Ronald (Spike) Hornett and his wife (my aunt) Lily during their residence in Durban, South Africa in the mid-1950s. (Click on picture to enlarge)

Spike had accepted an offer to play with a dance band* in a major Durban hotel, and this decision had a significant effect on my own life.  His acceptance of the job offer was contingent upon his being able to dispose of the house he owned in Hornsey, north London, and he was thus putting it on the market at a quite modest price.  This coincided with my having recently married and living in a rented "bed-sitter" in Willesden Green.  My wife Naomi's parents, after an initial strong objection to the marriage, had finally relented and - subject to some simple conditions - had offered us the deposit on a home as their daughter's dowry.  This was an exceptional piece of synchronicity, and so Spike and Lily exchanged Hornsey for Durban, and my wife and I exchanged one-room in Willesden Green for a four-bedroom house in Hornsey.

The house proved to be a boon, my residence surviving two marriages and two prolonged absences overseas,  a three-year period in Switzerland and one year in the Netherlands.  During this time, Spike and Lily had also "pulled-up roots" twice.  He had one lengthy engagement in Switzerland, high up in the Ticino at Montana-sur-Crans, and another in Nice/Menton in the south of France.  On return to London they lived first in Marylebone, then in Highbury, occasionally visiting us in their old home in Hornsey.

Spike in Hornsey, holding new great-niece Caroline

My memories of "Uncle Ron", as he was at that time known in the family, do not really have relevance until after the War.  However, one, in particular, remains with me and is appropriate to this section of my book.  I have a very clear recollection - and I hope it is not a visual recall merely of something that Spike told me - but I feel sure that I met the singer and actor Benny Lee on one occasion at Spike's home.  Later Spike told me the story of a particular night in Piccadilly Circus, London, in 1941.  He had been playing at the Montparnasse Restaurant with the Johnny Claes (and the Claypigeons) Band, where Benny Lee was the vocalist, when the bomb fell on the Cafe de Paris.  It was considered to be safe from bombs, being located underground, but there had been no anticipation of a direct hit.  The Montparnasse musicians exited the restaurant to help with the rescue operations next door.  Spike told me he will never forget the sight of the (somewhat scrawny) figure of Benny Lee digging bodies out of the rubble "like a man gone berserk".  His admiration for Benny, never lacking, took an immediate upward spiral.

It is possible that this was the same bomb - certainly the same air-raid - that killed that other great songster Al Bowlly, of South African origin, which rounds this section off nicely.

I inherited a wealth of material when my aunt died, having appointed me executor of her estate.  Alas, it did not include any of the LPs, music, or written records of his employment.  She had downsized twice after his death and no longer had room to store such paraphernalia.  In other respects she was a great hoarder (seems to run in the family!) and sorting out her affairs was quite a complicated affair, prompting an article in a magazine to which I contributed at the time.  Available to view here: http://www.nurturingpotential.net/Issue14/Thirdage.htm.

My gratitude to Spike extends much further because I went through a prolonged period of writing songs and, at one time, much of the libretto and the musical numbers for a stage revue.  This is detailed in the sections of this book dealing with Zack Matalon and Malcolm Knight. Spike was very encouraging and very helpful in arranging some of the music and organising the recording session for Zack Matalon.  He also helped me to get immersed in the musical scene by introducing me to some of the broadcasting "giants" of the time.  I was able, on his introduction, to visit studio recordings of the Tito Burns Show where I met Humphrey Lyttleton and Nat Gonella, all of whom were great friends of Spike.

* I had been unable to ascertain which band it was.  In fact, after considering a number of contenders such as Oscar Rabin,  Ambrose, Harry Gold, etc. I suddenly came across the following website entry ttp://electricjive.blogspot.co.uk/2011_12_01_archive.html which suggests that he might have been persuaded to form his own orchestra for the engagement. [4. Everything will be alright:: Spike Hornett and His Music – 19 fifty something 78rpm - Decca FM6374;]