kind?

# Or am I losing my mind?

# Or am I losing my mind?

# You said you loved me

# Or were you just being kind?

# Or am I losing my mind?

# Or were you just being kind?

# Or am I losing my mind?

# Losing my mind

# Losing my mind... #

WHISPERS: Losing my mind...

Losing my mind....

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

The guest now whose passing

left a huge gap in the world of entertainment,

making it a much less exciting place.

Robin Williams was always so full of energy and ideas,

all you had to do was light the blue touchpaper,

retire and he was off like a rocket.

When he came on the Wogan show to talk about

his wonderful performance in the film Good Morning, Vietnam,

he seemed to think the flowers we had on set

made the place look like a funeral parlour.

APPLAUSE

MUSIC: Theme from Mork And Mindy

SOUTHERN AMERICAN ACCENT: We are gathered here to mourn his loss.

Dearly beloved, he has passed on, not...

Praise him! Know who he is! Amen!

NORMAL VOICE: Jimmy Swaggart bath products

and his new magazine, Repent-house.

LAUGHTER

-This is amazing. Thank you.

-It's a pleasure.

I love this, this is kind of a...

I don't know, a Jackie Stewart kind of room.

SCOTTISH ACCENT: Just go around the walls, aye.

-A little on the dull side.

-No, but that's great, though, you know -

the type of thing where the cat would go, "Where am I?"

This is actually about your second visit here, really, as a performer.

Last time was for The Prince's Trust,

with...with Prince Charles and Lady Diana. You enjoyed that?

It was fun, it was fun. It was very scary, though.

How did you get on with Prince Charles and Lady Diana?

I was amazed at... I'm so glad he left!

I was just like, "Oh, thank you, Lord!"

AS PRINCE CHARLES: "Off with his head."

LAUGHTER

Every so often, I would look up at the box like, "Is it going well?

"Thank you.

"Obviously, you can hear it, but..."

AUDIENCE JEERS, SCATTERED APPLAUSE

I know, I couldn't say it that night

and now they're going, "You don't even say it now."

But it was nice that he liked it. I think he had a great time.

Do American comedians,

people that you perhaps work with

in the various comic workshops that you do,

do they do a lot of stuff on our royals? Do they imitate them?

No, not too... I mean, they make remarks.

I think, just physical remarks, they talk about it.

I mean, obviously, what I did just then and people went,

"That's maybe our future king.

"We don't talk about your President looking like a turkey neck."

No, all right, they talk about... I don't think anyone does impressions.

I mean, a few people talk about Margaret Thatcher.

I once said that she seemed like Julia Child on steroids.

HE SQUAWKS

I had Ronald Reagan calling her at night,

going, "I've got something for you. It's a missile."

"Sh! I can't talk right now, Misha is here."

Tried different... Obviously, there is another one that went...

IMITATES A ROCKET

But I don't think too many people know about English politics.

I mean, I went to visit the House of Lords, which was amazing.

I've never seen so many old people in one place, it was wonderful.

It was nice to see them voting, going, "Time to vote, Lord Simmons."

"What...?

"Here!"

But then the House of Commons was... It was like a brawl! I mean...

HE BARKS IN ENGLISH-SEEMING SOUNDS

"That is roll-call..."

It's like Congress meets West Side Story, it's like...

HE HUMS: Cool from West Side Story

# Labour Party... #

It's wild! I loved watching it, though.

I mean, just coming over and seeing a different perspective was great.

We're always glad to see you. The first time I think we really...

you impinged on the consciousness was in Mork And Mindy,

and it was all that "nanu nanu" stuff, and "shazbot".

-You make all that up as you went along?

-That one, I did.

Yeah, that was basically the same as Good Morning, Vietnam,

just my act and things that I was playing with.

I mean, I would do stuff in clubs

-and then they would put it into the scripts the next day.

-Do you get...

When you do impersonations, do you upset people?

Has anybody written you a stinging letter?

Stallone, I don't think, was too happy.

I used to do a thing about him in Hamlet, going...

AS STALLONE: "Uh, to be...

"..or what?"

LAUGHTER

I don't think he was real happy about that.

He didn't come after me. He's come after friends of mine

and got very angry because they've talked about a lot deeper stuff.

I don't think Reagan is exactly joyous about what I do.

Implying that he is the world's largest Muppet is not a happy thing.

AUDIENCE GASPS AND APPLAUDS

-A lot of Reagan fans in the audience tonight!

-Yeah!

AS REAGAN: "I... Well... Oh-oh!"

LAUGHTER

Your stand-up routine, though, isn't just based on impersonations.

You create characters yourself.

Characters, yeah, talk about different things.

Some of them personal, some of them... I talk about my son,

sometimes I talk about sexual relations, sometimes I talk about...

I mean, it's the whole gamut, which is nice.

That's why I do it, because it's... it's totally free for me.

So, the cartoon characters that you grew up with,

they were your comic heroes, were they?

Yeah, that and Jonathan and Peter Sellers. I mean, watching...

How did you come across The Goons, the British sense of humour?

I don't know. Someone... I think my father had one of the records.

And you had a picture backstage of Morecambe and Wise

-and my father had... He had records of theirs, too.

-Really?

-Yeah.

-That's extraordinary.

He collected from all over the world,

but that's why I got to listen to those.

Just remembering voices

and seeing Peter Sellers before Dr Strangelove, in...

There's a movie he did called The Party...

AS SELLERS IN THE PARTY: ..where he talked kind of like that.

That's right, the big party in Hollywood.

AS SELLERS' CHARACTER: "Running around, going..."

Characters like that.

-You were Oscar-nominated for the role in...

-It was real close.

Do you like those showbiz...? Are you steeped in the lore of showbiz?

-Do you love all that stuff?

-No.

Going to that ceremony, it's very strange, because you're sitting there

and then when they announce someone else's name,

you're like, "Really?" LAUGHTER

And you want to be able to go, "Hey, Mike!"

IMITATES BLOWING A SPITBALL

HE CRIES

HE MOOS

You know, and you can't.

You have to just sit there and smile, like, "I'm so happy for you."

It was... It's a strange night.

Under every chair, there is a little pool of Dom Perignon.

And you look out and see all these happy faces, like,

"Just die, right now."

-You live in San Francisco, don't you?

-Yeah. It's the type of town...

I left Hollywood because I kept worrying about my career too much

but San Francisco is the type of town that even Fellini would go, "No."

When you walk... You're going down the street

and you see a transvestite nun.

You go, "OK."

That's like, OK, that begins the day.

And then it's from there. It's crazy.

I have friends who've taken so much medication,

they'll sit at a stop light and go, "There's got to be another colour."

Music, Maestro, please. A living legend.

Tina Turner, along with Elton, are guests on the first ever Wogan,

with one of her most aptly titled hit songs, The Best.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

# I call you, I need you My heart's on fire

# You come to me, come to me Wild and wire

# You come to me

# Give me everything I need

# Give me a lifetime of promises and a world of dreams

# You speak the language of love like you know what it means

# And it can't be wrong

# Take my heart and make it stronger

# You're simply the best

# Better than all the rest

# Better than anyone

# Anyone I ever met

# I'm stuck on your heart

# I hang on every word you say

# Tear us apart

# Baby, I would rather be dead

# In your heart I see the start of every night and every day

# In your eyes, I get lost I get washed away

# Just as long as I'm here in your arms

# I could be in no better place

# You're simply the best

# Better than all the rest

# Better than anyone

# Anyone I ever met

# I'm stuck on your heart

# I hang on every word you say

# Oh, tear us apart No, no, no

# Baby, I would rather be dead

# Each time you leave me I start losing control

# You're walking away with my heart and my soul

# I can feel you even when I'm alone

# Oh, baby, don't let go!

# Oh, you're the best Whoo!

# Better than all the rest

# Better than anyone

# Anyone I ever met

# Ooh, I'm stuck on your heart

# I hang on every word you say

# Tear us apart No, no, no

# Baby, I would rather be dead

# Oh, you're the best! #

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Well, that was...

That was a typically understated performance, there. Wonderful!

That's riding high in the charts at the moment.

-So, how is the old career going?

-Oh, fantastic!

-Yeah?

-It is, it's...

-And what about your life? You seem happy.

Yeah, I... I'm pleased. I'm happy a lot of the time.

It's not every day, but it's most of the time.

-We can't all be happy all the time anyway.

-That's right.

You're a great survivor. You don't mind being called a survivor?

No, because it's reality. I've survived...

a feat, I would say.

My parents... The section of when my parents left

and then the drifting into the marriage and...

So it's been quite a lot.

What was it about you, do you think, that helped you survive? What is it?

-Do you have time to hear it?

-Yes. Of course we have.

-No, gosh...

It was a lot. I have always been a loner, really.

I've always depended on myself.

And when a decision was to be made,

I simply need someone to basically help me to do it

and that was my relationship

and partnership, basically, with Roger Davies

and I would say my practice in my spiritual beliefs,

and I'm just kind of a strong person.

Do you ever feel like giving up?

There must have been times when you thought...

Well, I think I did give up in the book once, but I was saved.

-Right?

-You were saved? How were you saved?

Do we have to talk about that?

Well, I-I-I took some sleeping pills and I tried to go away very easily.

Better than jumping off of a building or something.

I went to sleep.

And so I was awakened by a knight in shining armour, Ike Turner,

just his voice sort of brought me out of the really deep sleep

and after that I decided, well, this is apparently my destiny

-and I won't try that again.

-And what did he shout?

Something like, "Don't die or I'll kill you"?

-You didn't read that, did you?

-One of the great lines in pop, that is.

That's right.

Now, you came across to England in the '60s, didn't you?

That's when you came over here first. You know...

The British and I think the Europeans have taken you

-kind of to their heart.

-Yes.

-Are you happy when you're here?

Do you feel different when you're here?

I came here, 1966 was the first time. River Deep Mountain High was...

..a huge success in London and I was thrilled. England was...

London actually was leading in fashion. The mini dresses...

Oh, it was it. I had... I had an energy.

There was an energy here that brought something out in me,

that excited me and I looked forward to coming back each time.

And then after that my career started here many years later with

Martyn Ware producing a song called Let's Stay Together.

AUDIENCE MEMBERS: Yeah. Yeah!

APPLAUSE

And I've been basically living here at the St James's Hotel

straight through, basically, working in Europe,

working here and working with most of the musicians here.

-It just became home. And so I finally got a place here.

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

You've got a place? Are you going to settle here?

-Or will America always be home for you?

-No, this is it.

I've lived long enough to know

when I've found my place and travelling here since 1966

and now finally getting a place here, I basically have decided to

live on this side for the next half of my life.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Well, obviously, they don't want you here.

-But I'm glad you're here anyway.

-Thank you.

Elton, Liza, Robin and Tina.

God, I'm spoiling you and myself today. And there's more.

Sammy Davis Jr, no less.

I describe him as the unforgettable Sammy Davis Jr, except,

as someone reminded me the other day,

I had completely forgotten he had come on to the show.

But, you know, it's an age thing.

This is all coming as much of a surprise to me as it is to you.

Anyway, here we are.

Talking about the early days of Sammy's incredible career.

You had a lot of prejudice, which I hadn't been aware of

until I read your book.

Particularly when you and your uncle and your dad went to play Las Vegas.

-Oh, yes.

-You'd play Vegas.

You'd play a hall in Vegas

-when it was beginning to expand as a great entertainment centre...

-Yes.

..and you'd find that you couldn't stay in the hotel you were playing at?

No, there was no staying. You couldn't eat in the hotel.

And I'm not speaking about 1930 or even the '40s, I'm talking '50s.

Every big black star that worked Las Vegas, that helped build it up.

I'm speaking of Lena Horne, Nat King Cole, Billy Eckstine,

the Mills Brothers, the people who helped not only that town

but our business and contributed in such a way

and would pack the joint, we could not walk through the front.

This is in Las Vegas, Nevada.

And you could not eat in the restaurant.

Forget gambling, there was no...

You couldn't get up to a table. They wouldn't allow you in the casino.

That's the truth.

So you performed and then had to go out the side way...

-Out the side way. If you had...

-..to the ghetto...

That was the only place but...there is mixed emotions about that.

And I guess I had to live to be 63 years old to realise it.

That, by integration, we lost a great deal.

We gained a great deal when everything started to

integrate in terms of acceptance and this, that and the other.

But in that what we call "the ghetto" was all our culture.

You understand what I'm saying?

There was the coloured barbershop and I say "coloured"

because that was the terminology used in those days.

There was the coloured rooming house where we all stayed.

There was community and because we all suffered these indignities,

it brought us as black performers closer together

and we shared experiences and we hung out.

As soon as it started to open up like this

and everybody could stay at the hotel they were working in,

we very rarely saw each other any more and it's a shame we lost that.

It is too bad we couldn't have maintained a little bit of balance.

Now, you met Sinatra early in your career, didn't you?

-Yes, when I got out of the army.

-When did you meet him?

I still had my army suit with the gold bird on it.

And I could get free tickets. LAUGHTER

No, that's true and you'd go up to NBC or CBS and you'd say...

point at your thing and you had your hat on and the guy said,

"Oh, well, the soldiers come first," then give you tickets.

And one day I had been at the show.

He was doing the Old Goal Show at the time and I had been at the show,

seen it like three weeks in a row, and he recognised me.

First of all, there weren't a lot of black people going to see

Frank Sinatra at the Old Goal Show, you know,

so he kept looking at the audience like this, you know.

So he comes out one day and I'm standing by the stage door

and he looks at me and he says, "Didn't we work together once?"

And I said, "Yes, but it was only three days."

We replaced an act when he was with Tommy Dorsey. He remembered.

He said, "Yeah, you work with your family." I said, "Yeah."

He said, "Hey, you are out." I said, "Yes, I am."

He said, "You want to come next week?" And I said, "Oh, could I?"

He said, "Yeah, come and watch rehearsal."

And he turned to one of the guys.

His man at the time was named Hank Sanicola.

He turned to Hank Sanicola and said, "See Charlie over here...?"

I said, "My name is Sammy." He said, "It's Charlie."

LAUGHTER

He said, "You see Charlie over here?

"When he comes here, make sure he gets in for the rehearsal."

He said, "See you next week, kid."

He got in his car and drove off and it was heaven.

I walked back to the hotel we were living in,

from Hollywood down to 5th Street, man. It must be 20 miles.

I just walked in heaven, floating lightly, you know,

cos I had met this man and he remembered me.

And that was the second beginning of our relationship.

How much influence did he have on your career?

It's immeasurable. Immeasurable.

First of all, I wanted to be like him, I wanted to dress like him,

I wanted to look like him.

You know, I took my hair and had it all done up, with the curls...

LAUGHTER

TERRY LAUGHS

Yeah. But you can impersonate him.

Oh, I used to. I used to do it.

Can you still do his voice?

No, I don't do it no more.

If I cocked my eyebrow at you, what song do you think it means?

Look at this.

What does this eyebrow mean?

Well, it's either... APPLAUSE

I'm going to follow you with the microphone.

Hello.

First of all, I would like to say that there was no rehearsal...

TERRY LAUGHS ..for this...

and I'm putting the gentlemen in the back in somewhat of a bad bind.

But...

..I think we'll be able to manage. They're all good friends.

I wasn't prepared for you to come up here.

THEY LAUGH

All right, I knew they weren't expecting it.

Give me something about here. HE MIMICS CYMBAL TAPPING

DRUMMER STARTS PLAYING

Give me a keynote.

ORGAN PLAYER BEGINS

# She gets too hungry for dinner at eight... #

APPLAUSE

# She loves the theatre but won't arrive late

# She just won't argue with someone she hates

# That's why the lady is a tramp

# Won't go to Harlem with sharpies or frauds

# Won't be caught dead in a Lincoln or a Ford

# She won't dish the dirt with the rest of the girls

# That's why the lady is a tramp

# She likes that free, fresh wind in her hair

# Her life's without care

# She is broke but it's oke

# Hates California

# It's so cold and it's damp

# That's why the lady

# That's why the lady

# That's why the lady is a tramp. #

APPLAUSE

Thank you, fellas.

That was really nice.

-You're a good man.

-Thank you.

-You're a good man. Sammy Davis.

The unforgettable Sammy Davis Jnr.

There, I've said it.

You don't get to meet stars of the calibre you've seen today

without some of the showbiz magic rubbing off on you.

Now, over the years, I've picked up more than a few tips.

It's become pretty clear that if the BBC hadn't kept me

prisoner in Shepherd's Bush for all those years,

I could have had a very different career, you know. Anyway...

I'm leaving you with the proof.

The great Welsh opera singer Sir Geraint Evans

and the wonderful vocal skills of...

myself, really.

I don't know whether you'll enjoy it, but...

take it easy.

What are you doing? LAUGHTER

Pirates of Penzance.

CHEERING

Let's... Let's have a little bit of dignity, please.

-But it's my show.

-I don't care whether it's your show or not.

This is good music. LAUGHTER

Carry on.

HE CLEARS HIS THROAT

# We're public guardians bold, yet wary

# And of ourselves we take good care

# To risk our precious lives we're chary

# When danger looms, we're never there... #

No, no, no, no.

Take good care and there.

-I only...

-Well, the note is a minimum.

You must hold it longer than that.

# To risk our precious lives we chary

# When danger looms, we're never there

# But when we meet a helpless woman

# Or little boys who do no harm

-# We run them in

-We run them in

-# We run them in

-We run them in

# We show them we're the bold gendarmes

-# We run them in

-We run them in

-# We run them in

-We run them in

# We show them we're the bold gendarmes. #

Very good. Very good.

LAUGHTER

# Sometimes our duty's extramural

# Then little butterflies we chase... #

LAUGHTER

That's all very well. All very well.

If I had known this was going to be a serious song...

You're singing well now - stick to it.

-None of these hanky panky...

-Oh!

# Sometimes our duty's extramural

-# The little butterflies we chase... #

-Good.

# We like to gamble in things rural

# Commune with nature face to face

# Unto our beat then back returning

# Refreshed by nature's holy charm

-# We run them in

-We run them in

-# We run them in

-We run them in

# We show them we're the bold gendarmes

-# We run them in

-We run them in

-# We run them in

-We run them in

# We show them we're the bold gendarmes. #

APPLAUSE

With that, and The Floral Dance, I could have been a contender.

Ah, well... See you next time.