LLOYD WEBBER THE NAUGHTY SCHOOLBOY

A LOT of people are bothered about fame but I’ve always cherished my anonymity.

It’s nice, every now and again, to be recognised in the park or by a cab driver, but to be more famous than that has never been a desire of mine.

To walk down a street with Andrew Lloyd Webber can be a scary experience. His face is so well known, heads turn all the time.

But there’s something about Andrew that not many people are aware of — something almost of the naughty schoolboy about him. After we finished writing the musical Aspects of Love, he said to me: ‘I think it might be a good idea to ask a few mates over to hear the score.’

I wondered who he was thinking of ?

He pondered for a bit and said: ‘Margaret Thatcher, Michael Heseltine, Geoffrey Howe, John Selwyn Gummer, John Major, David Frost...’

I replied: ‘What good will that do?’

‘Well,’ he said, with his trademark wicked wit, ‘at least we’ll find out what Joe Public thinks of it!’