This next ‘moment’ happened towards the end of the summer of 1955 whilst my National Service was coming to an end at the Royal Marines School of Music in Deal and is remembered as yet another ‘unrehearsed’ musical moment. On my first CD – ‘A Slice of My Life’ which may have come your way and upon which your coffee cup is now probably residing, I included a song by Roger Quilter which was chosen for the ‘Palm Court’ program which we, the ‘seconded band soloists’, were encouraged by the School of Music to present to the gentry of Deal in Elizabeth’s Tea Rooms.(Still there today but under a different name.) When it came to creating the programme for a second Palm Court a few months later several items were included because they had been requested by the tearoom clientele. We were well into the programme, which was a very informal affair with much chatter and clinking of tea-cups when my next song was announced – “Young Man – Young Man” a very well attired lady with hat interrupted and was waving from a table and then demanded in true Dowager Downton fashion – “Did you not sing this song last time you were here? I replied that I had indeed. “Do you know ‘To Daises’ from the same song cycle?” The lady asked. A bit taken aback and without time to think too much, I replied that I did, hoping that the music was in the same book that I was using for the song I had planned to sing. “Very good”, the lady said, “we would like to hear that song”. And so it was that this next song, which happily was in the book, was sung by a uniformed Royal Marine Commando standing beside the piano instead of in front of it in a classic military ‘eyes right’ position trying to see the music! Ian my accompanist could sight read anything so that was no problem – but the unnatural high E towards the end was, I’m afraid!