After school I took to the motor trade as an apprentice mechanic.  This love was driven on by my love of motorcycles, in particular, motorcycle jumping.  By this time I'd already met my bike role model, Eddie Kidd, and was deeply inspired by his antics with his bikes.  Although Eddie doesn't ride anymore, he is still a major scource of inspiration to me.  He is by far one of the most courageous people I have ever known.  I would like to say I have been in contact with Eddie just recently and I wish him well in everything he does.

 

Anyway, 1983 came along and I joined the Army, 1st Battalion, Royal Hampshire Regiment and became Private George, following in my fathers footsteps.  My Army career was launched and I was soon off to the centre of, what was then, the Cold War and West Berlin.  I lead the normal life of a soldier, drinking lots of beer and wasting my money but having a lot of fun.  Then one night my friend, Steve Thompson and I went to a Neil Diamond Concert in a big open arena.  I didn't know what to expect, I had a mate who's dad was into Neils music but apart from 'Sweet Caroline' I didn't know much about him.

 

A couple hours later I was speachless, I'd just watched a Legend perform and he had totally blown my socks off.

 

I went straight back to my room and started to learn to play Neil's songs on my guitar.  To cut a long story short, I ended up playing in a few bands, including, my favourite, 'The Sound Of Summer'.  This was quite a funky rock 'n' roll band born in the Falkland Islands playing lots of really cheesy stuff but it was a lot of fun.  A BFBS Radio DJ became one of the bands friends and quite often gave us lots of plugs on the air.  I'm glad to say he has gone on to bigger things and he is now a BBC Radio DJ operating on BBC Radio Norfolk.  Long live the Steven Bumfry Breakfast Show.

 

My music career slowed a little due to Army commitments but I still found time to play in the odd local pub for a laugh.