Revealed: Secret pop past of Education Secretary Alan Johnson

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Ambitious Education Secretary Alan Johnson has made no secret of his youthful dreams of being a rock star.

Now the exotic singer of the band he joined in the Sixties has spoken for the first time about his short-lived musical career, revealing how he turned from sharp-dressed mod to kaftan-wearing hippy, chose a safe job in the Post Office over life on the road - and how he once 'legged it' from the police.

Carmen Samad met Johnson when he replied to an advertisement her band, the In-Betweens, placed for a keyboard player to join them on the North London pub circuit.

Carmen, now a 57-year-old grandmother, said:"He was dressed like a mod, with his hair slicked back and wearing a jacket with a fur collar.

"He was polite and quiet and didn't say much. But I could see he was a lovely, caring guy - and really cute-looking.

"Later on he turned a bit flower-power and started wearing kaftans but when we first met he was definitely a mod."

Johnson joined the band, playing keyboard and guitar in venues such as The Pied Bull in Islington and ex-boxer Billy Walker's Upper Cut club in Forest Gate. They were paid £80 a time - a huge amount in those days, reflecting the size of their fan base due in part to Carmen's alluring stage outfit. "I used to wear very short miniskirts and very low tops,' said Carmen, who is half-Guyanese. "And I did go-go dancing. The crowd couldn't wait to see me.

"Alan was really good on keyboard. His favourite was Wild Thing. While I was singing it, I remember thinking, "This guy's really good." I assure you, he was very talented. I certainly had feelings for him. I liked him a lot. But I wouldn't say it was love - I was in love with a lot of guys then."

Drummer Mike Bakridan, Carmen's partner for four decades, recalled a run-in with police after a rowdy gig at The Pied Bull. "We were outside, making too much noise, when a squad car turned up - at which point Alan legged it, leaving us to face the music. We were fined £2 each."

Another time, the entire band - including Johnson - were given police cautions after their battered minivan was stopped by officers astonished to find 14 people crammed dangerously into the tiny vehicle.

Johnson even composed a song for the In-Betweens, Triangle On The Wall - we reprint some of the lyrics, right - and the band made a demo disc, although no copies seem to have survived.

However, after three years the band broke up, partly because of the theft of Johnson's precious Hofner Verithin guitar from The Pied Bull, and partly because he decided on a safe job as a postman.

"The rest of us wanted to go to the Hamburg clubs, just like the Beatles,' said Carmen, from her home in Deal, Kent.

"But Alan said it wasn't for him. I was a bit cross as I thought the band had a future."

At the Post Office, Johnson became a union boss, sowing the seeds for his Cabinet career. And even though he is tipped as a possible successor to Tony Blair, he still confesses he'd rather have been a rock star. Now Johnson, 56, has invited the In-Betweens to a Commons dinner.

The band's former manager Arif Ali said: "We are proud Alan has got so far. Perhaps if he becomes Prime Minister we will play at No10."

 

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