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should probably have just signed.
    I loved writing songs, but when a French record company wanted an artist called Sheila B. Devotion to do one of my songs, being naive and silly, I said I wanted to keep my songs for myself. They said in a shocked tone, ‘But Sheila B. sells millions of records!’, but being the fool that I was I couldn’t be persuaded.
    Chas Chandler, who was in the Animals, released another of our songs called ‘I Can’t Resist You’, which we performed on TV. It got a lot of radio play and sold quite well. We were happy and having fun.
    When we lived in Glasgow, a medium/spiritualist once told us we would go to London and should take every opportunity that came our way, but unfortunately we threw away virtually every one.
    We should have taken at least some of these opportunities, as financially life would have been much less of a struggle for us. But then again, Wilson and I are happy.

CHAPTER 6
DREAMS ARE MADE OF CELLOPHANE
    W hen Gary was sixteen years old he got a job in town and suddenly started losing his intellectual faculties. We were seriously worried. He was referred to a neurologist as it was thought he might have a brain tumour. The neurologist examined him and did various tests but there was no sign of a tumour. However, Gary wasn’t improving and had collapsed twice on the platform of the tube, which was pretty dangerous. We had no idea what to do when we were told by the neurologist that there was no physical cause.
    This was a constant worry for us but fortunately Gary’s fainting fits ceased and his intellectual faculties returned. However, when he was under pressure, away from home or seriously upset, this mental meltdown would kick in again and we felt that this fragility could put his life at risk.
    Gary wasn’t very good at making or forming relationships. His first live-in partner was Tamsin. The first time we saw her, Gary was in his early twenties, singing at his first and only gig, fronting a really good band made up of some of his old Highgate Wood school friends at The Bowlers in north London.
    Wilson and I were incredibly nervous, rooting for Gary as he walked on stage. He’d never performed before so we figuredhe must be terrified. The music started and we were shocked. Our son – this tall, slightly gaunt, quiet young man with a mop of beautiful dark auburn hair – was suddenly transformed in front of our eyes into a David Bowie-type singer/performer. Gary looked and sounded as if he had been performing all his life. He was amazing and the applause was rapturous. My sister Lorna was there with us and she filled up with tears when she heard him sing; we were all so proud.
    That was when Tamsin caught my eye: watching Gary with such intensity and warmth in her eyes that I had a feeling even then that this young girl who shone out from the crowd with her yellow dress, dark tousled hair and huge smile was going to be a major part of Gary’s life.
    He never really approached girls or made the first move. So some months later some of their friends apparently decided to get Gary a little bit tipsy, to give him a helping hand in getting to know Tamsin better.
    Everyone always described Gary as very difficult to get to know. He never opens up about himself, hates small talk and discusses only those subjects that spark his interest.
    Getting Gary tipsy must have worked as he and Tamsin became a couple not long afterwards. For a long time they seemed happy – until Gary’s obsession with his computer became even more fanatical.
    One year there was a party on New Year’s Eve at Gary and Tamsin’s flat. We popped over to quickly wish them a Happy New Year before the party got into full swing. The living room was full of Tamsin’s relatives, gathering together in a corner and looking a bit uncomfortable. I turned around and there was Gary sitting in the middle of the room with a large computer on a very large table, oblivious to what was going on around him.
    Gary was