Christmas 2000 was a busy time for the Southgate family. There was a family wedding to prepare for, the first for many years. Richard the eldest son was keen to prepare a fine wedding for his fiancée Kate.

His ‘Best Man’ Andy, an enthusiastic karaoke singer, never missed an opportunity to tease Richard’s father, Steve, about his looks “you’d make a good Barry Gibb”. The comments were taken well and occasionally considered a complement.

In March at a family gathering, the subject of entertainment for the forthcoming wedding was under discussion by Richard and his Best Man. Richard was not to sure about Andy’s intentions but suddenly Andy, rather outspoken, suddenly suggested that Richard’s father Steve could entertain us as Barry Gibb. Steve’s brother Adrian was close at hand and an immediate response was that Steve and Adrian would be the Gibb brothers, if, Andy and Richard would dare be the Spice Girls. A handshake and a fifty-pound wager was agreed as to who could put on the best performance.

Steve and Adrian had long been a strong follower of the Bee Gees so there was far more enthusiasm than talent in the early days. We needed a third performer and Steve’s youngest son’s talents on the keyboard had not gone unnoticed. Stephen, age 15, was approached by his father and asked if he could play a particular piece of music by the Bee Gees, which was to be the Intro to ‘One Night Only’. Within hours Steve could hear a recognisable tune being reborn. “How does that sound Dad?” a voice came from a 15 year old playing a 1976 tune.

For about four weeks we practiced and soon realised that the challenge we had given ourselves was very daunting. Steve had to perform in August in front of his son, new daughter in law, best man Andy, and all of the family and friends. The only two incentives was the fifty-pound wager, and the fact that fathers never give in easy to their eldest sons.

On a cold late February evening Steve drove home playing his Bee Gee tape hoping for a miracle and wondering how his son Richard was doing with his Spice Girls. Surely they cannot be as bad as the Bee Gees. That evening Steve read his usual evening paper and turned over to page 5. There was a sudden silence as Steve carefully covered an article and slipped away into another room away from the eyes of his eldest son Richard. The caption read ‘Nick Lester as Barry Gibb’. A large photo of Nick Lester was accompanied by editorial which started with ‘ Karaoke king Nick Lester donned a medallion and platform shoes to beat off 800 competitors in the Grand Final of Stars at the Bars.

Nick a Member of the Wolverhampton Musical Comedy Company won the National Final of Stars at the Bars with the Bee Gees hit Tragedy. Nick received for his talent £1000, a crate of Budweiser and a day in the recording studio to mix and record his own CD. Suddenly that cold February evening was warming up to the thoughts of a possible fourth Bee Gee, with more talent than the other three put together (Stephen, Adrian and Steve of course).

The next day with the help of directory enquiries Steve rang a Dudley telephone number and spoke to a lady, who was obviously the proud mother of Nick. He explained he had seen the article about Nicks achievements and asked to speak to him. Poor Nick’s mother must have had thoughts of a major recording group, but unfortunately it was not to be. It was two frustrated brothers with a desperate cry for help.
Nick returned Steve’s call the next day to find there was no ‘one million pound recording contract’ but a share in a fifty-pound wager, and that wasn’t guaranteed. Times must have been desperate for Nick as well. After listening to Steve’s plight he agreed to join in on our next rehearsal. Steve’s enthusiasm was uncontrollable and the news spread to Adrian and young Stephen whilst Nick sat at home waiting for the next phone call.
Our Karaoke equipment was immediately made redundant, and a local rehearsal studio was hired. Our closely guarded secret was kept well away from our competitors the Spice Girls. We were now on our road to a fortune – well at least fifty quid!

Nick introduced us to his studio backing tracks and we were extremely impressed. Tragedy, You Should be Dancing, More Than a Woman, Too Much Heaven, we were beginning to appreciate the wonderful sounds of the Bee Gees. Our confidence was boosted to the point we decided to play two earlier tracks live, Massachusetts and New York Mining Disaster.

For the remainder of the Summer of 2001 we rehearsed in the local Studio, Rhythm Rooms, in the Midlands. We were very keen to keep our secret from the Spice Girls.
The wedding day, 25th August 2001, soon came down on the family and it was a wonderful day enjoyed by all. Rumours were spreading amongst the guests about the evening entertainment and the tension was rising between the Bee Gees and the Spice Girls. Equipment arrived and the stage was set while the guests waited in amazement. It was agreed that the Spice Girls would perform first and the Groom Richard, Best Man Andy, Cousin Scott and friends Matt and Paul, achieved a stunning performance. The bride Kate looked on in amazement, was this her idea of entertainment?
The time had come for Steve, Adrian and young Stephen to match this performance and it had been decided to conceal Nick for the first two live tracks of Massachusetts and New York Mining Disaster. To the great surprise of the audience and the competition we now announced our quest star Nick Lester and burst into song with Tragedy, Too much Heaven, followed by You Should be Dancing. The family entertainment provided an excellent start to the evening and a disco continued through the night. Before the night was over there was a decision to be made… who did put on the better performance?

Nick had devoted a lot of his spare time making sure that a family he had never met before had a special wedding and this was not to be forgotten by the Southgate family. Many weeks later Nick was invited to view the recordings of the night and it appeared that we were all missing our practise sessions. Adrian still full of enthusiasm for the Bee Gee sound said “well Nick what is happening in 2002”

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