Page 163 - James Caan - The Real Deal

14 · Having Fun

One week we had a staff band and they brought in drum kits
and guitars and microphones. The talent in that team was
incredible and absolutely matched by their enthusiasm. There was
a guy in the office called Terry who was able to take the lyrics of
any song we gave him and rewrite them on the theme of Alexander
Mann. One week we challenged him to do Queen’s Bohemian
Rhapsody and, instead of starting out with the original opening
line, Terry’s version began with a lyric I have never forgotten:
‘Jimmy, I just placed a man . . .’
We had such a good time on those Friday nights that we became
really good friends. We even started an annual fancy-dress day,
and I will never forget the day that Mahatma Gandhi travelled in
on the train from Cambridge, or the time we had a pantomime
horse stopping traffic outside the office!
I’m still good friends with a lot of the people from Alexander
Mann, and I know for a fact that those years were as special to
them as they were to me. We all had such a good time and none
of us has ever worked anywhere like it since.

153