Over the last week in the national media, I've seen things about four people I knew reasonably well at Manchester University in the late 1980s. It was an extraordinary time and there have been loads of people who've done well for themselves. I thought it could kick off a decent list of famous ish people from our era, starting with the ones in the news, but I've only included people I knew quite well, as opposed to me being some kind of creepy stalker with access to the alumni book.
- Derek Draper has been drawn back into the Labour Party spin machine.
- Ben Gale has been made controller of Channel 5 and he was in the Guardian's Media 100.
- Tracy Oberman has been on Radio 4 talking about a new play.
- Ian King, business editor of The Sun, was on a doc about Northern Rock. A man doing a job he was always destined for.
You can then add the following old pals who are on the telly all the time:
- Shobi Gulati actress and activist. I can't believe the papers never picked up on the fact that her and Tracy knew each other at Manchester and were leading women in rival soaps for a few years. Maybe they did.
- BBC news presenter Sophie Raworth.
Then there are a few musical bods as well.
- Pete Heller, who my pal Andrew McIntyre maintains got him into house music amidst much resistance and pro-hip hop posturing. Another dance music guru is...
- Justin Robertson, when I first saw him after we'd left, working in Eastern Bloc records with a degree in something clever I thought what a waste, but the boy has done good.
- Louise Wener, who we used to call Pat Benatar even then, as she would breeze into a Sociology of Literature, Art and Music tutorial in a fog of leopard print, lipstick and henna.
All that said, there are four lads I shared a house with who are all masters of their own particular universes, but that's a different story.
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