Foreword and introduction to my Book by "Diddy" David Hamilton

I don't think there has ever been a company that had so many stars appearing in so many different venues on the same day and all arranged by the same agent. Each of us had our own card to hand out to any member of the public daft enough to want one. On one side would be our photograph with biographical details on the back. Somehow or other, no matter how big the star, Carl's name managed to appear more times than ours. These were 'Gresh' cards, everything else was done 'Gresh-style'. Every year he would send me a card wishing me a 'Merry Greshmas'.

I first met Carl Gresham in the mid Sixties. I was working as a television announcer for ABC TV. The station that provided weekend programmes in the North and Midlands.

He introduced himself via a letter, which arrived at the Didsbury studios in Manchester. The letterhead included a huge photograph of him, so you knew right away with whom you were dealing. From that first letter I knew here was a man who liked to do it BIG.

In no time at all we were off on a whirlwind tour of the North of England. We must have appeared at every bingo hall, disco or supermarket that had an occasion it wanted to celebrate, coast to coast from Liverpool to Hull. Certainly we were the Kings of the Carnivals. One afternoon I opened three carnivals in three different counties before dashing to the TV studios for an evening shift.

When ABC TV chose me to be KEN DODD's "straight man" in "Doddy's Music Box" series in 1967, I soon earned the nickname "Diddy David", we broadened our horizons and went national.

We discovered we had three things in common: an enormous zest for work, having a laugh and earning money!

Once I was involved in a court case (a story to be told at another time) in Scarborough. By one of the great travesties of British Justice, I was forced to pay the costs. Not to worry. Carl fixed up a bingo appearance in York on the way home, and the losses were recouped.

In 1971 I was booked to appear in my first pantomime, in of all places, Carl's hometown, Bradford. In fact, it was Carl who advised me what song I, as Buttons, should sing to the boys and girls in my "Song Sheet" spot before the finale at the wonderful Alhambra Theatre. Should it be the classic and much loved "There's a worm at the bottom of the garden and its name is Wiggly Woo"? Not at all, Carl recommended I do the song from the British Rail TV commercial "Travel Inter City like the boys do". Such was my faith in the man I did it twice daily from Christmas until nearly Easter. I still have the publicity shots of me posing in my stationmaster's cap, waving a green flag. Was Carl getting free rail travel between Bradford and London? I certainly wasn't.

To this day I still wake up in a cold sweat in the middle of the night wondering how I became the first Buttons to sing to the kids a TV commercial.

It was a girlfriend of mine who christened Carl "Mr Cash Register Eyes". She noticed that when money was mentioned, his face would go red, he'd rub his hands together and his eyes would light up like a cash register.

After me Carl conducted whistle stop tours with BILL KENWRIGHT from "Coronation Street", FRAZER HINES from "Emmerdale Farm", and HUGHIE GREEN and I mean that most sincerely. And Carl is no mean performer in his own right. He has the radio shows and the pantos to prove it. Oh! Yes he has!

Who will ever forget his dear mother, who regarded us all as a bit of a nuisance, as we phoned Carl for more ideas of how we could expand our careers. I think she regarded show business with a healthy disdain, and wished her son had got a real job with none of these "n'er do well"s. Carl went from strength to strength winning a contract with Woolworths who booked over three hundred personal appearances throughout the country by various stars.

I can't think of any big stars Carl didn't work with. He knew them all and because he handled all the personal appearances himself he knew them at very close range. With so many stories to tell, it's high time he wrote the book. Let's face it, the man is a legend. And over forty years on from when he sent me that letter with his photo on top, I'm proud to call him my friend.

My Gallery

Click on an image to see a bigger version.

Gresh with Leslie Grantham	John Duttine & the Gresh (2)	Frazer Relaxing in the VIP Lounge at Palma Airport	Ken Morley and cast of Dick Whittington in Stockport 2005-6 (2)	Boozy Carl in Benidorm (2)	The Gresh on Opportunity Knocks
Gresh The Agent	Gresh with Alexandra Bastedo	The Gresh with George Layton	Garth Cawood & The Gresh	Gresh with Gerry Booth in Coronation Street	The Gresh, Kathy Staff and others
Pete Murray doing a Greshstyle	Fans waiting for John Alderton	The Gresh & Ernie Wise	The Gresh with Eric Morecambe	Shall we make a record	The Gresh with Alan Freeman
The Gresh with David Hamilton	The Gresh in the company of Ronald Magill and Freddie Pyne	The Gresh with Harry Gration	The Gresh with Ken Kitson	The Gresh with Steve & Helen Farrimond	The Gresh with Brian Thomas & Carlos Candal
The Gresh with Barry McManus	The Gresh with Frazer Hines & Chris and Mary Burrows	The Gresh with Sarah & Katie Farrimond	Gresh on the Frankie Howerd TV Series	The Gresh with Gemma Craven, Frazer Hines& Arthur Pentelow	The Gresh with David Hamilton (2)
The Gresh with Linda Bassettt	Gresh promoting Live Broadcast from Woolworths	Grumbleweed Graham Walker with Jim Brennan at BCB Radio in Bradford	Grumbleweed Graham Walker with Vicky at BCB Radio in Bradford	Grumbleweed Graham Walker with Hilary Foster at BCB in Bradford	Grumbleweed Graham Walker with The Gresh at BCB, Radio Bradford
The Gresh welcomes you to Goosey Goosey Land	Stephen, Sarah, Katie and Helen Farrimond with Rodney Warr	A Very Young Gresh with Cardinal Heenan in Lourdes	Gresh the DJ at work!	The Royal Dinner Menu	Young Gresh with freinds at the local hop in Bradford
The Gresh with Kiki Dee at Hope Kenwrights Birthday Bash	The Gresh with Frankie Vaughan & Lionel Blair	Kiki Dee entertaining at Hope Kenwrights Birthday Bash	Bill Kenwright with his Mum Hope at her Birthday Celebrations	The Gresh with Phillip Schofield	Original Autographed Signatures on Photos etc
Bill Wyman CD Pics 4 Jim	Gresh with Pat Phoenix	Gresh with Susan George and Frazer Hines	Gresh 2006 New Photo 001	Wayne Sleep and Helen	Helen and Frederick Pyne
Petula Clark and Helen	The Gresh, Ian Sharrock and Helen	Martin Shaw and Helen	Martin Shaw, Helen and The Gresh	Helen and Larry Grayson	Helen, Ronald Magill and Sheila Mercier
Palace Theatre Song and Dance	Steve Farrimond and Derek Nimmo	Helen and Gemma Craven	The Gresh and Helen	Will Wyman CD Chat with The Gresh New	New Bill Wyman & the Gresh (2)
Bill-Wyman-CD-Pics-4-Jim	Con Cluskey and The Gresh	Gresh with Ivan Trusler-(2)	Jimmy Cricket with Gresh Neighbour Lisa	The Gresh in Full Flow!	Sarah Downey with Proud Gresh, Adam Richard & Katie Farrimond
Proud Gresh with Adam Richard. Born at 6.35pm on 16th Sept. 2007	Proud Grand-Mum Helen with Baby Adam Richard and The Gresh	Hey Presto It's 10-00am here's Peter Wyngarde	One..Two...Two-and-a-half..3...Peter cuts the tape!	Adoring fan Jean Anderton meets her hero. Gresh on the right!	Jean, Gresh, Ralph, Yoyce, Brian and Duggie
Ivan Trusler and the Gresh	ALLSTAR_WRESTLING	Peter Wightman with Joyce Clarke	(Irish) Michael, Margaret and Vicky	Yvonne and Ken Rudkin	The Gresh with best mate Frazer Hines
Lesley and David Piper saving a place for The Gresh	4th-Bachelor-or-what	A-Glimse-at-the-Gresh's-Living-Room-Marina	A-Gresh-Pantomime-Contract-for-30.00 pounds.. Good-eh!	A-Very-Young-Gresh-with-Mum-&-Dad	aa-Gresh-with-Ricky-Tomlinson-(2)
Alexandra-Bastedo-(1)	Alexandra-Bastedo-(2)	Alexandra-Bastedo-(3)	Alexandra-Bastedo-(4)	An-Hour-In-the-Company-of-Gemma-Craven-&-Frazer-Hines	Batley-Variety-Club.-Supporting-Artiste's
Boozy-Carl-in-Benidorm	carl_2	carlandme[1]-(2)	CD-Photo-Montage	Con-Cluskey,-John-Pennington,-Jimmy-Cricket,-Me.-David-Piper	David-and-Lesley
Fancy-a-Marina-in-your-bedroom	Flying-over-the-French-Pyranees	Frazer-Relaxing-in-the-VIPLounge-at-Palma-Airport	Frazer,-Mark-and-The-Gresh	Garth-Cawood-Broadcasting-on-The-Woolworth's-Gresh-Show	Garth-says-He's-Almost-Here!......Honest!
Gresh-broadcasting-from-Pennine-Radio	Gresh-Garden-(1)	Gresh-Garden-(2)	Gresh-interviewing-Alexandra-Bastedo	Gresh-on-the-new-BBC-Radio-Four-programme-Counterbeat	Gresh-Show-Live-from-Woolworths-with-special-guests
Gresh-Show's-Pennine-Radio's-Promotional-Poster	Congratulations Letter from Pennine Radio Director and Friend James Towler	Gresh-The-Actor	Gresh-The-Pop-Singer-turned-Actor!	Gresh-the-Producer-for-Pennine-Radio's-'Celebrity-Concert'-1986	Gresh-the-Producer-for-Pennine-Radio's-'Celebrity-Concert'
Gresh-with-Bob	Gresh-with-Con.-John	Gresh-with-Ernie-Wise	Gresh-with-Graham-and-Ruth	Gresh-with-Honor-Blackman	Gresh-with-Hughie-Green
Gresh-with-Jayne.-Jimmy	Gresh-with-Jayne	Gresh-with-Jimmy-Cricket-and-Con-Cluskey	Gresh-with-Jimmy-Cricket	Gresh-with-John-and-Jimmy	Gresh-with-John-and-Josie
Gresh-with-John-Pell	Gresh-with-Lesley-and-David	Gresh-with-Liz-Allen-and-Tonyt-Monopoly	Gresh-with-Marianne-Faithfull	Gresh-with-Michael-and-Margaret	Gresh-with-Neighbour-Lisa
Gresh-with-Nigel	Gresh-with-Peter	Gresh-with-Ronnie	Gresh-with-Sammy-and-Linda	Gresh-with-Sandie-Shaw	Gresh-with-Steve-&-Fay
Gresh's-Live-Pennine-Radio-Show-in-full-flow	Gresh,-Jimmy-and-The-Gang	Hughie-Green's-Xmas-Card-to-the-Gresh	IMG_4945	IMG_4994	Jayne-Mansfield
Jimmy-and-May	John-Alderton-doing-a-Greshstyle	John-Alderton-meets-and-greets	John-and-Josie	John-Duttine-&-the-Gresh	John,-Josie-&-David
Kathy-Kirby-exclusive-(1)	Kathy-Kirby-Exclusive-(2)	Kathy-Kirby-Exclusive-(3)	Kathy-Kirby-Exclusive-(4)	Ken-Morley-and-cast-of-Dick-Whittington-in-Stockport-2005-6	Let's-Have-the-Next-Guest-Please---Live-at-Woolworths
Margaret,-Michael-and-Jane	Mitzi,-Gresh,-Brian-and-Duggie	Morecambe-&-Wise-Signed-10-x-8	Nigel-and-Ronnie	p-The-Gresh-with-Client-Ronald-Magill-and-his-new-Volvo	Publicity-Flyer-for-Gresh-in-Mother-Goose-(2)
Reubin-and-Fiona	Roger-and-Jayne	Santa-Gresh-with-the-Calendar-Girls-&-Linda-Bassett	Stuart-Damon-with-Alexandra-Bastedo	The-Gresh---Early,-Very-Early-Publicity-Shots	The-Gresh-Celebrating-with-Frazer-Hines
The-Gresh-in-Full-Flow	The-Gresh-is-sacked-as-stand-in-for-Tom-Courteney-in-Billy-Liar!	The-Gresh-presents-Live-Television-programmes-in-Sheffield	The-Gresh-recording-another-Radio-Four-Programme-Counterbeat	The-Gresh-with-Brenda-Lee	The-Gresh-with-Gerald-Harper
The-Gresh-with-Jayne-Mansfield	The-Gresh-with-Ricky-Tomlinson	The-Gresh-with-Tony-Monopoly-at-Woolworth's-Live-Show	The-Gresh's-Live-Show-at-Woolworth's-still-gooing-strong	The-Gresh.-Some-More-Very-Early-Publicity-Photos	The-Gresh
The-patient-waiting-crowds-meet-Jason-King	The-Royal-Guests-from-Monaco	The-Stars-go-to-Cayton-Bay-Holiday-Camp-duing-1969	The-Stars-go-to-Cayton-Bay-Holiday-Camp-duing-1970	The-Youngest-Gresh-Ever!	Time-for-a-Drink!
Who-He-----Could-it-be-the-Gresh	Young-Gresh-at-an-EMI-Record-Traning-Course-in-London	Young-Gresh-joins-the-chorus-for-a-local-production-in-Bradford	Young-Gresh-with-the-Youth-Club-Dancers-in-Bradford	The Gresh with David John and The Mood	Michael Aspel with Frazer on his "This Is Your Life"
The Gresh with Michael Aspel at Frazer Hines's "This Is Your Life"	The Gresh with Susan George at Frazer Hines's "This is Your Life"	Gresh at BCB: Gresh: Mike Winters: Steve White (BCB's ICT Co-ordinator)	Ian Brill: Gresh: Mike Winters: Steve White	The Gresh with Mike	The Gresh as a cycling "Harrier" with Jerry Booth (Graham Haberfield) in the Rovers Return "Coronation Street"
Comedy Line Up	The Krankies	The Krankies Deep in Thought	More Conversation with the Krankies	Have-we-told-you-the-one-about....	Cannon-&-Ball
Before-you-go-boys	Cannon & Ball - Producer Steve-White in background setting the recording	Jimmy Cricket and Mark Waddington	Jimmy Introduces Mark Waddington	Jimmy Chats Away	Paul And Debbie
What was that you said Gresh	Paul Daniels - I'll get up in a Minute	Debbie McGee	Frank Carson	Franks a Joy to Interview	Another Rib Tickler (see Fay White through the Mirror)
My good friend Peter Wightman with his pride and joy	The Gresh On Pennine Radio At The Weekend"....Programme listings!	Gresh The Actor....?	Gresh's First Appearance in "Corontaion Street"	Gresh's Friend BILL KENWRIGHT and Ann Sidney visit him in Pantomime in Scunthorpe.	Gresh The Compere for the "Northern Song Contest"
Stanley Unwin liked to be paid in CASH After his Cabaret spot	Gresh The Royal Guest at the Royal Gala Thursday 26th October 1972	Royal Gala Dinner Menu	The Royal couple	Elaine Stritch and Gresh Hotel Bookings	Gareth Hunt and Gresh Hotel Bookings
Hand Written Confirmation for a Greshstyle from Henry Cooper	Hand Written letter from Doris Speed (Annie-Walker-in-Cori)	Hand Written letter from Margot Bryant (Minnie-in-Cori)	Hand Written letter from Noele Gordon	Hand Written No from Jimmy Saville	Hotel Bookings for John Noakes Greshstyle
Hughie Green Letter (1)	Hughie Green Letter (2)	Hughie Green Letter (3)	Hughie Green Letter (4)	Hughie Green Letter (5)	Hughie Green Letter (6)
Hughie Green Letter (7)	Hughie Green's Telegram about David Whitfield Contract	Letter from Larry Grayson	Letter from my Woolworth's Mentor Wonderful Gentleman!	Letter from Reginald Marsh (1)	Letter from Reginald Marsh (2)
Letter from The Duke Of Bedford (1)	Letter from The Duke Of Bedford (2)	Letter from The Duke Of Bedford (3)	Richard Whiteley Letter to Gresh when Gresh's Mum Died	Ronnie Corbett Letter from the London Palladium	Terry Wogan Greshstyle Confirmation
Tony Blackburn Greshstyle Confirmations	Tony Curtis Letter March 1973	Tony Curtis Letter May 1973	Tony Curtis Letter November 1972	Woolworth's In their Golden Greshstyle Days	Yootha Joyce Postcard to Gresh from New Zealand
An early Gresh invite from the BBC	Gresh Meets Royalty with the Stars	Spot the Gresh on a panel with Hughie-Green	An Early Greshpic with Manfred Mann including PAUL JONES	This was sent by Ron Tennant who heard the P.J. Special last Monday (1/6/09)	Ardant Fan Ron Tennant from Belgium with his hero P.J. Proby - a picture taken in P.J's back garden in England
T"he Masked Singer" (aka P.J. Proby) on "Opportunity Knocks	Unmasked P.J. Proby	Debra And Derek re-visit Gretna Green!	Derek and Debra with International Actor/Entertainer MICKY ROONEY and his Wife Jan	Dave Berry, Buddy Greco, Peter Stringfellow and Derek Franks	Pennine Radio re-union party

The Gresh

Photos/Images

Book Sales!

GRESH TV PILOT

Auction & Set Sales

This site has been visited:

Foreword and introduction to my Book by "Diddy" David Hamilton

My Gallery