Espana Por Favor

An old favourite which, I’m shocked to say, I’ve failed to post here until now.

Steve Bent was born in 1952 and initially trained as an actor, making his television debut in 1970 in the Richard Beckinsale comedy series The Lovers. His first big break was in the TV soap Crossroads (as Gerry Hurst), and, like many of his co-stars of the day - including Kathy Staff and Paul Henry – he was soon ushered into a recording studio to cut a 45. The result was the self-composed I’m Going to Spain, originally issued as a 45 on Bradleys Records (home to the Goodies) in 1976 and compiled on the seminal bad music compilation Kenny Everett Presents the World’s Worst Records (K-Tel/Yuk!) a couple of years later.

Hardly the sort of record to encourage one to visit the Costa del Sol unlike, say, Sylvia’s Y Viva Espana, Steve quickly realises that there was no future for him in music and so tore up his Musician’s Union card. Outside of this one horrific 45 and a fabled appearance on the TV talent show New Faces, his recorded output consists of a handful of tracks which appeared on a couple of charity albums put out by the Showbiz XI, produced by another bad music alumnus Jess Conrad. Having said that his one stab at pop immortality received another outing, and no doubt garnered a welcome royalty cheque or two, when it was covered by The Fall on their 1993 album The Infotainment Scan.

As Stephen Bent he has concentrated instead on his acting career. You might not recognise his name but you’ll instantly know his face; Stephen has appeared in innumerable TV and stage productions including episodes of Miss Marple, Lovejoy, Minder, ChuckleVision, The Professionals, My Family, Doctors, The Sweeney, Life on Mars and Coronation Street, appearing in three different roles: Nick Turner in 1971, Frank Barton in 1974 and Dave Turner in 2002. He’s also appeared in movies including Mean Machine and Ali G In Da House. Most recently Stephen had a recurring role on the long-running rural soap Emmerdale as Derek Penrose.

Enjoy!