Spencer Leigh celebrates 80th with new memoir

Veteran Liverpool broadcaster and author Spencer Leigh has celebrated his 80th birthday with the publication of a special new memoir.

The book – 80 @ 80 – chronicles Leigh’s life in 80 chapters, covering both his own history and some of the many famous figures and household names he has met, interviewed or written about over a 50-year career on radio and in print.

They include Ken Dodd and Merseybeat bands to Hollywood names like Billy Bob Thornton, major musical icons and even a member of the Mob.

Leigh, born in Liverpool on February 1, 1945, has also written a host of books on music legends including Paul Simon, Frank Sinatra, Buddy Holly, Elvis and the Beatles.

The book is packed with memories and anecdotes, from a seminal teenage moment at a 1963 concert at the London Road Odeon featuring the Everly Brothers and Little Richard to a yet-to-be-famous Rolling Stones, and – the same year – watching Marlene Dietrich at the Royal Court, to the current day.

Away from Radio Merseyside and his books, Leigh spent much of his adult life working for the Royal Insurance – where in 1979 he was the one who rumbled the fact that disappearing MP John Stonehouse had taken out a raft of life insurance policies with different companies totalling £2million.

He also recalls Ken Dodd popping into the company’s then headquarters in the ‘sandcastle’ in Old Hall Street each year to try out new jokes he planned to add to his shows.

Leigh perhaps remains best known for his Radio Merseyside show On The Beat, and his chronicling of the history of Merseybeat including conducting interviews with more than 200 people involved in the city’s seminal 60s scene.

He launched his new book at a special event at Liverpool Central Library this week, where it was also revealed he is set to give his huge archive to the public record office to become the heart of a collection centred on the city’s music history.