Probably Albert Goldman's biog of Lenny made me interested in becoming a performer more than any other single thing. His fascination with the world in which Lenny moved is etched into every single line. His phrase 'the bravery of the showbiz footsoldier' inspired me.

Bruce himself was virtually incomprehensible to me. His transcribed and recorded 'schtick' is stuffed full of Jewish phrases, fifties culture references, contemporary slang,obscure Americana - by the 1970's when I started paying attention you needed a glossary.

However as an icon, he was of paramount importance.
Someone challenging enough for the Americans to prosecute and the English to deport.
A discurssive and descriptive style of humour - so different from the dull obvious mother in laws knickers gags that made up the fare of The Comedians TV Show. The Americans were ahead of us, and Lenny was the avant gard of the Americans.
Witty, educated, left-wing leaning, hip, aware, racially integrationist, bohemian, creative, outward looking - he was the antithesis of all the thumbs we were under in the 1970's, and sad to say he was in the exact opposite direction from the insularity and racial uniqueness that English folk music movement was so consciously seeking.
To me he was a heroic figure - probably a notion he would have laughed at the absurdity of.