So, what can I do to make it special...
Brain goes into meltdown seeking inspiration, and am flailing around without success until I see a Facebook note.
BBC Radio 4 is recording a show featuring Mike Scott and Steve Wickham from the Waterboys talking about their album "Fisherman's Blues" as it's nearly 25 years old.
the show is called "Master-tapes".
No' I'd never heard of it either.
But, in for a penny , a pair of tickets to the recording would be a good present for a long time fan ( that's both of us)
So I fill in the BBC application web site, don't tell her about it as not sure we would get tickets.
Then the e mail arrives, confirming 2 x tickets for the recording of the show on Friday 26 April, 7 pm at the BBC Maida Vale studios.
I tell her what I've done, she's over the moon..
But worried as the ticket doesn't guarantee admission - it's a first come, first served queue on the night, as it's a small intimate acoustic gig and a questions and answer session with her heroes. All good.
Then I read on - for the second part of the show, they invite the audience to ask the artist questions and ask for questions to be mailed to them in advance.
So, being a smart ass, I mail off four questions as questioners get preferred access.
Good move.
As I received a mail from the producers saying they liked one of my questions and could I et them know if we were going, and tell them a little about me...
Come the day, we leave Reading on a train, not knowing how long the journey would take, so we allowed plenty of time to get there, find somewhere to eat and then enter the historic Maida Vale studios.
It's actually very easy to get there from Reading. At Paddington it's only 1 stop on the Bakerloo line.
So easy that we were there at 4.30.
Maida Vale is the only place in the known universe that doesn't have a Starbucks, a Pret, a Costa or even a McDonalds.
Obviously if you can afford to live there you get food delivered.
We did find a little where we enjoyed a drink with Mark and Layla ,2 more early bird fans who'd traveled up from Bristol.
We then went back to queue as none of us wanted to miss out ( I had guaranteed entrance, but they were all worried that they might not get in..)
We were 14, 15, 16 and 17 in the queue..
Which by 6.30 stretched all along the front of the building.
Everyone was lovely and all were chatting, comparing war stories and bonding in the evening sun.
Then we were ushered in.
All I can say about the facilities is that the license fee is not being wasted on frippery and ostentatious decoration.
The studio corridors were more shabby school chic than imperial palace...
No "green room " booze, or tea or coffee for anyone, just another queue in a corridor as lots of people with BBC lanyards ignored everyone ... Not Waterboys fans then!
AS potential questioners, we were "fast tracked" in and allocated the front 2 rows of chairs, arranged , school assembly like around a grand piano , chairs, PA and lights.
As you can see, we were front row, centre stage, about 8' from the piano stool.
Pretty good birthday treat this is turning out to be...
The PA set up was playing the CD, but I had to stifle a snigger as it was skipping... You'd think the BBC would have state of the art facilities. No, we were in the corner of a seedy school hall listening to a faulty CD on a PA smaller than the one I use at work.
No matter, the atmosphere is a mix of anticipation and trepidation Everyone nervously looking around as no one from the BBC was taking charge...
The producer came out, thanked every one for coming, explained what was going to happen and then introduced the host, John Wilson who then brought out the stars - Mike Scott and Steve Wickham. displayed his credentials as a fan by running us through his personal Waterboys war stories and getting everyone settled.
We were then off, with Mike on vocals, guitar and piano and Steve on fiddle.
We had music, chat, jokes, confessions, curve ball requests from the presenter resulting in a jig version of "The Whole Of The Moon" and many more songs played perfectly feet in front of us.
There was only one stop for a retake, and that was a technical BBC issue , not a mistake from the musicians.
At he end of the first part of the show, they carried on playing, an impromptu mini gig for us.
The second part was questions from the audience, interspersed with more music, jokes and stories from Mike.
We had the story behind " And A Bang On The Ear" which was not a traditional Irish term of endearment, but a phrase uttered by an engineer during the recording session.
The funniest story was how they enlisted Tomas McKeown to narrate "The Stolen Child" - the story involves a bottle of whisky, long haired persons knocking on doors in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the night and being told to "fek off"...
Well, the presenter was rattling off names and getting through questions and I'd not been called, time was running out , perhaps I'd not get picked..
But no, I was announced as the final question, and in his intro, John mentioned that the evening was part of Jane's birthday present and wished her happy birthday.
She was mortally embarrassed and I was so thrown off kilt that I fumbled my question..
Then it was all over, recording was finished and we could all go...
but Mike and Steve played a couple more songs for us, then we though t it was all over...
Mike was doodling away a the piano and seemed to be looking at Jane.
A couple of chords later,he launched into the song - he was playing "Happy Birthday"to Jane.
Steve Wickham joined in and we sat there , transfixed.
So that was just the cherry on the icing on the cake!
Jane gets to see her hero talk, play and then he , spontaneously , sings to her.
She was totally overwhelmed, as everyone joined in.
A very special moment that we will never forget.
Thank You Mike Scott and Steve Wickham - true gentlemen of song.
Afterwards, Mike and Steve signed my vinyl copy of " Fisherman's Blues " and each wished Jane a Happy Birthday.
And finally, Jane plucked up the courage to go and thank Mike for that special moment and I took this picture of them
After that , it was a short glide back to the Underground with our new friends, we made tentative plans to meet at the Waterboys concert in Oxford in December .
So Thank you BBC, Mike and Steve for giving Jane a truly special birthday present that she is still buzzing over and will remember for the rest of her life...
Now, what do I do for next year's birthday???
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