Journalism Practice (Pete Wilson, Provisional News Piece)

"He said, "Hello, I'm Paul," I was thinking, "No Shit"

Its not often in ones lifetime you'd be fortunate enough to meet somebody deemed to be of real music heritage, so imagine Pete Wilson (Course Leader, Faculty of Media, Arts and Society) surprise when given the opportunity to play bass alongside a certain Paul McCartney, known to the world at wide as argubly the worlds greatest living song-writer and ex-member of a little-knwon 4 piece from Liverpool.

"At the time I was working for John Harl" he explained, a well-known Sax player to certain audiences, who at the time had been asked to create and produce a piece of music for a film. Having played bass with John at BBC proms, he was well aware of Petes ability - and it didn't take long for him to get the call. Of being asked if he wanted to play bass for McCartney, "felt like being asked whether you wanted to give mass to the pope". Held at the legendary Abbey Road Studios in late '98, its safe to say it will be an experience that Pete won't long forget, or one that I won't grow envious of every time I hear this story. "Absolutely amazing," he explained, "A complete gent & unnecessarily friendly." It will come of a shock to many then, that this recording session in particular took place only 6 months after the death of Linda, Pauls wife.

"The first record I ever bought was E.L.O's "Out of the Blue," and I still listen to it to this day," he proudly declared. Having made the purchase at the age of 10, it struck me as somewhat of an established choice for the infamous first album, and asked whether either of his parents musical preferences paved the way for this desicion. "They didn't listen to pop radio," he quipped, quickly adding, " I don't blame my parents (for musical tastes)."

I for one, was curious to know how Pete had been fortunate enough to land so many interesting gigs and recording slots over the years, was it solely down to hard work? Luck? Contacts? Turns out, all 3. How did he manage to build up such a large & varied mix of artists? "Essentially word of mouth," he explained; "Being around for a very long time, builds up a CV - in particular, 17 years. I tell my students to make demos and build up a portfolio - but in truth thats not the way I landed most of my gigs".