Did anyone famous own a Spectrum?

edited October 2011 in Sinclair Miscellaneous
Wasn't it mentioned on this forum a while back that the director of Scot Pilgrim versus the World had a Spectrum when he was a kid? Did anyone else in the public eye ever have a Speccy?

I'm sure I read somewhere that Prince Charles used to have a CPC (bet the CPC users tried to keep that a secret!), and Alan Sugar's son had a Spectrum (as Sugar admitted in an interview), but who else. I mean, no doubt many of today's celebrities (i.e. the few who are famous for having real talent, and the many more who are famous for reasons I can't fathom) grew up with computers and/or consoles, though they rarely mention them as it's still somewhat 'uncool' for famous people to talk openly about video games.
Post edited by ewgf on

Comments

  • edited September 2011
    Charlie Brooker is the obvious one :)
  • edited September 2011
    p8-Chris-Sievey_400721t.jpg
  • edited September 2011
    Clive Sinclair probably had one and he's pretty famous :-)
  • edited September 2011
    Didn't Radiohead use speccy music in some of their songs..would imply at least one of them had one.
  • beanz wrote: »
    Didn't Radiohead use speccy music in some of their songs..would imply at least one of them had one.

    Scrambled Street Spirit
  • edited September 2011
    And let's not forget SIR Terry Pratchett, who also owned a ZX81 :)
  • edited September 2011
    the many more who are famous for reasons I can't fathom) grew up with computers and/or consoles, though they rarely mention them as it's still somewhat 'uncool' for famous people to talk openly about video games.

    It is generally safer not to talk to everybody about your love for computer games, unless you deal with games professionally ;)

    A lot of people will instantly have some bad stereotype triggered - nerd, adult kid, nolife, wannabe spree killer and so on...

    I'm sure at many jobs you won't score with love for computer games in your cv too :)
  • fogfog
    edited September 2011
    beanz wrote: »
    Didn't Radiohead use speccy music in some of their songs..would imply at least one of them had one.

    they used apple speech , I know that much
  • edited September 2011
    I know the list of famous people who owned a C64 is pretty interesting. Off the top of my head:-

    Charles Manson
    Timothy McVeigh
    Adolf Hitler
    Osama Bin Laden
    Fog
    Attila the Hun
    Arsene Wenger
    Fred West
    Davina McCall
  • jdanddiet wrote: »
    I know the list of famous people who owned a C64 is pretty interesting. Off the top of my head:-

    Charles Manson
    Timothy McVeigh
    Adolf Hitler
    Osama Bin Laden
    Fog
    Attila the Hun
    Arsene Wenger
    Fred West
    Davina McCall

    Poor Fog. It's a bit unfair putting him in a list with Davina McCall
  • fogfog
    edited September 2011
    I don't mind her :p (well except for that tatoo..ffs)

    but alas the feeling wouldn't be mutual , still at least I couldn't be accused of stealing her shampoo :lol:
  • edited September 2011
    If Hitler had Spectrum or even C64 he would probably win the war :smile: All ciphers and all current computers like ENIAC would be no match.
  • edited September 2011
    :lol:
  • edited September 2011
    I'm sure someone donated a speccy to Shakin' Stevens after this:

    http://www.worldofspectrum.org/forums/showthread.php?t=30383&highlight=shaky

    Was he famous outside the UK?
  • edited September 2011
    The Japanese Prime Minister was given a Spectrum and a demo from Maggie Thatcher



    Stephen Fry recently included a ZX Spectrum in his top 100 gadgets so I am sure he had one.
  • Geoff wrote: »

    Stephen Fry recently included a ZX Spectrum in his top 100 gadgets so I am sure he had one.

    Perhaps he should've called his quiz show QL!
  • fogfog
    edited September 2011
    he owned a bbc micro I bet OR a leccy typewriter
  • edited September 2011
    Yes definitely a fan and a few other bods here

  • edited September 2011
    Russell Brand has mentioned loading speccy games in his stand up stuff.
  • edited October 2011
    beanz wrote: »
    Didn't Radiohead use speccy music in some of their songs..would imply at least one of them had one.

    As far as I'm aware, the only source for any kind of Radiohead / Spectrum connection is a fan website that said something like "The sounds at the end of Let Down are generated on a ZX Spectrum, which all members of Radiohead owned back in the 1970s", so I wouldn't put too much weight on that.

    I strongly suspect that Alexander Armstrong was a Speccy owner, judging from comments he made on Twitter during the production of Micro Men - something like "I've been offered the part of Clive Sinclair in a drama about the home computer revolution. That'll be a yes then" - and he was suitably tickled when I pointed him at Hey Hey 16K :-)

    Also, Aphex Twin. (Loads of Spectrum references in his albums; a story that gets repeated in interviews that as a child he discovered the technique of getting sound out of a ZX81 by putting a radio next to it; and some evidence that he worked as sound designer on those US cop dramas where the Sabre Wulf loading noise keeps turning up as the "futuristic computerised machinery" sound effect.)
  • fogfog
    edited October 2011
    alex amstrong does a "clivey" (as I call it) in the direct line adverts as well.

    maybe he was just happy to have the work (99% of the time, actors are unemployed. apparently)
  • Karl Pilkington

    2:35 onwards.

  • fogfog
    edited October 2011
    :lol: poor bloke if thats a true story , but he was born in 72
  • Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly.'s Sam Duckworth.

    From Wikipedia

    According to Duckworth, his stage name comes from a ZX Spectrum magazine. One of the sections of the solution to the Batman computer game contained the header "Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly".
  • edited October 2011
    gasman wrote: »
    Also, Aphex Twin. (Loads of Spectrum references in his albums; a story that gets repeated in interviews that as a child he discovered the technique of getting sound out of a ZX81 by putting a radio next to it; and some evidence that he worked as sound designer on those US cop dramas where the Sabre Wulf loading noise keeps turning up as the "futuristic computerised machinery" sound effect.)
    I was gonna say Aphex Twin aswell.

    He also noticed that with the volume turned way up on the telly, doing things like typing made different static noises.
    Oh, no. Every time you turn up something monumental and terrible happens.
    I don’t think I have the stomach for it.
    --Raziel (Legend of Kain: Soul Reaver 2)

    https://www.youtube.com/user/VincentTSFP
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