Working with Des O’Connor, as I did when producing an album for him, was a delight. He would have us laughing as soon as he arrived.
He once told the story of how during the second world war blitz he went down to the air-raid shelter with his mother and sister to hide from the bombs. When the all-clear was sounded they came out of the shelter to find that their house was completely destroyed.
In the distance, through the fog and dust clouds, he could see his dad cycling furiously towards them; his mother, distressed, cried out that they had lost everything.
His dad replied breathlessly: “Don’t worry, we have each other – that’s all that counts.”
Des was an enormously kind man, and it was a privilege to have known him.
