Reg Varney describes growing up in the East End of London during the 1920s and 1930s and the emergence of his musical talent. Having gone away to a convalescent home to recover from the effects of pneumonia, Reg returned home able to play the piano as well as his father. He soon supplemented his earnings as a messenger boy for Cable and Wireless by playing the circuit of Men's Clubs of the East End and Essex. The author previously starred in The Rag Trade and On The Buses.