11th September 2007.

Life is a canapé, old chum. It was David McGillivray’s 60th birthday party last night (September 10). He sent out the invites over three months ago and then gave weekly reminders about attending. Some might see that as desperate, others being efficient in that typical McG way. I was one of the first to RSVP, I mean it’s not often you get to celebrate a cult. I think I spelt that four letter word beginning with c right! Plus I was intrigued over what it would be like. David is Carry on Camping meets Across the Universe, a mix of old-fashioned Mrs Slocombe with the tragic-hip and semi-happening so I didn’t know what to expect.

The venue was the Revolution club in the heart of London’s glittering Soho, significantly located in the alleyway Marianne Faithful slept during her heroin addict years. So it was either going to be like that Primitive London Sixties shockumentary, with Janet Munro look-alikes trailing minks behind them in one hand while holding champagne bottles in the other. Or it was going to be David’s idea of a trendy rave. Then there was the guest list. He’s known everybody over the many years since he became Britain’s youngest film critic in 1966 (for Films and Filming, the magazine that found a Julian and Sandy readership featuring Dolly Boys on each cover). People had been calling all week to see if I was going, some I hadn’t heard from in years. So clearly David had gone through his address book and if they weren’t dead, they were invited.

Would Pete Walker be there? No. It seems their damaged relationship over that rash of British horrors – House of Whipcord, Frightmare, House of Mortal Sin – they joined forces for still hasn’t been repaired. What about his old friend Michael Armstrong, director of The Haunted House of Horror and Mark of the Devil? No. He must still be in rehab. Norman J. Warren tuned up though. In fact I walked into the party just as my cameo in his Terror unspoiled on the video monitors dotted all over the restaurant reminding the crowd of the sterling work David has been responsible for over the decayeds. I wonder if Norman will ever get him to write Satan’s Slave 2?

Some of the guests were ‘clients’ from his most unusual career turn away from showbiz, one not to be sniffed at. Most tuned out to be actors in the short films shown at FrightFest over the years or the repertory company he built up when he was a major player on the fringe theatre circuit. David, with his late partner Walter Zerlin Jr, wrote and directed the ‘Farndale Avenue Housing Estate Townswomen’s Guild Dramatic Society’ series of farces. Launched at the Edinburgh Festival in 1976, the Farndale ladies mounted everything from Macbeth, Follies and Murder Mysteries in their long end-of-pier history. Let’s just say the concept never worked for me. One of the actors featured in these was Julian Clary who went on to fame, fortune and scandal and gratefully took David along for the ride as his gag writer.

In fact it was Julian whose job it was to kick off the celebrations. There he was in the pseudo VIP area trying to learn his script in time under pressure. As the 80s disco tunes (ABC, Bananarama, Wham etc) ground to a halt, Julian took the plinth, I really can’t say stage, to roast our host with some bitchy comments about his age and talent. One about how none of the TV programmes they’d worked on together had ever been re-commissioned was very funny. I’m convinced David wrote this material too! Then the man of the hour did his routine, the same one you’ve heard at countless FrightFests. This was followed by a karaoke version of Justin Timberlake’s ‘SexyBack’ complete with MTV video dance moves. No, really!

David had also devised a party game. On the invite were ten facts about him. One wasn’t true and the person who guessed that correctly won a prize, I think it was an Anchor Bay DVD box set of his Greatest Hit. I knew the one about him failing to complete a book on the history of failure was correct and the one about him marrying in 1981, the Mira era as it was called. He’s now in the Michael cycle by the way! The false fact turned out he wasn’t voted the ‘nicest bum’ in 1988. Sleuth it clearly wasn’t! All that was missing was a male stripper from the party hilarity, unless that act turned up after I was long gone, had beaten Kim Newman to the food, and had raffled off my ‘Free Cocktail’ vouchers.

For those who don’t know I met David in the street just after House of Whipcord had premiered at the old London Pavilion cinema in 1974. I recognised him from TV, introduced myself, and told him how much I loved the movie, which I honestly did. I’m sure he thought I was cruising him. We became firm friends, he cast me in Terror and his short film The Errand, and I’ve happily accompanied him through many good times and bad (the AIDS years) we’ve shared together. His book ‘Doing Rude Things’ on the British sex film industry remains one of my favourites and I made my first TV appearance on his Premiere cable show. Remember those? He’s always calling me for gossip/quotes and photos of my Disco/Sex Pistols years to include in his many features for QX magazine. And contrary to what many of you may think from our annual FrightFest double act routine, I absolutely adore him. Happy Birthday David, you truly are the Horror Icon you think you should be.

Until next time…