BACK STORY

Jamie writes..

Carrie Vanilow was born on 19th February 1967 in the pictorial English village of Wales. He soon realised that his burgeoning ambition, not to mention his penchant for dressing up made him a figure of fun in his village. 'Here comes Andrew' they would say at the Post Office 'To buy his bloody stamps again, who does he think he is.' The cruel yokels, unbeknown to them, had a point. Throughout his formative years Andrew was troubled by a constant grapple with his indentity. He followed fashion like it was going out of style, constantly looking for something that expressed his troubles, his desires, his wonderful singing voice. Needless to say, he left the village as soon as he was eligable for a visa and thumbed his way to the bright lights of Bristol. There he felt at home, he joined a darts team and made friends at the bus station. Things were starting to look up for Andrew. Then one fateful night, 27th January 1982 things took a turn for the even better. Andrew had made a special friend at the bus staion, an older gent who offered Andrew his spare ticket to see Barry Manilow in Brighton that very night. The gent had broken up with his wife that day, Andrew couldn't believe his luck! To cut a long story short, that night Andrew found his calling in life; to dress up like a tart and sing Barry Manilow songs, Carrie Vanilow was born!