The Daily Tonic: Shaky Foundations

Today is the 77th birthday of Barry Manilow. Before he started pickling sharks, the artist Damian Hirst did a stint as one of Barry’s touring roadies and was often charged with collecting up the gifts that fans had thrown onto the stage each night.

One such gift was a cassette tape of a housewife talking at length about how wonderful she thought Barry was, wondering if he might pop over for tea if his schedule allowed. Damian rang her the next morning, introducing himself as “Mr Manilow’s Tour Manager”, explaining that Barry had received her tape and was keen to take her up on the offer.

The woman was beside herself with excitement, so Hirst added that she should also invite some friends along as Barry would be bringing T-shirts and albums with him to sign for them all.

Then, having taken her address and set a time, he – along with the rest of the Manilow tour – left immediately for France…

Thanks for all your stories of running errands for the rich and famous. Today we want to return to the topic of celebs cropping up in unexpected places, but this time specifically in bits of pop culture.

Today’s Question: What is the most bizarre celebrity cameo you’ve ever seen?

Whether it’s early work as an extra, cropping up in a foreign soap, having a part in a straight-to-DVD film, being a backing singer for someone unlikely, or just generally sticking out like a sore thumb in the background of something – tell us who you spotted and where: hello@popbitch.com

We’ll send some goody bags to the best sightings.

HPan writes:
“My sister-in-law was tasked with buying make-up for Patrick Swayze when he was in a West End Show, so she and I went to one of the make-up counters in Liberty.

“Given it was stage make-up it was quite dark. She being quite fair, the lady at the counter queried whether it was the right shade for my sister-in-law. She replied that she was buying it on behalf of Patrick Swayze.

“The lady replied with surprise and said she’d also sold the same brand of foundation to David Hasselhoff the week before. She’d recommended this same shade but unfortunately he went for a much more orange blend.”

CT writes:
“Back in the 90s, I did a day’s filming with Fenella Fielding, legend. She had arranged to do her own makeup and sent me off to get her some toothpaste and a toothbrush as she had forgotten hers. No worries.

“When she came out of the ladies, where she’d done her makeup, she’d gone for the old theatrical trick of smearing it all over her face like some kind of primitive primer and then sticking foundation on top.

“This technique does reflect light and tighten the skin – and it works OK on stage under those lights – but, if being filmed, a little Clarins Beauty Flash is recommended instead.

“Obviously we all kept absolutely silent about her strange appearance during filming but when she’d finished and I’d popped her in a cab I was forced to reveal what she had done to her face.”

TP writes:
“I was hired for a day to be a runner for Mariah Carey while she was in London, although I never got to meet her. I was given a list of items she needed. Unfortunately it was a Sunday in the late 90s when Sunday trading wasn’t as huge as it is now.

“She wanted honey that came in a teddy bear-shaped bottle, a particular American breakfast cereal and grapefruit scented candles. I only managed to get the candles because Selfridges was open on a Sunday. Sorry Mariah!”

Here’s another ten songs, cut and shut into a quiz round. Twenty entirely functionless points are available if you can get:
a/ Each of the ten artists (one point each)
b/ Each of the ten titles (one point each)

[Come and try your luck]

A slinky with sass
[See on YouTube]

A blonde racoon eating cherries
[See on Twitter]

Collaborate with a computer on a Paint masterpiece
[Or make a huge mess]