Free Your Mind With LKJc – Richard Sewlyn-Barnett, The One And Only 007 Of Introducers

Good morning and welcome to the show Free Your Mind, Let's Talk About It with LKJ. Today my guest is Richard Selwyn Barnett, um, who will be opening up and freeing his mind and letting us into his own life journey so far. And, um, I'm gonna go straight in with good morning, Richard. Good morning, Jags. How are you? Very well, thank you. Yourself? Yeah, just, um, taking it nice and steady today. Been on the phone most of the morning, and here we are. Here we are. Life's pressures or life's joys, you know. Uh, fortunately it's a Thursday morning, so, um, you know, by the time we've got into this conversation You know, we should be up and ready for chatting and freeing our minds. So let's go. So let's start, Richard, by introducing yourself to the viewer and listener of this show on exactly what do you do, Richard? You know, for people that are unsure who Richard is. Yeah, I mean, in brief, I make introductions between people who are creative, successful, entrepreneurial, uh, and have had iconic careers basically in the sort of film world and in the music world. And also do some business, some business introductions and a few tech kind of intros as well. So yes, 35 years and 11 months of introductions since October 1985. And they're very targeted, very specific introductions. That's kind of what I do. There's many other things, but that's one of the main things I do. Yes, you also deal with Mercedes cars, you know. Yeah, I've got a business that I started 20 years ago called Mercseller.com. It was basically based on my passion, my enthusiasm for restoring classic Mercedes Mercedes. And I just was able to introduce— again, it's introductions of classic Mercedes enthusiasts and collectors to each other. And that in itself is a beautiful niche business. And, uh, yeah, it's kind of gone a bit global, but I don't do it as much anymore. But, you know, it's, um, it's a hobby business. It's successful. Yeah, I, I'm afraid to say I just got rid of my Mercedes. I was— I really wasn't impressed with it. It was the AMG one, a CLA AMG, and it was just too hard, you know. You know, when you're working, you want to relax and you want to put your music on and just have that drive when you're going off to a job, etc. The seat set was just so hard and I just could not get— and I suppose it's a bit Rosa, my Paul, she's very different. I expect to get in that and have that ride. But with the Mercedes, you know, you want a bit of power, everything going. I don't know, it just didn't quite reach. So I got rid, I'm afraid to say. I've had lots and lots of classic cars and fast cars in my life. I had a Porsche in the '80s. I sold it to a dentist in Sweden, then I went off to Hollywood in '87. Yeah. And, um, had a great time out there, met some good people. And yeah, I drive a Lexus nowadays, a modern brand new sort of Lexus hybrid self-charging. A couple of i3 BMWs, electric BMWs before that. I've still got a classic Mercedes here in the rear drive. Yeah, I'm still up for the old classics as well. When you look at that, I think, you know, we move forward, don't we? We're having different aspects in our comfort and changing in our life, in what we want, in our personalities. Very different now, changing, as you will see with many people, Richard, yourself, you know. Do you judge a book by its cover? You know, what sort of person is it that drives these cars? You know, do we put them into sections? So, well, would you, in your knowledge and obviously in my education that you introduce, and you are quite unique in what you do and meeting people, and you work very closely, you're very close positive person. Thank you. If you look at people as an individual and you look at them and think, you know, with time management, etc., you know, you're somebody that, you know, I've not seen anybody with quite the credentials that you have in this aspect, but a very humble man. Um, at the same time, you like to see success, not for yourself, like coming onto the show. It's not about— it's about helping somebody. You're coming on it, even yourself, allowing to come onto the show, freeing your mind, talking about— and if there are listeners out there, you know, they're struggling in their mundane day-to-day thing, what are you doing that's quite wrong? What can I do by speaking about this and helping? Like, for instance, if you have a book Okay, but I, um, and like yourself, you see it all the time, and people going on these roads and they waste so much time being told, do this, do this, do that, go there. But actually, the right connection could save them a lot of mental stress and strain in going directly. If you knew these people, it would save so much mental trauma. When it comes to an author, obviously they want to promote their book and, you know, publicize everything that they, they, they have worked hard to achieve. And you, yes, of course you need people in the industry who, who are successful in that, the literary world. And of course I do know a few of those, and so I would always introduce an author to them. Depends on the author. And yes, introductions, very targeted, bespoke if you like, and Yeah, some, some work out, some don't, you know. It depends on, on the personalities of the people you're introducing. Um, but a lot of them have worked out, and I've got a lot of great feedback. I mean, one of the guys I introduced to about 50 or 60 business people over the last decade, he said, Richard, you're basically in a league of your own. Um, and he never met anyone like me. He was very happy, bless you. And I, you know, he said, you, you're— his quote was, you can take someone like me from zero to hero. In 12 months? And I said, yes. I said, but you've only had half the introductions in the first year. Now I'm going to escalate it into another 50 to 100 in year 2. That's because you want success for them. And seeing that gratitude from that person that's coming through is helping him. And, you know, when we do— we have to do our jobs, we have our daily things, we have to get up, we will have bills to pay and everything like that. Richard, and quite rightly, in the fact that you're saying is how you do help, you know, you are very personal, very bespoke in what you do. Yes. And, you know, it's also very informal because you don't want the pressure. You don't want people walking into a room immediately feeling pressured, saying, oh gosh, you know, as if it's like a board meeting or something. That causes us a lot of stress. The way you set things up, you know, like with Grow, you have people that meet and try and put the circles and that to go in to help people and then go in forward with that. I mean, I mean, the way out, the way I work this is I do all my introductions over breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Have done since the '80s. Uh, the Grove is a great example, Jags, you know, where last week, um, I brought 20 people in the film, music, television, and tech industry together over a 7-hour period at the Grove. And it worked, uh, because various people were mixing with others and they hadn't met. They'd heard of each other but never met. And of course, that, that in itself has led to a lot of follow-ups the last, um, 7 or 8 days. And even just till a few minutes before this call, I was talking to someone who has written a film about the death of Princess Diana and Dodi, um, and he's trying to get his film off the ground. And I've just introduced him to an award-winning director who's attached to an award-winning producer. And, um, he was very— he's a writer, so he's very grateful of that introduction. You know, I've known this guy for a long, long, long time. Yes, that just happened this morning. Yeah, well, even with that, Richard, you know, what's come from that, you know, as you were saying, is where they're going forward with this now, this movie, etc., that's coming out, that leaves an opening for people for jobs, etc., that, you know, for the film industry, obviously, with COVID being on etc. It has been a difficult time, but you know, coming out— I mean, we've just had the new Bond movie out, very encouraging, and etc., to go in there. And it's quite interesting, you know, as I have a look at some of the wonderful things that are said about you in your positivity. And then that's what I want for the listeners of the show, that, you know, we have to be positive, look at the glass half-full approach, you know. There is support, there is reasoning there, there is stuff available to us. Like yourself, you might say, oh well, what does that do with really with helping your mental health? Well, for me, you are the, um, I mean, the professor that I would put to come in on a lecture if, you know, we were having a, uh, a meeting with people, you know, feeling low, to show you how to be upbeat, How to— because you're that type of guy that the listener needs to connect with. When you listen to positive people, you know, when you get the negativity out and listen more positively, it helps. And for myself, with you, is, you know, as I said, I'm in awe of you, Richard, in what you do. And some of the lovely messages that come across, I mean, we have some here, for instance, like Ben Cheryl. Richard is an inspirational business networker and has connected many entrepreneurs, investors, and leading business innovators together during the past 20 years through the IWK. It is who you know. Yes, yeah, pronounced I-Wick. E-Y-W-I-C-K. I-W-I-C-K. So sometimes I have a, you know, a problem when I see it the other way around. But like Tom Ball, uh, Richard is one of life's givers. He goes out of his way to connect people from different walks of life who would never otherwise have met. But this is all people— they're really good guys. I mean, just great examples. So Tom Ball is in the league of his own. Ben Sherrill's in the league of his own. You know, they're, they're really good friends of mine, and they, they've achieved so much in their own careers, and I've helped introduce them to a lot of people. You're right, yeah. They're good people. Um, Gavin Franks: I went to school with Richard more than 30 years ago, and he had a knack of connecting people back then. Over the years of staying in touch, I've watched and been amazed as he built a large network of excellent connections in all areas of business. These aren't just names on the list. He works hard— excuse me— he works hard to stay in contact with all of them, connecting them with one another where he sees beneficial mutual interest. I admire him for his honesty, his integrity, good character, and class. It was a pleasure to be working with Richard as a US partner in his It Is Who You Know group. Oh, that's lovely. You know, like that. And you're so humble in that. Well, let me, let me explain. Gavin and I do go back about 44 years. Met him in school when I was 10. Um, his brother is the, um, vice president over at Netflix in Los Angeles, and he— they're Brits in LA, basically. Um, they went out there in the early '80s, and they're, they're, they're, you know, family of very, very successful in the entertainment world. I won't drop too many names, but they know everybody, and they put money into things, and they're, they're incredible. Gavin worked for Haim Saban Entertainment in the '80s. He also was an accountant, I think, for Henry Mancini and Jon Voight. And if he hears this interview, he'll, he'll probably be smiling as he listens to it, you know. But yeah, he's a good friend of mine. He's my business partner in New York now. He moved to New York 5 years ago. He's worked on loads of HBO television series, Sony, uh, Warner's, Universal, Netflix, Amazon, everybody, you know, out there who you've heard of. Disney as well. And, um, he's a cool guy. Yeah, he just works on, um I think it was Pennyworth actually in 2019 here in the UK at Leavesden. Um, but he's worked on loads of stuff, um, you know, you see on, on television now. And, and he actually produced a film, a one-off film, I think it was called 10 Till Noon with, um, Morgan Freeman's son. There you go, that's quite an interesting one. But yeah, Mr. Hollywood is his nickname. You should try and bear with me, excuse me one moment. So that's— excuse me a sec. Okay, that's right. That's, uh, that's a very interesting call. I've been waiting for that call for 2 days. I'll ring them back anyway. Yeah, so Gavin's a great guy, um, and we're doing several projects together, which obviously we've signed non-disclosure agreements for, but they're really good, good sort of television stroke film projects. Yeah, so for yourself, when we're looking at yourself, um, and we're looking at your character and your, um, the person that you are when we're looking at your life story here. Richard, did you go to private schooling? Was you schooled, you know, because there's a lot of debate on the schooling issues, if people were, um, now in private education to mainstream, you know, education, and there's a difference in there with the classes Did you go, may I ask if it's not too personal, did you go to private school or mainstream education? I went to a private boys' school called Homewood in 1972 and then left in '75 to go to another boys' school called Belmont up until 1980. Then I went off to Friar Bollock Grammar School, which is a private school but it's a boys' grammar, and I left, you know, '83 with 4 4 O levels, Grade C. So I was never an academic. I was always a rebel, you know, iconoclastic sort of, you know, maverick, if you like. And I just— I, I was never going to follow the rules or authority, and I always questioned things, and, um, I was set on my own path. Uh, once I'd left school at sort of 16, um, I decided to go and work in the City of London money broking. I was a telex checker for £3,000 a year in 1984, you know, suited and booted, getting on the public transport system every day. And I just disliked it. I mean, I spent my lunch hour going over and talking with Julian Richer, who's got a great book out called The Ethical Capitalist, and his London Bridge shop, Richer Sounds, at the time was, I think, his first or second store. He told me, one day I'll be in the Guinness Book of Records. And I said, well, that's one of my favorite books from the '70s, Julian. I also might be in the Guinness Book of Records. I didn't know what I was going to do in the Guinness Book of Records, and I don't know if I've ever made it into the Guinness Book of Records, but he actually is— his store at London Bridge is in the Guinness World Records 20 years running, I believe. So, you know, a great guy, and he's ethical. The word ethical pops in again. He's, you know, he made money, but he did it in a really ethical way. He loved his customers, he loved his staff, he rewarded his staff. He out— he outshone John Lewis with a 6-year warranty on televisions, whereas John Lewis only offered a 5-year warranty, you know. And, you know, I respect someone like that, yeah. I've never introduced Julian Richard to anyone, um, yeah. So I left the city, and, um, that was the end of '84. Worked for about a month in Selfridges, uh, garage— Selfridges parking very wealthy people's cars for them, not knowing what I was going to do. And in '85, I walked into a local estate agent's office in Woodside Park and, um, started working with the guy who was a sort of property developer and learned about, you know, the value and, um, you know, the resale and the refurbishments of properties. I loved art, I loved architecture, I like antiques, uh, and I love, you know, all types of sort of buildings really. So that was kind of the path I was going on, very much sort of materialistic, you know, wanting to make loads of money type thing. And then a light bulb went off in October '85 when I was in a pub meeting a friend of mine called Jonathan, and he was a property developer himself looking for a plot of land. And I knew another guy who I went to school with whose parents had a plot of land, so I brought the two of them together in October '85 and the deal happened. And 8 months later I bought my first flat. You know, I'm 19 years old living, living in my first apartment. So, um, from that one deal, and then I just realized, you know, here I can do these amazing introductions. You know, they're magic. And the word magic comes into it. You've got this gift. Well, well, well, my financial— it works. No, but I mean, my financial advisor at the time was, uh, part of the magic circle. He was a magician, but he was also a financial advisor. Sadly passed away a couple of years ago, and he was a great, great guy to know, and he helped me out a lot, gave me some good advice. And he worked for people like George Lucas and Stanley Kubrick, people like that, you know, the high net worths in America. Though he was British, he owned part of the Jensen car company and stuff like that. So I was meeting really iconic people from a very, very young age. Did that change you, Richard, as a person from, you know, like for some people, you know, when you were saying you were at school and you wasn't going to be told what to do or like that, you wasn't going to fit in this standard private school education, this is where you're going to go, you were Richard and I'm going to find my own path. Did you not find that teaching at school strong enough or did you feel it was a bit more controlled or was it I need to be free and do this myself. Um, yeah, interesting. I, I, I like the fact that you can go to school and learn certain things and you can really benefit from that, and, uh, you can take, you know, it can help you in your life, your career, and decisions you make. But I just didn't feel it at school, you know. I, I wanted to go home and put all my vinyl onto cassette. Instead of doing homework. Does that make sense? I used to read a lot of books. So after school, you know, just reflecting back just a little bit, I'm just trying to bring out the character of yourself. I know we've got this person, Sarah, you know, you started off, you're suited and booted, you've got that strong background of wearing the strong uniform in private education, you have to be in, how you go out, showing on there, this is you, you've donned your clothes of your suit after leaving school, but very headstrong, etc. There. But I need to see inside of Richard at the moment, if you can sort of mean into your core. I understand we've got your structure, your strengths, which are the strong suit shows your type of character in, you know, like being a positive person. Is that you, you structured yourself from that background. You're up, you put this coat of armor on by putting the suit on, etc., where you were going into the money world. You already had a path, but inside, so it does make us, you know, this person that goes out like that. But inside of you, Richard, you know, for some of us, that type of personality that, you know, you see many bankers, etc., going on, but very quiet people, um, and, you know, head down, they come home and they relax, etc. But for you, even back then, was love of music, and even— oh yes, work, etc., like that. You would kick off your shoes, as I can envisage, is kicking off the shoes, as you said, sticking on the vinyl, mixing stuff up, going on. You wasn't someone just to sit back and let the evening pass. You were out, you were meeting, you were doing that. Still, although you was tired, your personality was, "Gotta keep going, gotta keep going," you know. This is what I'm trying to show the listener, that yes, not everybody wants to kick off, and you know, we all are individual people, but I'm just trying to bring out this person who is very humble, that's helped so so many people and to show strength actually in, in our own mental awareness, how you cope with that. So in that time when you decided to change, was it the music that you were playing? Did that change your role to leave the banking to go into the garage, you know, where you saw the, you know, fixing the cars, etc., and then to that first financial transaction that changed you in 1985 that made you the Introducer? Well, I mean, obviously music plays a part in all of our lives, you know, it's a universal language and we love— we all love listening to things that makes us happy, or, you know, you could be sometimes sad, or, you know. No, I— it wasn't music. I had this inner drive that I always wanted to succeed. I was surrounded by cousins who were really successful in my family but they weren't going to help me out, and they still haven't. Um, neither have— so I felt, I felt very alone. I felt like I should do everything by myself for myself. Then I realized the, um, the beauty of collaborating. So I had some really good friends. Socially, I was very active. I had lots of friends, girlfriends, you know, people like that. And obviously, your family help you out? Sorry, no, they have helped me out. Of course they've helped me out. They've given me a lot of you know, support, um, you know, and they've taught me well about, you know, morals and ethics and etiquette and those kinds of things. So it's just the way it came across on there that, um, you know, your cousins were, you know, very close, but they didn't help you out. They weren't going to bring me into the family business, right? So I had to do everything for myself, by myself, you know. I was, I was a self-starter, they call it, don't they? Yeah. And without the education It was a bit like, uh, some guys say, well, we're really sort of streetwise, we're from the streets, and that kind of thing. But I wasn't quite like that because I was from the suburbs, you know. But yeah, I had this, um, like I've never met anyone with my drive. Does that make sense? Yes, completely. I was, I, I was going for gold. Yes, and nobody can compete with you on that. I was going, I was going for gold. I wanted to have the edge over everyone else. And so years later, a guy came to me, he Christ, he said, you know, you've changed my life. And I said, really? He said, well, you know, you introduced me to all these great people in the '80s, and now, you know, now I'm in New York, I'm making lots of, um, films and television and stuff like that, and, um, I've never met anyone like you, you know. He said, I'm going to nickname you Mr. One Degree, which was great. And he went on to make a very famous reality TV show and series called Dog the Bounty Hunter, became a massive brand. And he was— he inspired me. I never said to him, well, you inspired me, Daniel, you know. But there we go. So we were friends from '73 onwards, just mates, you know, riding bicycles, reading comics, that kind of thing. Um, and, um, yeah, I just had some great friends. I thought a lot of it is down to luck, um, about who you've met and why you've met them. And, you know, you can't guarantee meeting someone if you go to a party, for example. But if someone's at that party and someone introduced me to them, then I can always, you know, see if I've got something in common with them. I met people at weddings and funerals, sadly, you know, and just in, you know, in Sainsbury's or something, or Waitrose, you know. You can meet anyone anywhere, um, and if, you know, you can help them out— I mean, I've got a lot of compassion for, um, you know, people as well, and I listen to their stories and, you know, their backgrounds and what they've been through, and I, you know, I try and sympathize and empathize and do all the kind of things, yeah, to sort of help them out really and get to know them as well. Yes, yeah. So going from that initial meeting then, Richard, and going on yourself, what would you say to a listener, for instance, if you met in Sainsbury's or that person and you could see somebody was down, you know, and in your approach, would you approach them as you said when you meet them and give an uplifting word, or how do you open that conversation? Say, I'm going to speak to that person, because there's a lot of people that can't do that. Yeah, I would try and find out what the issue or the problem is with them first, you know, and if I could help them, I would give them some good advice and try and introduce them to someone that could help them. If not me, because I mean, my, my most important commodity is my time. I've learned that over the years, that our time is ticking away each day completely. You don't like time wasting either? No, I've had a very low tolerance for kind of amateurs, amateurish behavior, that kind of— and behavior is a big thing in my— if someone misbehaves, you know, um, who I've introduced to someone, then I'm going to be obviously cutting them out. Yeah, not in a horrible way, just say, look, good luck, good luck with the rest of your life and your career and your business, but I can't help you any further. But then on the positive side of it, you know, as I say, the, the guy that told me, you can take anyone from zero to hero, Richard, anyone. And I thought, well, that's a really nice accolade, you know, I quite like that. Um, most definitely, most definitely. And that's only through introductions, nothing else. I don't do the heavy lifting side of it, and I don't get entrenched or involved in anyone else's business. Um, I stay clear of it. I, I basically— another friend of mine, I'd just gone back from Monaco in the South of France, really old friend of mine, he said, Richard, what you're doing is— because he was observing me for the last sort of 49 years— he said, you're an expert at lighting the touch paper, then standing back and watching it, you know, explode or whatever. Wonderful words. Very true, very true. Good friend of mine that we both know in the industry. Stuff going across, or, you know, I may have a connection, you may have a connection, they'll come through, you know. And as I'm saying, reading out the wonderful, um, words, and that is because, you know, it takes a special sort of person to have that, you know, in that you will stop and do so, everybody, because it's the pleasure of getting that connection working. There's a— I did some good today. And that's how you are, aren't you? You know, that is, that is— I mean, a simple, you know, introduction would be I was backstage at the Beach Boys in 2012 and I was talking with Bruce Johnson from the Beach Boys. And we were sort of— I was saying, you know, he said, what's your favorite Beach Boys song? I said, I quite like I Can Hear Music. I like all of your songs, you know, they're all great songs. And I said, um, I understand you, you co-wrote a song with a friend of mine called Lindsey DePaul. And he went, oh yeah, Yeah, in 1975 we wrote a song together. And he said to me, is there any way— because I'm in London for a few days now, obviously— could you, can you connect me with Lindsey? And I said, sure. So I got Lindsey on the phone and I put— got her number, I gave it to Bruce Johnson, and, you know, they connected. There you go. So, you know, that's another one. But, you know, I didn't want anything from it. That's not about money, that's not about, um, business, that's just purely a personal connection. Introduction. Yeah, yeah. So I've done thousands of those style of introductions where there's been no monetary gain for any party, purely just out of love. Yeah, and the word love comes into everything I do. I've got to love what I do, love who I'm with, like their projects, um, and you know, that's it. That's a simple way. That's because of your persona and your personality. Because you are not somebody that likes a negative vibe. And you know, there's a lot of information on that, on how to change and how to become more positive and to go forward. And you will see life change if you look with a much more positive manner. You know, like for somebody that's fallen, for instance, and think, what do I do? How do I start? Their business is broken. They've gone down. How do I do this? Then look at, as I would say to Richard, if that was you, you would be like, okay, but where do I go from here? How do I do it? Look at my time. Did I waste time doing that? And break that down so you can see when you have failed or to go forward. But to be able to go forward is to change that person, to go up like yourself, that, you know, you cope very well. And one of my questions to you is, you know, do you ever suffer, or have you suffered with any form of mental anxiety enough to pull you down? Or how do you cope with that if you are having a blue day? Do you get a blue day being a very positive person? I mean, I get, I get very upset when I see cruelty to animals. That for me is, is, is, is the worst. That makes me very upset. And I suppose you could say that's depressing. No, I'm a positive person, really. You know, I think we all have ups and downs, aches and pains, highs and lows in our lives. You know, you're human at the end of the day. But no, I tend to not dwell on anything like that at at all, really. I've had a lot of, a lot of tragedy in my life where friends of mine have been, you know, killed or died or, you know, injured or, you know, I've seen it a lot. In fact, one of the songs I funded and produced was called The Way I've Been, written by a friend of mine that survived a terror attack, a guy called Andy Ross. And, um, he was a childhood friend of mine. He was in a bar in Tel Aviv in 2003 and a suicide bomber walked in and blew himself up and And he, in front of his eyes, in slow motion, saw all of his friends, you know, get killed and maimed and stuff. He luckily survived, but he's got post-traumatic stress disorder. So I tried to help him out a lot, a lot. Um, and, um, he told me that he'd written this song in the aftermath, and he wanted me to introduce him to Benny Troy, a Northern soul superstar in New Jersey. He was signed to D-Lite Records in the '70s along with Kool and the Gang. And that he wanted me to get Benny Troy to sing The Way I've Been. Now that's quite a— that's a, that's a rare sort of introduction if ever I've heard one. So I made a few calls and I got through to, um, a very well-known Philadelphia producer called Billy Terrell that you can look up, and he's got a book out called, um, I think it's The Other Side of Rock and War or something. And, um, Terrell suggested suggest I speak to Benny's cousin and manager Vinnie. I spoke to Vinnie, and then we did a big conference call, and Benny came over here, um, to do a North and South tour. I took Andy up to meet him. We took a girl to do some videoing of the meeting on the beach and interviewing them and stuff like that. But I engineered the whole thing and pulled it all together, and then I got recording studio in North London. Then we did a launch party at a big house in Hampstead, and we invited loads of people, including Lindsay Lappole, Ben Sherrill, Gavin Franks's parents, because Gavin was obviously in the States. Um, and quite a few people from the film, TV, and music, music industry came along, and they came just to see Andy. So Sidney Samuelson was there, yeah, his son Peter and Mark Samuelson. They produced a lot of films in Hollywood. The late Philip Saville was there. He, he discovered, um, Jacqueline Bisset and put her in a film, and also, um, Christian, Christian Bale. You know, I mean, loads of people were there from the industry. So that was a really great— I catered it all. We had some fine wine, you know, it was just— I was in my element. But I— what the, the, the bottom line was, I produced a song, and I'm— as many people have said since, you made Andy Ross's sort of dream come true, you know, by, by helping him. Yeah. And so it was the love, what he'd been through what he'd been through. Yeah, and the trauma. And then I take— a week after we did that, it was my birthday. The launch was on Thursday the 7th of April 2011, and a week later it was my birthday on the 14th. And so I drove Andy to the Cotswolds, put him in a hotel, and took him to meet one of his absolute iconic heroes of all time. He wanted to meet Doug Silverhammer Maxwell, Doug Maxwell, who'd worked for the Beatles. Yeah, and Chris Blackwell at Island Records. He'd produced a book with Chris Blackwell called The Island Book of Records, and, um, he wanted to meet Doug Maxwell. But more importantly, over the lunch we had with Maxwell, he wanted to meet Maxwell's wife Susan, who's a lovely lady who'd been through the 7/7 tube train attack. So she was a terror attack survivor, and he wanted to see how she was dealing with her post-traumatic stress, you know. And so the lunch was a very, um, interesting lunch, you know. Whilst they loved the song and they loved the the, the, the sort of the lyrics and the, the reason the song came about. There was also a lot of therapy at that lunch. Yeah, which again is, is a very rare experience. And we're in, you know, a gastro pub up in the Cotswolds near Stroud, do you know what I mean? Yeah, that, that— I mean, I've, I've been to far-flung places with people you can only imagine, uh, and it's just— I, I— what I really want to do is write a book, but I'm not a writer. So I think I would have to engage a ghostwriter. Ah, well, you've come to the right person. Oh, I do ghostwriting. So there you go as well. There you go. So it'd be my pleasure to do that because, you know, for, uh, as I say, as a person, Richard, and, and listening just to that part, I think any listener has seen how out of— for no self no gain other than to help your friend Andy. That was the reason. Exploding your personality out to the listener, you know, with positivity, that you saw your friend that had actually witnessed this horrific mental thing, and everybody, and, and the questions that he would ask himself regarding post-traumatic stress Why didn't they take him? Because sometimes he's left with that pain. He saw that it would have been easier to have been killed with them, but he was left with this pain. But there was a reason he was left and what he had to do. But yourself, and you know, for his legacy, and we all want to leave a strong legacy behind, and you know, to take him and what you did, and then creating that record, and then for him, even though that was created You gave his dream there, but by having that, he still had his issues with the post-traumatic stress. To meet, um, his— the gentleman's wife, who'd survived, and she'd gotten over her post— she'd been to see specialist counselors in, you know, sort of traumatic events, and she was able to get, get through it. And he was unable to get through it, but he, he was writing songs and composing. He's still around. I mean, he's a lovely guy. And he introduced me to Tony Klinger at the Grove, um, 11 years ago, and to a singer, a brilliant singer called Kenny Thomas. Yeah, to Kenny. Yeah, yeah. I mean, Tony's fantastic as well. Um, I've interviewed him myself and, you know, um, I've met him, um, at the Gripping Yarns barbecue. Oh yes, and Monroe's a nice guy. Yeah. Yeah, that was full of people and stuff on there. So that's wonderful, Richard, you know, to hear, you know, that you're doing on there and the support that you give. And like, like you said, you want to write a book. Now in that book, as you know, you're saying that the ghost— because there is nobody like you in the industry, and to write that, and you know, even when I talk with you, whether on the show or off the show when we're doing it, your encouragement. I just battled COVID, as you know, and just that, you know, you even sent me a message there, how you doing, you know. Yeah, you always put people first, and, and that is, you know, I can't express because as we're saying about time, time management, etc., you know, there are a lot of people that, um, don't give time Don't give that, you know, although I think when you are meeting people in the associations that you do, but as you said, there's been no monetary gain in a lot of them. It is simply to make sure that person connects. And you hate wasted time. We're only here but a short time. Yes. Regarding your book, or perhaps, you know, somebody is a ghostwriter as well, but obviously I do do that. But I don't charge for my ghostwriting, and that's no offense to anybody that does, because I believe with the power of the pen you unlock your mind and you give the freedom. And that's the reason I don't charge. But I have a lot of time to do, like lots of people, you know, if I— it may take us a year, year and a half to get the book out if they took me with no charge. But I've got to understand what the book's about, who the person is about, like yourself, you know, because that's my spare time. And if I can free somebody's mind, I do believe by unleashing and leaving that, I mean, because there is nobody out there. I don't know where we'll be without Richard with this stuff, with this connection stuff, and the amount of people that you've helped by your hand, free giving, but just connection like that. So in, in your book, you know, what would your book— what would you want your book to be? Because it's a legacy, you know, as a published author, when we have that, that achievement in itself that you've unlocked and freed, and the joy that you get when you see your first book on the shelf, it's quite powerful because you've unfreed it. You've also got your own inner anxieties, etc., that you will be thinking, you know, with the critics, etc., how they're going to like it. But let's get to the very point. It's better— I wouldn't, I wouldn't, I wouldn't, I wouldn't care about what critics think because, you know, it's not their story. I mean, they, they might, they might, they might not like the book. There's millions of people that would, would probably, um, it would resonate with, you know. It would be an end to— and first of all, it'd be an entertaining book. There'd be a lot of comedy in it and some of the you know, some of the scenes I've been involved in, as well as, um, quite informative and also, um, you know, understanding how I work, how my mind works, how my heart works, how I, how I engineer things, should we say, or facilitate things, you know. And, um, it's just been through my life and my career. Yeah, if you can call it a career. I don't know if you can. I've been given a title for the book by Bruno Tilly, who himself is an icon. Yeah, anyone who knows Bruno Tilly knows he's one of the most in-demand creatives globally. You know, everyone wants to work with Bruno Tilly. So he said to me, Richard, the title for your book is You Could Not Make It Up. That's the title. I had my— my title was given to me by Daniel Elias in 1992 when he took me to meet Tarantino and Harvey Keitel and the London Film Festival with the original first screening of Reservoir Dogs, he said, you know, Richard, you're Mr. One Degree. So there was two types: Mr. One Degree, or you couldn't make it up. I mean, um, Skyler Jett, who replaced Lionel Richie in the Commodores, he calls me the Dot Connector. Teddy Hayes used to work with Quincy Jones and tour managed, um, you know, Roberta Flack and worked with Melvin Van— late Melvin Van Peebles. Teddy Hayes said, Richard, you've got more connections than the phone company. And it goes on and on and on. And, uh, I think Tony Clingham maybe calls me the King of Connections. Bruno again calls me Mr. Introducer or Mr. Introductions, you know. So you hear different people say great things about me, um, but I'm still humble. It doesn't— but, you know, I'm, I'm like— and if someone's— if someone criticizes me, I would like to find out why they're criticizing me, who they are, what have they achieved. And it's the old people in glass houses scenario, you know. I'd probably be able to criticize them and pick holes in them if I wanted to, you know. Um, but I wouldn't do that. But, you know, that's, that's, um, an interesting thing. So I wouldn't worry about critics. Um, yeah, I just want to get my story out there. Yeah. And, and yes, I think that's something we should look at doing, you know. Um, my ear is there, you know, and obviously to help and encourage you to do that, you know. I've done many people's books, you know, happily, uh, left my name off that because, you know, to unlock that and do it and leaving that, like you say, with the critics, that's on there. But the reason I said that, because people do panic, they do panic, and that's because, you know, they worry with their anxieties. Where you're someone that can control that anxiety and stuff, and already saying before, I don't care, this is— I'm writing this, this is my life, and you know, this is how it's going to be. Again, showing the very positive mental attitude that you possess. Yeah, well, I mean, I try, I try my best to help people, you know. At the end of the day, people kind of also need to help themselves as well. Um, I believe in that. Yeah. So for— do you have anything that you would like to say, as you know, regarding if somebody, uh, would say Who was Richard, uh, Sir Alan Barnett, and your legacy? Do you have a legacy that you want to leave? I mean, you have this wonderful accolade of businesses and stuff that you've done and who you are, and I don't know anybody that I have met in the industry that ever has anything but positive to say about you, which is, um, thank you. Quite— because, you know, you know, in this sort of industry when we work in media, etc., you know, we do hear the vines, you know, um, like that, you know, which I don't get involved in or stuff, you know. But, you know, that can be quite harmful, you know, when people do that. I don't associate myself at all with people like that. Like yourself, I believe in the positivity, um, and looking at what people have done, and if they fall, you stand tall. How can I help you stand? I'm a very charitable person, as you know yourself, you know, there's stuff there and helping out. And like yourself, you know, by doing that, it doesn't say, oh, I'm a great person, you know, I'm better than you for doing it. It's just who I am, like you. You don't do it for anything. I think we all have to realize that we, you know, instead of just going, you know, to a boring 9-to-5 job and just paying the bills. There's more to life than that. You've got to immerse yourself in something you love, heavily research it, you know, thoroughly look into what you're going to do as, you know, as a career, as a job, as, you know, for your living. And you want to enjoy yourself. Hang on a sec, I will get rid of that one. Bear with me. That's because you're always in demand, Richard. I'll have to see who that is. Yes, I will. Sorry, one sec. Literally, I don't know who it is yet, but we'll have to see. Bear with me. Sorry about this. I'll mute it. While Richard is, um, checking out his messages to the listener, um, he is somebody that's always constantly in demand, but he's also constantly networking. And okay, I'm back now. I'm back. Okay, sorry. Yeah, yeah, that was explaining to the listener, you know, somebody that— yeah, you are in great demand. And I can imagine that, you know, when we come to, you know, comes the end of our life and we're there and we're having our eulogy read, and it wouldn't surprise me, Richard, if your phone would still be going off then, thinking, you know, surely he's there. Can you connect me with so-and-so up in, you know, when you meet his wife, what's he like, Richard? And you will be, you know, people believe in the spiritual world, I'm sure you come in and, you know, I do believe I can imagine you sending some sort of messages and this creation that goes on in the sky with all these connections coming through that because, you know, you, you are so powerful and so kind and that's it. And you know, when we are humble and to be kind and to be labeled and to meet somebody like yourself with kindness, that's what you are. You are, you are a man with So if people ask me who Richard is, after, you know, Richard is highly professional. Richard is the kindest and funniest man, um, you know, that I know, along with others, you know, with Sam Monroe, etc. He absolutely cracks me up when, you know, he's on, because he's very positive. Um, but for yourself You're humble, you have kindness, you always have a hand to offer to help. You never let life get you down. You're an inspiration to many people. And you know, for myself, Richard, but everybody that's probably listening out there, it's like touching a miracle. You know, if you touch your hand, it's like gold. Yeah. And that's what it is. If you meet with Richard and touch their hand, the power of the positivity that you possessed. And that hand that you touch, and you touch Richard's hand in the connection world, is that time isn't wasted. No, things do happen. Your dreams can come true. And that's with your own personal feeling of not wasting and wanting things to work. From that first meeting, then you left that carriage And when you put those together, I can do that, I can help people and doing that. And I say there's nobody in the industry that I know of, have heard of, I mean, that can do this. But you also help, you know, with your own leadership skills, you try to encourage and help others. I mean, we both know Buzz Radio, Nicole and Wayne. Thank you. Yes, nice people, very lovely people. And they, they were introduced to me a year ago by Andy Ross. Again, Andy Ross is unbelievably— though he doesn't know it yet— he's quite a good introducer. Funny that, because he's actually a pianist and an osteopath and a great songwriter. But I was going to just add a couple of things to that. Wayne and Nicole are great people. They need support, they need love, they, you know, they, they need good guests as well, which of course you've been— we've both been guests of theirs and, you know, told us a little bit of our stories. I think they're good people, and there's a lot of great people out there. And as you say, you surround yourself with positive, professional people. I would tell any listener, you know, if anyone's negative about you, just walk away or just ignore it and try to ignore it if you can. Don't let bullies take advantage of you, get the better of you. I mean, I had my grandfather who sort of grew up in East London, and the other one grew up in South London, um, they told me both the same thing when I was very young. You don't wait around, you know, for the neighborhood bully to beat you up or attack you. You preemptively strike the neighborhood bully when they're not— when they're not expecting it. Then you don't turn your back on them, and you go back again and make sure the job's done properly. Yeah, so that was the sort of little bit in the back of my head growing up, you know. That's the streetwise stuff. And so luckily I try to avoid trouble if I can, you know, but I had that in me. And I'm quite shocked to hear that a bully would even come from you, because when you have this persona— yeah, strength of positivity— yes, you don't normally have bullies that come to you, because as you say, you're already forearmed. There are bullies everywhere. There are bullies on the road, there are bullies in the workplace, that, you know Schools, you know, people get depressed. Depression is caused by bullying. Yeah, whether it's, you know, I don't want to get involved in governments and stuff like that, but, you know, there are so many laws and rules, right, that are kind of harassment and bullying. And, you know, telling you've got to do this, you've got to pay that, or we'll put you in prison. You know, stuff like that. To me, that, that's intimidation and bullying and harassment. Um, so again, I don't— I'm my own law. Does that make sense? I'm my own rules. Yeah, yeah, I've been— I've invented myself as I've gone along. Um, you know, like I said, like someone else told me recently, said, have you met your rival and have you met your competitor, Richard? And I said, no, I've never ever met any people like that at all. No, I've met, you know, very successful people, very wealthy people, very beautiful people, driven people, you know, I've met all those people. Um, and I've been to their homes, I've been to their parties, I've been on their boats, you know, I've hung out with them, um, and they've all got their own sort of drive, if you like, you know. And I mean, some of the most creative people on the planet I've hung out with, um, but do they, do they do what I did? Have they done hundreds of thousands of introductions to iconic people in their careers? No, they have not. Not one of them. They've done loads of networking, do you know what I mean? Yeah. So I feel I stand alone. And Doug Maxwell once said to me, Richard, you know, when everybody else zigs, you zag. That's a good— another good expression. And coming from Doug Maxwell, yeah, I accepted that as, as a, as an honor. Yeah, yeah, very much so. I mean, the guy created and, you know, pioneered cliché-free advertising throughout the '60s and even into the '70s, you know. And he's still around now in Cape Town, lovely man, very artistic. Um, he made the documentary with BBC Arena on one of the greatest artists of all time called Robert Rauschenberg, a pop artist, very, very well known. So, you know, fantastic, you know, a life story that you've, you know, that you've expressed to the listener and about this positivity and who you are, Richard. And, you know, we've touched on that nobody has a bad word to say about Richard, you know, because, you know, people do get trolled, etc. Not Richard and what you do, and don't associate that. And consequently, so, um, for, you know, we are coming towards the end of the show, and I like to use this time to sum up and allow you to, you know, there'll be questions that people want to ask. Who, what's your favorite meal? I know it sounds very mundane, but there are questions that the viewer, you know, what does this guy eat? Because obviously if you're positive, they'll say, does he just like, you know, have all these vitamins? You know, what makes him so upbeat? You know, like that. What's your favorite music? Like you said, you listen to different music. I've got, you know, thousands of vinyl CDs and stuff. And what makes you so positive? What is he eating? What does he drink? What does he do? So people are wanting to know, Richard, are there any questions that are coming through? But, you know, for the listeners, it's when you, you know, when they see you, these superfoods and everything like that, does that make you more positive? It does. And actually, you know, I avoid all fast foods, fried foods. I do I cook my own foods, I grow my own organic vegetables. I'm completely organic since as long as I can remember, from the early '90s when I gave up meat. In 2004, I stopped smoking cigarettes. That was a bad habit. I did that. Yeah. I mean, I've just— just, yeah, take lots of zinc, D3, B12, all types of vitamins and build your immune systems up, especially against all these viruses out there. Right? Because antibiotics obviously don't work against viruses. So, um, yeah, I'm just— just stay positive as well. Yeah, because obviously, uh, and one of the other listeners, um, have asked, um, after all the people that you know, who's the greatest band that you, um, like? Well, there's hundreds of bands. I love Steely Dan. And I'm friends with Elliot Randall, who played the guitar on Reading in the Years, and he's a lovely guy. He's worked with everybody. Um, so I, I mean, The Supremes were great. I've seen Diana Ross in concert, obviously. I still like the music of, um, anything produced by Quincy Jones, who's a great producer. Um, um, oh God, I like Dire Straits. There you go. Yeah, yeah, that's great. There we go. Dyer Straits, thank you for joining myself and Jack O'Shea. We are supporting and doing, you know, doing with the media on Dyer Straits Legacy in January. Sen Munro, you know, lots of people will be there, myself, and to see Trevor Horn perform with Alan Clarkson, Mel Collins, etc. Who will be coming on the show before that, to find out individually. As you know, I was on the Right Buzzin' and we've done that with them. Trevor Horne. Trevor Horne was the— But they're going to have an hour each on the show so that the listener really gets in touch, like yourself, who are you, what do you do? Because sometimes, you know, when you've got lots of people and it's very difficult to explain express that. And I know they had a great time, but it's, it's great to know if you will be there, you know. And for anybody that does like Dire Straits, you know, Jags, when I was in the States in '87, I went to see Fleetwood Mac on Thursday the 12th of November in 1987. And then 2 days later, you know, I'm in Springfield, Ohio, uh, you know, watching In Excess play. And I actually got to meet Mike Hutchins, yeah, twice. Once backstage after the concert And then I met him in, in, in Brace Years in '92 on the set of Baby Don't Cry. And the guy who replaced Michael Hutchence in NXS, Kieran Gribbin, is best mates with my brother-in-law and my sister in Australia. You know, small world. Um, very much so. I mean, I find myself in Thailand in '99. I'm on a beach, a little tiny island called Koh Tao, learning how to scuba dive. As I'm walking along the beach, I bump into a couple of really nice girls from London One of them is, um, best mates with Bob Hoskins, which is useful. And the other girl, she replaced Siobhan in Bananarama. And when I told her, well, I know the manager of Bananarama, Hillary Shore, you know. And then everybody that they mentioned, I knew someone who knew them. It was like the weirdest, freakiest thing ever, in the middle of nowhere in Thailand on a beach, you know what I mean? Yeah, yeah. Um, another, um question has come in that says about your Mercedes and, you know, with the restoring and everything in there, which is your favorite of the Mercedes vintage range? And would, you know, would you ever sell it? Well, I, I, I, I did sell it. It was a 1970 280 SE 3.5 automatic in anthracite gray, which is like a brownie gray color with cognac leather, and it had It was one lady and it was Mary Zimbalist's car. Well, you've got to look up who Mary Zimbalist is. She collected the Oscar for Ben-Hur in 1960, handed to her by John Wayne, right? Because her husband was Ephraim Zimbalist, who made the film Ben-Hur and many other films. And I went to see Mary Zimbalist in her 90s, I think it was— she was elderly— and bought this amazing Mercedes from her. I took with me Neil Sadaka's cousin, right, to this thousand-acre estate in Hampshire. That was my favorite Mercedes ever. So there for the, uh, listener that put in, and for anybody that's had any questions, um, due to come through about Richard, and, you know, please, uh, no doubt we'll be replaying over this recording, um, because there is so much there. And, you know, we are coming to the close of the show So I'm going to leave, as I always do, my guests to finish with a lasting message. But for myself, I would like to thank you all for listening to the wonderful and incredible Richard Selwyn Barnett, who is just amazing. The hand of kindness is what I can label you with today. So on that, Richard, can I leave you to close down the show with any words, you know, as a positive man to encourage the people? Yeah, I mean, I just want to say thank you first of all, Jags, for being such a lovely host. I'm sorry I rattled on a bit, but, um, you know, I pretty wanted to get a few things out. Um, I just say to people, look, you know, don't listen to negativity, surround yourself with positive people. And if you are going to start a business, employ professionals to do your work for you, do all the heavy lifting for you. How's that? Yeah, no, that's very kind of you. And that— so be kind to animals, be kind to us. Animals, go vegan, go vegan, go organic. Voice that can be heard like a human. So on that, thank you everybody for joining Free Your Mind with LKJ.