My very first entertainment industry rejection letter was signed by Jimmy Savile. I was about 12 years old when I wrote to “Jim’ll Fix It”
I remember the excitement when the reply letter emblazoned with the BBC halo landed. And I can still recall the weight of disappointment when I opened it. However, turns out I was one of the lucky ones to have not been selected.
His story disturbs me on a deeper personal level too, because when as an 18 year old working as a labourer on a building site, a new guy my age started. He was a troubled soul from outset and grew up in a care home somewhere in the North West of England. He was adamant his uncle was Jimmy Savile and that he would visit him in the home and that they were ‘close’. Needless to say and ashamedly so, we didn’t believe him for a minute and as you can imagine he became the butt of all our jokes. With JS impressions galore and ‘xx will fix it’ gags at every opportunity. This was 1983 and the sickening truth about Savile was not yet public info. To this day I will never know if my labouring buddy was indeed a poor victim, but this song is for him and countless others. I’ve decided not to tart it up with backing vocals and camera edits as I just wanted the song to resonate in it’s most naked form.