Armed Forces Day: June 29 2013

WHILE he was heading for a career as a pop star a matter of months after leaving school, many of Sam Beeton's friends were joining the Army.
It's one of the reasons that the 22-year-old from Carlton, who signed to major record label SonyBMG at the age of 16, is lining up on the main stage at Victoria Embankment on Saturday for Armed Forces Day.
"The majority of my friends from school are now in the Armed Forces," says Sam, who went to Carlton Le Willows School and appeared on national TV and radio, toured with James Morrison and Scouting For Girls, and modelled for Burberry while still in his teens.
"Phil Booth, who was the drummer in my very first band, is currently serving in the Navy and my next door neighbour returned recently from Iraq.
"So I know quite a few people who are connected to the Armed Forces. If friends and people close to you are in peril you naturally want to support them."
Sam will be playing a mix of old and new songs on Saturday.
"I'm currently working on a new album with producers Fraser T Smith and Livingstone Brown," he says.



For his set just after noon he'll be joined by Joe Strange.
"I'm supporting Armed Forces Day as I feel it's important to show respect to the individuals who are prepared to sacrifice so much for our country," says Joe, who grew up in Hucknall but now lives in Sherwood.
"It's not about the politics," he insists.
"You'll never see a politician on the front line would you?"
Joe's dad was in the RAF and served in Cyprus.
"I'm very proud of him," he says.
He and his band, who have been regulars at The Southbank and The Approach for the past six years will be playing original material from a forthcoming album due out in August.
"There are a lot of soldiers who come to see the band and they are great guys," says Joe.



ABBA tribute band Arrival UK will close the show with a set at 5.30pm.
"We have performed for our Armed Forces many times over the last 17 years throughout the UK and across Europe and it is with great pride that we find ourselves performing at AFD," says Mark Pemberton, who plays as Benny Andersson from the Swedish supergroup.
"The families of these brave Service personnel are the ones who live the day-to-day reality of having a member of their family so far away, always hoping they are safe."
He adds: "Sarah, who plays Agnetha, has three generations of Servicemen in her family; her great-grandfather was awarded the Military Medal for Gallantry during the First World War. Her grandfather was among the code-breakers at Bletchley Park during the Second World War, for which he received an MBE."
Also on the main stage are Erin Parker's Sounds Of The 1940s, the Band of HM Royal Portsmouth and Military Wives the Marham Bluebirds.
The Community Stage at Victoria Embankment will include performances from Carlton & District Royal British Legion, Nottingham Theatre Dance School, Nottinghamshire Army Cadet Force Band, Sinners Highway, The Establishment and Velvet Divine, among others.



"I don't feel that our troops and Armed Forces get the recognition and thanks they deserve for doing the job they're required to do," says Steve McGill, 34, an acoustic singer-songwriter from Arnold.
"I have friends in the military who, despite their darkest fears, particularly during Government cutbacks, remain incredibly proud to serve."
Steve, who is planning a new album in September, will be playing a mix of original songs and covers on the Community Stage.
He says: "This event is a way of saying thanks to them and their families."

ABBA: The Show

December 2009



It is his saxophone you can hear on ABBA hits I Do I Do I Do, Voulez Vous and Ring Ring.
And while Ulf Andersson spent only a couple of years recording and touring with the Swedish pop giants, more than 30 years later the association is serving him well.
Ulf is part of ABBA - The Show, a multi-million pound production that also features original drummer Roger Palm.
They are part of Waterloo, a tribute band featuring Benny, Björn, Agnetha and Frida Doppelgangers who perform the hits accompanied by The National Symphony Orchestra of London.
“There are 30 people on the stage and about 60 working behind-the-scenes with five trucks taking all the stage and lighting,” he says.
“It’s quite special.”
The show tells the story of the group’s beginnings in the late sixties, through the Eurovision win in 1974 with Waterloo, to their split in 1982. Since 2001 it has been seen by a million people in 35 countries.
For the first time this weekend it will drop in to the Trent FM Arena.
For Ulf, paying tribute has been a payday that has been a long time coming.
ABBA still sell around two million records every year but Ulf sees no royalties for his sax parts.
“I had a salary but now I’m getting to travel around the world and get some money out of that. That’s my royalties,” he laughs.
“There wasn’t so much money back then – we were just pleased to be in the band.”
He adds: “With ABBA I played about 50 concerts and with this tribute show I’ve played around 1000.”
Ulf is in a tour bus in Dublin when we speak. A noisy tour bus at that, which he shares with the rest of the performers - unlike the ABBA days.
“Mostly we met on the stage. We travelled separately because they had so much attention from the media. Often they travelled by themselves to be able to take care of press conferences and all that.”
But they did also rehearse together for a month before tours and were invited to contribute in the studio.
“We were able to add some things,” says Ulf.
“Björn and Benny were open to listening to our opinions.”
He was on the world tour with ABBA in 1977 that came to Britain and Australia.
“The opening night in Sydney was very special with more than 50,000 people. That was very special to me. None of us in the group imagined it was going to be that big.”
Ulf was a session player in Sweden during the time ABBA got together and was a natural choice when they needed a saxophonist in the studio.
“I’d played with a lot of other artists, in the studio, on tour and on TV shows.”
Not that we’d know them over here.
He’d already gone back to his session work years before ABBA split.
“They’d found other ways of recording, “ he says.
Famously, the rift between Agnetha and Frida prompted ABBA to break up. But that was a long time ago and one would have imagined a lucrative reunion tour would have happened at some point in the 27 years since.
“I’m not too surprised,” he says.
“They did what was possible to do with the music over those years. There was of course some personal things which made it more difficult to continue working together. That could be one of the reasons they didn’t come back on stage again.”
They never will, he believes.
“It’s not going to happen.”
With the success of Mamma Mia -- the movie and the West End show -- they don’t need to in order to keep the music alive.
“It has been popular all the time but it’s even more special now.”

ABBA - The Show, Trent FM Arena, Saturday December 12, 7.30pm, £35, 08444 124 624