10—MARYLEBONE JOURNAL
LOCAL LIVES BOB KIDBY
By day Bob Kidby is an executive director for Welbeck Land. By night he sings and plays guitar with his band Clarence King and The Regents, who appear once a month at the Apollo on Paddington Street
I was a solicitor for 33 years, and for the last 16 of those was head of real estate with one of the large international firms in the City. It was great fun, but 33 years of anything is probably enough, so I decided to change tack and do something else. I became an executive director
of Welbeck Land in May 2010. The company was created in 1994 to expand the Howard de Walden Estate’s property development activities outside the estate. Welbeck Land has two sides – one is commercial development, primarily central London offices, but also student housing, medical premises and some residential; the other is what’s called strategic land, which is basically assisting landowners around the country to obtain planning consents for residential development. I’m also a musician – or I play an
instrument, put it that way. I sing and also play guitar and harmonica. Being a product of the early 60s, I wanted to get a guitar as soon as I heard bands like The Beatles, Rolling Stones and particularly The Kinks. I got a guitar at the age of 11, and have played ever since. My first real gig at the end of
Shanklin Pier on the Isle of Wight when I was 14. It wasn’t a difficult gig to get, because the drummer’s father owned the pier. There were probably two or three people there. I suppose what I like is rhythmic music made with real instruments.
PEOPLE
I’ve been in heavy metal bands, country bands, soul, funk, folk, jazz – all different kinds. Clarence King and The Regents
formed about 10 years ago. We play a mixture of jazz, blues, swing, pop, rock and ska. I wanted a band name that sounded bluesey – somebody and the somethings – and quite liked the idea of using royalty. I then remembered that my grandfather’s Christian name was Clarence. Clarence King just sounded like a man who knew how to play blues guitar, so Clarence King and The Regents it became. I later found out that the most celebrated geologist in American history is a bloke called Clarence King, who has a mountain named after him. For the last 10 years we’ve been
involved with Party in the Park, which was the idea of Alistair Watson, the managing director of Welbeck Land. It’s a charitable fundraiser, the concept being that the captains of the property industry would get up to sing in front of 1,500 people, backed by my band, with dry ice, television cameras, a proper stage and real lighting, having been choreographed and trained and all the rest of it. This year, which will be the last one, we’re hoping to have raised £1 million. Some of the stars of the property industry are not necessarily stars on stage, but some are very good, and it’s always a great night. We’ve done all manner of different
gigs. Trips to the south of France to play at MIPIM, the international property conference in Cannes, and last year we played Ascot. We had a spate of playing at various London hotels – Claridge’s, Café
Royal, Grosvenor House and a couple more. We had a terrible time at Claridge’s once. We were told to turn the music down while they made announcements, then turn it back up again as if we were some kind of record player. It was a very difficult set. We’ve always enjoyed playing the
National Conker Championships, which is held in the City and is really good fun. It’s sponsored by Taylor’s Port, so everybody ends up legless. Once a month we play The Apollo on Paddington Street, and because Welbeck Land owns the pub, the manager has to put up with us. Do we lead the rock and roll
lifestyle? I’ll take my tie off. That’s about as rock and roll as it gets, I’m afraid. We don’t smash up hotel rooms – we’re generally trying to build them instead – and we don’t throw televisions through windows because we like to watch Countdown. I’m really looking forward to the
Marylebone Summer Fayre this year. It’s a great big street party really, and it’s lovely to see the coming together of all the people who are associated with Marylebone. It is a wonderful local event. Marylebone has real character and is a great place to wander around. And it doesn’t smack you in the eye. It just sidles up to you and takes you by the arm.
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