Episode 80 Pt.1 - Geoff Sutton - Read All About It ......

My guest in this episode is Geoff Sutton. The stereotype of a Microsoft employee is a Computer Sciences nerd in a check shirt and chinos. Whilst they do exist Geoff is a great example of the diversity of background and experience that existed in the company as was my previous guest Neil Jordan (7 years as a Choirister at Windsor Castle) and indeed myself with my English Lit Degree (specialist subjects - Anglo-Saxon Poetry and Medieval Mystery Plays) Geoff joined Microsoft in 1996 to set up MSN News after 16 years as a journalist, including spells at the Daily Mail, Today, Sunday Express and Daily Mirror. It’s no surprise then that he has a raft of stories and in this episode, we hear hilarious and fascinating stories about his time on Mail Showbiz including: ·       Running with Madonna ·       Being a waiter at Bill Wyman’s Wedding ·       A one-off appearance as Elvis on the West End Stage·       Motivating Boy George to kick his heroin addiction ·       Princess Di and Fergie pretending to be WPCs at Annabel’s He then moved over to News and had the challenging experience of covering three major tragedies in the UK in 87/88 namely the King’s Cross Fire, the explosion and sinking of the Piper Alpha Oil Platform and Lockerbie Terrorist Attack. \Born in Hackney but today Geoff lives in Bermondsey with his wife Asli and he has two grown-up children Helen and Daniel. He is a lifelong Arsenal fan, and he describes his early teens as being all about “Football and Music’. His passion for both continues to shine through and that includes learning to play the Saxophone in lock down (but more on that in Part 2!) . His song choices in this episode are: 60’s – Three Coins in The Fountain          Frank Sinatra70’s – No Action                                                   Elvis Costello80’s – Club Tropicana                                        Wham Enjoy 😊