Thursday 3rd July

I wasn’t particularly surprised by the revelations about Jimmy Saville, the man was downright creepy.  But Rolf shocked me, he just didn’t seems likely.  Or was it just that familiarity; it felt like he was almost part of the family.  He emerged around the same time as The Beatles, and may well have been at The London Palladium with them too.  He was a strange mix of singer, comedian and artist.  And it is as Artist that I prefer to remember him.  Jake the Peg was amusing and I can remember doing it for my kids with a hockey stick for the third leg.  I didn’t much like his records, amusing but not what I was listening to.  Then he reinvented himself with shows like Animal Hospital, the man seemed so innocuous, so much a part of all our childhoods.

And then there was the Art, there is no doubt that he was a very talented painter, even painting the Queen. It may even be that he helped foster my own love of Art when as a child I saw just what could be achieved with a big canvas and a couple of tins of household paint.  And now there are the revelations of a darker side, a serial molester of women and even children.  A few years ago we saw him cry as Piers Morgan interviewed him and asked him about his infidelities; maybe this should have given us a clue.

It all seems such a shame.  And of course it is only a matter of time before the spotlight turns to the Musicians of that time.  Several may just be waiting for the knock at the door.  Maybe even John Lennon will be hauled into the frame of guilt.  This is no defence at all, but it was a different time, the Sixties and the Seventies.  We all wanted to be Pop-stars, with the money the fame, and the groupies too.  And how many of us in that privileged position would have made sure the teenage girls were over sixteen.

It seems that Rolf, like quite a few “Stars” of the time did take advantage of starstruck young women, and felt that it was almost their right to grope anyone they fancied.  Not a few women involved in TV and now in their old age have told us you learned to avoid certain men who would try to touch you up at every opportunity.   Rolf is now a broken man, and maybe you will say deservedly so.  I prefer to remember the man who could conjure a wonderful image (singing at the same time) using just a tin of ordinary household paint and a very large brush.