Sax On Fire- 2 blowout sax students hook up having known each other in the 80s and play a gig!!

“In 1983 I started a nightclub in Dean Street, Soho. London called ‘Alice In Wonderland’. The nightclub was like none other playing a mixture of sixties psychedelia, punk, glam rock and goth. The club DJ was The Doctor of ‘Doctor and the Medics’ who in 1986 had a number one hit with a cover version of Norman Greenbaum’s ‘Spirit In The Sky’. The nightclub was a phenomenal success and was voted Nightclub Of The Year in 1985. Sometime in 1985 a band called ‘The Mystery Girls’ featuring saxophonist William Heath played at the club and I remember William well, standing at an impressive 6’8″ tall we chatted at the bar, his head disappeared among the toilet paper we religiously hung from the ceiling! I even wrote a paragraph about it in my book

Forward wind a few decades and in 2015 I played a gig in Bath with Mark Archer’s Blowout Sax. We played a Burlesque version of Britney Spears ‘Toxic’, I played alto and who should be playing baritone but none other than William Heath. It wasn’t until I was driving home after the show that the penny dropped, surely there can’t be that many 6’8″ sax players in the world? I later checked with Mark who confirmed it was indeed the same guy.

I contacted William through Mark and asked if he would play with my little sax ensemble ‘Sax Is On Fire!’ at a mini festival in Hertfordshire. William said he would be delighted to, so at the August Bank Holiday weekend 2019 we met up after 34 years and played together for the first time. Alto, tenor and baritone sax together with guitar, bass and drums we played six songs: ‘Wild Weekend’, ‘Bad Moon Rising’ ‘Red River Rock’, ‘Tequila’, ‘Telstar’ and ‘The Legend Of Xanadu’. It was great fun and well received by the small crowd enjoying the glorious sunshine. It was a joy to meet William after all these years and is proof that the world isn’t as big as we think it is!”

Christian Paris August 2019