Harry’s thoughts on Grease, Gran Torino and The Godfather films

Married with three grown-up children, 55-year-old Harry works as a project facilitator in the food and drink manufacturing sector.

He notes his music career highlights as Flash Harry taking their show to the Odyssey Arena in Belfast and The Albert Hall in London.

Here he answers our questions:

Q. What is your favourite song/album?

A. My favourite song is Somebody To Love. It is from the album A Day at the Races. I’ve always considered this to be the second part of a double album in conjunction with A Night at the Opera - both of these albums are named after Marx brothers movies which Queen enjoyed watching while recording their albums in the studio.

A Night at the Opera is my favourite album - it is so diverse, covers so many styles, is completely over the top and really represents, in my opinion, the eclectic mix of open music being produced by Queen during this time.

Q. What is your favourite film?

A. Gran Torino is my favourite film, directed and produced by Clint Eastwood, who also starred in the film. Eastwood portrays an inflexible and bitter Korean War veteran, who has just become bereaved.

As his world is changing around him, he is forced to confront his own long-held prejudices. Basically, it shows that inside people with misguided opinions, there can be a very compassionate and loyal friend, if we ever take the time to look beneath the mask of anger.

Q. What is your favourite piece of classical music?

A. Classical music is not something I am familiar with. I grew up in a household filled with Jazz, Swing, Big Band, Country, Pop and - when I became a teenager - Rock but not Classical.

Q. Who is your favourite artist?

A. Edward Hopper the American realist painter, but again, this is not an area I am greatly familiar with. One of my favourite places to visit in London is the National Gallery. I just like to walk around it and take it all in. Explore the art that appeals to you. That is it with Hopper, his art that I am aware of (Nighthawks, Automat) leave space and room for interpretation.

Q. What is your favourite play?

A. The Iceman Cometh, by Eugene O’Neill. A friend of mine used it in their University degree and by the end of the process I was as immersed in the play as if I had studied it myself. The central theme of deluding ourselves to accommodate our failings or missed opportunities.

Cognitive bias in support of our self-image. We see versions of it all through society now and the play captures it in a very insightful and brutal way.

Q. What is your favourite musical?

A. I have to say Grease as it’s such a favourite with my family. I saw it when it was released in 1978 and my children have loved it since they were aged two or three. Thankfully at that age they did not understand some of the lyrics! It has an outstanding soundtrack performed by the oldest teenagers in history. I think that some of the lead characters were in their late twenties at the time!

Q. What is your most special moment in the arts?

A. I would have to say seeing Queen at the RDS in 1984. All my friends were there to enjoy “live” our favourite band, a youthful shared experience creating memories.

Q. What ‘classic’ just doesn’t do it for you?

A. I once took a day to the Tate Modern in London. I got to the third floor and then I just could not take it. I think it was the pile of clothes on the floor or the blue square that did it. I almost sprinted out of the place!

Q. What have you been reading/watching/listening to/revisiting during the Coronavirus period?

A. I have been reading a book called Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari, it’s a history of mankind. I’m not much for thrillers or the latest best seller. I would usually read biography or history books. I have managed to get the children finally to watch The Godfather...only The Godfather 2 and 3 to go...