Monthly Archives: Feb 2026

Book Review: Young Once (A Life Less Heavy) by Nigel Planer

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With perfect timing, towards the end of his excellent memoir, Nigel Planer reminds us that he once played Peter Mandelson in the 2011 ‘Comic Strip Presents…’ film ‘The Hunt For Tony Blair’.

The casting makes perfect sense but a key takeaway from his book is that Planer is hardly the mendacious or Machiavellian sort – by his own admission, ‘haphazard’ and ‘oversensitive’ would probably cover it.

Ben Elton nicknamed him ‘Niggle Complainer’ and he confesses that Neil –  his famous ‘Young Ones’ character – was mainly based upon himself.

But ‘Young Once’ generally refreshes the parts other actor autobiographies can’t reach not just because it’s so well written – he’s a playwright, novelist, poet and songwriter too – but due to its unflinching honesty and sheer variety of ideas.

Planer details his somewhat bohemian upbringing in southwest London, early life as a slightly naive university dropout and long-term patient at the Hospital of Tropical Diseases, before finding his mojo at drama school, developing the Neil character and hooking up with comedy ace faces Alexei Sayle, Rik Mayall, Peter Richardson and Ade Edmondson during the punk era.

The book really gathers momentum at this point, when music and comedy were dovetailing and a political conscience was de rigueur. He’s completely honest about his sometimes tricky relationship with Richardson, and expresses regret about not doing more work with him, Ade and Rik, outside of the two superb ‘Four Men’ Comic Strip films.

There’s some touching stuff about Mayall’s tragic deterioration and the effect it had on his friends, and lots about the filming of other classic Comic Strip movies. Meanwhile Neil and ‘The Young Ones’ make Planer famous, a fame that hits him hard. He’s amazed that his TV appearance in ‘Shine On Harvey Moon’ gets three times as many viewers as ‘The Young Ones’ but no one ever comments on the former.

Around the same time he completely fails to recognise David Bowie during the Mexican shoot of ‘Yellowbeard’, describing a ‘lithe man with blond hair’ by the hotel pool whose movements are ‘deliberate and poised’. And then there’s the revelation that Bowie got Graham Chapman injured during the shoot thanks to an ill-advised, late-night Jeep ride.

But readers of this site will probably particularly enjoy the long section on music. Planer’s pressganged by Bob Geldof into attending the Band Aid recording as Neil, and we get the juicy muso details of recording ‘Hole In My Shoe’ – ably abetted by National Health/Bill Bruford/’It’s My Party’ hitmaker Dave Stewart – and subsequent ‘Top Of The Pops’ appearances.

There’s funny stuff about Planer and Richardson finding their comedy/rock double act supporting Dexys Midnight Runners, AC/DC and Motorhead, amazed to find the latter reading books backstage, and introducing a nascent Curiosity Killed The Cat in a tiny Chelsea club (Crazy Larry’s) wearing only pyjamas and dressing gown. We also get the full story of Bad News’s superb performance at Castle Donington in 1986…

It’s oft forgotten that Planer has enjoyed a formidable stage career too, and he discusses work on ‘Chicago’, ‘We Will Rock You’ and ‘Evita’, plus how he invented his comic alter ago Nicholas Craig, the ultimate luvvie.

‘Young Once’ is a must for anyone who’s interested in alternative comedy and ‘The Young Ones’ era, plus anyone who’s enjoyed Nigel’s work as a ‘serious’ actor (though surprisingly there’s nothing about working with Dennis Potter), writer or musician.

It’s a great London book too – Planer’s adventures take him from Richmond and Twickenham to Notting Hill (where he has a memorable dinner with John Cleese) and a drug-addled Chelsea Harbour.

There are also some quite profound life lessons – it’s ‘an object lesson in why you should never give up’, as the blurb puts it. An enjoyable, intelligent read, ‘Young Once’ is highly recommended.

Phil Collins: Face Value @ 45

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Producer Steve Lillywhite recently named Phil Collins as the best drummer he’s ever worked with, pretty high praise considering Lillywhite has also shared studios with Simon Phillips, Carter Beauford, Mel Gaynor, Mark Brzezicki, Jerry Marotta and Stewart Copeland.

And Phil’s excellent drums were all over his seriously impressive (and very long for 1981, clocking in at over 47 minutes) debut solo album Face Value, released 45 years ago this month, and a record that has fascinated this writer since the age of eight.

But by 1981 Phil had nothing to prove from a drumming perspective. It was the quality of the material and arrangements that bowled people over. And yet Face Value is so much part of the furniture these days that it’s easy to forget just how expertly crafted it is.

Many of the album’s songs started life as primitive home demos, featuring rhythm box, piano and vocals, Collins having a lot of time on his hands after separating from his first wife (‘I Missed Again’ was originally a mid-tempo shuffle with the working title of ‘I Miss You Babe’).

A few other tracks were developed in the studio with various muso friends, including L Shankar on violin, Eric Clapton and ex-Weather Report bassist Alphonso Johnson, and then there were the two famous cover versions (or three if you count Phil’s almost-silent rendering of ‘Over The Rainbow’ at the end – the very first ‘secret’ track?).

The resulting material was an embarrassment of riches. Phil threw everything but the kitchen sink at Face Value: singer-songwriter balladry, Motown, Earth, Wind & Fire, jazz/rock, Beatles beats. Even a touch of Barry White (but no prog…). And all of it pretty much works.

He took full advantage of Townhouse Studios’ famous stone-clad drum room and the superb technical skills and easygoing manner of co-producer Hugh Padgham.

‘In The Air Tonight’ arguably changed the music business forever (as, arguably, did the cover – was this the first album that had the artist’s handwriting on the front?). Had there ever been a quieter album opener? Or UK #2 single (#19 in the States)?

Just a spectral Roland CR-78 rhythm box playing a loose approximation of Phil’s beat from Peter Gabriel’s ‘Intruder’ (and at exactly the same tempo) and a few synth chords (starting in D-minor, the saddest of all keys…). And then the massively compressed, mid-song fill is always louder than you think it’ll be.

In fact, compared to modern ‘pop’ music, the whole album has an enormous amount of space. Even the silence between each track (apart from the mid-record medley) seems unusually elongated and very deliberate, possibly because of the huge variety of musical styles.

Atlantic (Phil’s label in the US) boss Ahmet Ertegun said something interesting about ‘In The Air’: for years afterwards, it was always his go-to track for demonstrating a sure-fire hit – rather an extraordinary statement, when you think about it.

Phil was also becoming a more-than-useful pianist – check out his lovely voicings on ‘Hand In Hand’ and impressive rhythm playing (just the black keys!) on ‘Droned’.

The success of Face Value was a huge gamechanger for his Genesis colleagues. The ‘funny guy’ behind the kit who had always felt a bit like an outsider was now calling the shots. Newfound respect from Messrs. Rutherford and Banks. There would be no more drummer jokes.

The album revolutionised Virgin Records too. Its massive success (UK #1, US #7) was almost as seismic as Mike Oldfield’s Tubular Bells had been five years before, ushering in the label’s mega-selling pop era of Culture Club, Human League et al.

‘Phil and Peter Gabriel are delightful people. Nothing’s too much trouble for them and it’s also true that because they’d both bother to go into the office to see everyone, the staff would work their balls off for them.’ Richard Branson, 1999

If Phil’s solo career had only ever consisted of Face Value, his legacy would have been assured. (In fact many, including this writer, believe he hasn’t produced much solo stuff of worth since…)

(Postscript: my 1980s WEA CD sounds great but is apparently a bootleg, with a few funny misspellings inside the inlay card – ‘Sharokav’ on violin – and a weird Eric Clapton pseudonym: ‘Joe Partridge’…)