Not many people will have heard of Tony Kaye, but that doesn't matter, some of the best stories belong to those among us who don't live their lives entirely on the front pages. Born in 1927, the son of a Jewish bookie, market trader and entrepreneur from the East End of London, Tony decided he didn't want to end up on the markets all his life so set in train a remarkable series of events that ensured he wouldn't.

Combining a flair for showmanship, a love of jazz and a precocious talent for music, he decided on a career as a bass player and from the age of 15 played in some of the best-known dance bands of the early 40s such as Ann Shar and Teddy Foster and alongside such great players as Ray Davies, Hank Shaw, Bert Weedon and the legendary George Shearing. It was a life of hard work but not without its upsides:

"Somehow I never felt my parents were fully behind my choice of career. They believed being a musician wasn't a serious job as they felt musicians were people who slept late, drank a lot and chased women: they were right with the last three."

A spell with the Canadian Army followed immediately hostilities ceased, touring occupied Germany with their entertainment unit and seeing at first hand the sometimes desperate measures people on both sides employed to scratch a living. That led on to an interest in photography which in turn evolved into wrestling, promoting some of the biggest names of the day. And he was still only 22!

Moving to South Africa on a whim, more jazz followed but he also found the time to learn hypnotism and take up flying. Not willing to embrace the increasing evils of the new apartheid regime, he returned to London after 5 years, on the way using the talents inherited from his father to prove that there is such a thing as a free lunch, even at one of the world's top hotels!

It was a strange jump from playing jazz to hairdressing but this is what Tony chose to do on his return from South Africa. An impulse to walk into a hairdressing school on his way up to the London musicians' hang out of Archer Street paid off and he very soon ended up working for some of the top stylists in Ireland, London and New York.

Back in London in the early 60s and he was once again looking for something different to do. An opportunity arose to operate a salon on a Greek cruise liner and he snapped it up. The liner turned out to be the ill-fated Lakonia. She tragically sank with a heavy loss of life after a fire on a Christmas cruise to the Canaries in 1963 and as the fire was first spotted in the salon, the finger of blame was wrongly pointed at Tony's fledgling company. The company, Coiffeur Transocean, eventually exonerated after a long enquiry, rose like the proverbial phoenix from the ashes and by dint of hard work and Tony's instinct for any new opening in the market, went on to become one the major names supplying salon and spa services to the cruising market over the next 30 years.

This isn't though just another boring book about a successful businessman, this is full of incident and many, many laughs to offset any tragedy and adversity. Tony has wrung the most out of his life and this is just a small part of it. It stars presidents, captains of industry, Hollywood stars and East End petty villains, musicians, entertainers, the Mob and one or two moments with the ladies thrown into the mix for good measure - find out what really goes on in those training salons!

Tony has been fortunate enough to mingle with some of the biggest stars of the last 60 years but don't read G Strings and Curls if you're looking for gossip or any dirt being dished because you won't find much here at all. Tony believes life is to be enjoyed and friendship to be celebrated. He's always looked forward, learning from any mistakes he's made along the way. Fun and friends was the key, and still is.

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ASK House
Northgate Avenue
Bury St. Edmunds
Suffolk, UK
IP32 6BB
Tel (+44) 01284 700321

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ISBN 10: 1845491807
ISBN 13: 978-1845941802