1) At just under 6′ 6″ he’s probably too tall for showbiz (see Keith Richards, Bowie, Paul Simon, Prince etc.)

2) One of seven brothers, he survived 10 years of Catholic boarding schools unscathed (?) (See also guilt).

3) Proud to be part of the official Doris Day web page: The only man ever to cover Move Over Darling on the album that produced the following favourite review (from the Internet) :

‘The album sucks, we almost put a variation of the Rolling Stones logo on the cover because we felt that anything that sucked this intensely needed a big pair of lips on it. By the way he’s helped out by his friends The Roches and Mr. Richard Thompson. Gee, I hope their careers can survive it – what am I saying? The Roches have never really had a career, they’re about as popular as the insects they’re named after and as far as that bastard Thompson is concerned he could take a dump on stage and the critics would have us think it was a gold ingot. If you’re at a party and someone trots out this fine work of art, leave immediately, go to a safe distance. With something as lethal as this guy’s music you can’t be too sure.”

4) Once stood in for Irish crooner Val Doonican when he was taken ill.

5) The only Brit to play the Nashville Tribute to Gram Parsons.

6) Lured four members of avant-garde Germans Can into playing pop music.

7) Played the Grand Ole Opry (with Charlie Louvin) and went on to produce Charlie’s 1996 album ‘The Longest Train’.

8) Booked to open for Arthur Lee (Love) at New York’ Bottom Line the day he went to jail.

9) Christened ‘Big Julie’ by Little Feat guitarist Paul Barrere.

10) Sang ‘Buy Mennen’ for one of the longest-running commercials on US television.

10) Has written hundreds of songs, alone and in collaboration with Lucinda Williams, Vince Gill, Dan Penn, Nicky Hopkins, Jules Shear, Dennis Locorriere, Rosie Flores, Willie Nile, Bill Lloyd, Iain Matthews, Garry Tallent, Clive Gregson etc.

11) No big hits yet.

12) Went bald aged twenty-one. (So did his son).

12a) Picked up fluent German and French – could possibly get a job as a Euro-spy. Translated ’80s popster Nena!