The ‘dazzling handsome’ Paul de Lacey

I FOUND my feet tapping on the way into work with the uplifting sound of Dr Disco still ringing in my ears.

It was one of several professionally produced tracks, written and performed by Paul de Lacey in the 1970s, that he played to me – at tremendous volume – in his Belsize Park home this week.

He had with great intrigue suggested in a phone call to the office we might both enjoy a most unusual interview, but one that might leave readers of the New Journal reeling in disbelief.

Paul – who did not disappoint – told me about his life as a frustrated singer / songwriter who for many years performed as a drag artist entertainer at Camden Town’s Black Cap.

Now practising “absent healing” and influenced by astrology, he has each day for the last 40 years liaised with a “psychic detective”, most recently about when the council repairs team would fix his communal doorway.

“If you write about me what you must say is that I am a dazzling handsome young man, who although is as bald as an egg and wears a toupee, is unbelievably good-looking,” he began.

“But everything I have done in my life has come to sweet bugger all. For every good audience I have had, which has been very seldom, I have had 50 lousy rotten audiences. You work for your audience and rehearse, but if they don’t like you – well, you might just as well sit at home watching television.”

Paul as Lydia Gabriel Wackett

Paul showed me his unpublished autobiography and striking photos from his former drag days when he went by the stage name Lydia Gabriel Wackett.

But he said: “Throughout my life my music has been consistently and repeatedly turned down. The preface to my autobiography is called ‘Good for Nothing’ – but the title is called Blame It All On Mercury, which is my ruling planet. Every bloody thing that has happened to me, I blame on my ruling planet.

“I don’t mean this to be a boo hoo sob story, but there are things that have been happening to me that you would never believe. There is one man who has helped me through it. I call him every day because he is the only one who keeps me sane.”

Psychic Mike Baker has been credited by national newspapers with informing police investigations and predicting football results.

“Last week our communal front door was broken, I rang and rang Camden Council about when someone was coming to get the damn thing fixed. Nothing. In despair, I rang Mike Baker and he predicted it would be repaired in 48 hours after the time I called him.”

Was this perhaps Mr Baker’s boldest prediction? In any event, it came true, according to Paul, who has a “Camden Council complaints etc etc” file choc-a-block with correspondence dating back 20 years. When he is not writing to the council, he is sending “absent healing” to those in need.

“What you do is visualise the colours blue, white and gold. And then send it to the person, in rays. I was sending absent healing last night at 11pm, 2am and 4.30am. The small hours are a fantastic time to work.”

Paul showed me a copy of a musical he had written about a man with the HIV virus that has developed into Aids, and who is advised to make the most of his life in a mind blowing psychic experience.

Paul recalled how his first psychic experience came after watching a film about the French Revolution. “I had dreamt that I was an aristocrat climbing the steps to the guillotine”, he said, “But just as the blade was coming down I woke up. I was sweating, but I knew at that moment that someone was in the room with me.
“That presence was none other than Madame de Pompadour.”

He added: “The psychic world is like magic. It’s like Aesop’s Fables, like the Arabian nights.”

Paul described his home life as “very quiet” but that he liked very much living in his block with “fantastic neighbours”.

He had previously been driven out of his a flat in Rowley Way following 20 years of homophobic abuse.

He has volunteered with several charities and organisations including Terence Higgins Trust, Age Concern and Camden LGBT Forum to name just a few.
Good for nothing?

It seems to Gulliver that Mr de Lacy is anything but – and should come up with a new title for his autobiography.