John Kettley Is A Weatherman

Album: The Claret Collection (1988)
Charted: 21
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Songfacts®:

  • This novelty song is a tribute to the British television weatherman John Ketley, who also appears in the song's video. Ketley told the Guardian newspaper December 13, 2008 about his reaction to this tune: "I was a bit younger than most weathermen and had a twinkle in my eye. They said later they thought I was the kind of bloke they'd go to the pub with. They'd sent me this tape and I thought it was a joke. The next thing I know they sent it to the children's TV department who said, 'We think this is a funny wheeze. We want to put a video together.' They filmed the band jumping through a weather map to kidnap me. It was flattering, but because Michael Fish is in the chorus he thought it was about him, so I had to calm him down. It's 20 years ago this Christmas it made number 21. I made £250 out of appearing in the video, but you couldn't buy that publicity and the song has helped keep my name up there. It's flattering that a band can be inspired by someone just doing an ordinary job. We're still in touch. One of them got married this year and asked me for a quote to use in his wedding speech."
  • Tribe of Toffs were a group formed in Sunderland, in the north east of England, by Stephen Cousins (guitar/vocals), Andrew Stephenson (bass/vocals) and Philip Rodgers (drums). They later added Michael Haggerton (guitar/vocals). Despite recording another tribute song to a well known UK television personality "Terry Wogan's On TV (Again)", this song was their one and only hit.

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