Richard Hawley pays tribute to late Pulp bassist Steve Mackey
During the Olivier Awards, hosted at London’s Royal Albert Hall on Sunday, April 2nd, Richard Hawley, the Sheffield-based singer-songwriter, made a lasting impression worthy of the laughs it induced.
Alongside Tom Deering, Hawley was awarded ‘Best Original Score or New Orchestrations’ for his work on Standing at the Sky’s Edge at the National Theatre. When stepping onto the stage to collect his award, Hawley took a little longer than his allotted 40 seconds to pay a comical and expletive-heavy tribute to the late Pulp bassist Steve Mackey. The ceremony was broadcast live on Magic radio.
“It’s been such a magical ride, and I’ve learned so much,” Hawley began as he accepted the award.
“Now, there’s one thing that’s important to me personally I want to do before I leave this stage,” Hawley continued following formalities. “I know they said 40 seconds [guidance for the length of acceptance speeches] but… [looks at watch] fucking hell…”
“We all have to pay homage to fallen comrades sometimes, and I want to dedicate my very, very small portion of this award to my brother and my dearest friend, Steve Mackey, the bass player in Pulp, who we lost a month ago. He and I had the great fortune to meet on the first day of infant school at Hucklow Road in Sheffield, in North Sheffield, many, many years ago, and we stayed friends and brothers all the way through, and I’m going to miss him my whole life.”
“But I will tell you a funny story,” Hawley continued. “I know it’s not fucking 40 seconds, but you can edit this shit out, right? You can edit this. Fuck off!”
At that point, a Magic presenter cut into the live feed to state, “We must apologise to attend who’s offended by some of the language that Richard Hawley is using; he’s clearly very emotional…”
Surprisingly, Magic continued to broadcast after the apology message. “It’s funny,” Hawley assures the listeners. “Do you wanna hear the funny story or that shit?” he asks as the background orchestra tart to play, ostensibly to urge him from the stage.
“OK… summer holidays, 1977…” he continued before telling a story of when he, Mackey and several of their school friends pissed in the corner at school in hopes of making a rainbow. “And it was only Steve Mackey who knew it was called a prism,” he said. “I just thought it was piss in the sun.”
“I mean, these days, literally, I have to take Viagra so I don’t piss on me fucking slippers,” he added.
In total, nine swear words, including four Fucks, three Pisses and two shits, were given as part of Hawley’s protracted speech after he accepted his ‘Best Original Score or New Orchestrations’ award.
Listen to the complete audio below.
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