An appearance on a popular TV quiz show was far from pointless for a Tamworth celebrity.
Blaze Bayley, who used to live on Perrycrofts and then Fazeley, starred in a Pointless Celebrities music special shown on BBC One primetime.
The singer is famous for featuring in Iron Maiden and Wolfsbane and teamed with Dave Bartram from Showaddywaddy as they beat Brix Smith and Dan Donovan in the final on Saturday night.
Sadly they narrowly missed out on the top prize when they had to name any act who had had a UK number one single with the words that, there or this in.
Their answer of Kool and The Gang That’s the Way I Like It was incorrect however incredibly The Four Tops I’ll Be There and Shakin Stevens This Ole House were both correctly answered by two people so they narrowly missed out on the jackpot.
They did however get £500 each for their chosen charity as well as the winning trophy.
Blaze, aged 57, beamed: “It was a lot of fun, a really good experience. When they mentioned it I said oh yes, I really want to do this. I am so proud that we won.
“We were close to the jackpot; it was a difficult round. Of course you never know what is going to come up but for the kind of music that I listen to I didn’t really have much of a chance. If it had been science fiction movies or serial killers I might have!
“I have been on a few TV shows, been interviewed and performed live in different countries so that aspect wasn’t too bad because I am kind of used to the studio vibe but when you are giving your answers that is when the nerves kick in. You go a bit blank. In the calmness of my living room I am sure I could have thought of a few better answers.
“The best example was the photos from famous places round. I recognised Brazil but also Mexico City because I have been there and driven past! But I was second guessing myself. I was thinking ‘that is definitely Mexico City’ but then I was like ‘or is it?’. It was and it was the best answer but I didn’t say it!”
Explaining how his appearance all came about he recalls: “A lot of people who were into Wolfsbane back in the day are of course older now and a couple of these people have got jobs in media so every so often when somebody is asked to find a celebrity they go through their old records and go ‘I wonder what Blaze Bayley is doing’.
“The researcher there is a fan and was actually at the recording of Massive Noise Injection in London. When they said they were having a celebrity special with musicians he knew who he was looking for!
“We were actually on tour in Germany at the time and my manager said ‘What a shame, I don’t think we are going to be able to do this’. I asked him what it was and I said well have we got a day off that day? There wasn’t a gig that night so I told him to find a way to get me there!
“He moved heaven and earth. I had to go from the gig in Czech Republic straight to the airport in the early hours of the morning. Luckily, I had my own dressing room so was able to have a kip on the couch! I stayed in London that night and was up again in the early hours to fly back out to join the tour again.”
Blaze’s appearance was all in a good cause as he raised money for Mind, a mental health charity that is close to him.
He said: “I have had a lot of mental problems of my own. I always suffered depression but I didn’t know until I was in my late 30s when somebody marched me down to the doctor because I was in a bad way all the time.
“Once I had a label on these feelings then I could start researching and that really helped me not become a victim of those feelings. It is something that so many people go through, everybody goes through grieving and for some this is a constant. I have been very lucky that I had people around me who supported me and kept me going.
“The Wolfsbane guys had the idea to put a special link on our page for Mind and it actually raised more money than I would have won in the jackpot.”
