fossgoss

It would be impossible to live a life without any regrets. But boy, did I ever blow it back in the day. I had the Best Job In The World, and I blew it. I was living in Australia at the time and landed a job hosting a weekly 90 minute radio feature which was syndicated to music stations throughout Oz. Every week a producer arranged for me to host a lunch with a mega-star; not just musicians/bands but movie stars, sporting legends etc - whoever happended to be in town that week. Usually I just got a table at the Parkroyal, did lunch, drank wine and kept a microphone/nagra running to record the entire conversation. Other times, like with John Mayall, he just wanted to drink vodka in a dark hotel room and chat all afternnon, which was cool. Then I'd just go to a studio, edit the conversation and break it up with appropriate music selections. What a break for a young guy huh? Hang out with famous people and throw together 90 minutes' of radio and that was it. It didn't pay excessively, but I did get to contra some of the commercial time - which meant I didn't have to pay for anything - car, restaurants, clubs, clothes, blah blah, you name it, all free. So anyway, I'm about 6 months into this gig, and being inquisitive by nature, I got seduced by the trappings. Long story short - addiction. Bang, it just sort of crept up and landed me in a clinic for a very different lunch: cold turkey. And, obviously, it cost me that job - the Best Job In The World. As they say, if it doesn't kill you, it makes you stronger. But every now and then it haunts me - what a complete fool I was to destroy such a stunning opportunity.
I sometimes wonder where it might have taken me had I not succumbed. As it happens the next journey turned out pretty good, so maybe, just maybe, things are just meant to be, is all. And I still have some fine memories from meeting some very cool R&F people along the way. And if it hadn't happened I would never have met the wonderful woman who became the centre of my life and mother to our two wonderful children.

:-)