Blown It!!
The Book
Image Gallery
Rather than fill the book with grainy, low grade images that are impossible to see clearly - particularly on eBook - I thought it better to include them here with a link from the book. This way the quality will be much better and I can keep adding to them as and when I stumble across new ones. In addition I can include some video clips below which, of course aren't possible in a book of any sort.​
My first recording experience where I learned a golden rule. "If it's got your name on it......"
The unassuming doorway to a whole new life. One which I wasn't even aware existed, let alone aspire to!
Live version of "Behind the Mask"
My first recording experience where I learned a golden rule. "If it's got your name on it......"
​If somehow you have ended up here not via the book and these images pique your interest, then you can buy or download it below. It's a rip-roaring read full of tales of being kidnapped by the Japanese mafia, shot at in Manila, accidentally being arrested as a serial killer.
You know....... the usual stuff!
You won't have heard of Johnny Thirkell. You wouldn't recognise him in a line up. He can walk into any pub unnoticed but is probably on many of the songs on the jukebox. You will have sung along with him hundreds of times in the car - for he has featured in the mix tape of our lives.
Having played on 38 No.1 albums and toured and/or recorded with the likes of:
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David Bowie
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Bruno Mars
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Queen
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Level 42
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Sting
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Paul Weller
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George Michael
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The Who
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Eric Clapton
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Shania Twain
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Joe Cocker
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Kylie Minogue
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Tina Turner
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Bon Jovi
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Barry White
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Jamiroquai
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Lisa Stansfield
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Rod Stewart
....and many, many more, his career is a madcap mix of crazy stories, unbelievable scrapes and amazing experiences.
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He auditioned the Spice Girls in his front room. He's Walked on Sunshine, shot Poisoned Arrows, Spun the Wheel for George Michael and helped Ant & Dec get Ready to Rhumble.
He's even the trumpet you hear every time you do the Countdown Conundrum!
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Appearing on at least one album in the UK Charts continuously, without a break for 13 ½ years, he has so far has racked up 38 Number One Albums!
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He's spent his whole life blowing his own trumpet..... yet nobody knows him!
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Now you can read just exactly what it's like behind the scenes, from the mundane to the madcap. It's all in there.
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He's Been there... Seen it.....Done it.....Blown it!!
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But what do the people say?
" Johnny is maddeningly talented; funny, clever, handsome, the best damn trumpeter I ever heard and the only man I know who can wear a beret without making you want to move to a different carriage" - Hugh Laurie
"In my band Poor White Trash and the Little Big Horns, Johnny was a little big horn. His stories were always hilarious and his haircuts more so. He was always on point, on time and on the one... Johnny T in the place to be...” - Sir Lenny Henry
“Johnny is the 'real deal’ a great guy and a fantastic player. Always got a smile on his face and a story to tell to lift the mood if needed" - Rick Astley
"Before I met Johnny I was driving a Ford Fiesta!" - Jay Kay
Below are a few video clips of Johnny in action-from the period when he had a lush head of hair, right through to these more tonsorially minimal times