THERE must be something in the Mersey water that keeps our legends carrying on performing like teenagers.

The Inferno refers to the great Sir Paul McCartney and Ken Dodd OBE.

Macca, at 73, has been wowing audiences of late with his three-hour spectacular show.

He is a musician who cares about his audience.When I was young and my life was an open book (cue Live and Let Die) I was a member of the Wings Appreciation Club – it meant you got priority for booking tickets.

I recall sending off my pocket money for a show at Wembley Arena and when it arrived I was bemused by the seat numbers.

There was no seating plan, so I suspected I was somewhere near the car park.

When I got there I was ushered into the front row.

Money can't buy you memories like that.

I later discovered that Paul wanted Merseysiders to be given the best seats in the house.

He once told me that he often thinks of himself standing in the audience wondering what he would like Paul McCartney to play.

He cares.

I recall another gig when he invited fan club members to a rehearsal for one of his world tours at a secret London theatre.

He played a show crammed with Wings and Beatles classics.

He spotted me in the audience, gave me a thumbs up, and asked me if I was getting the 86 bus home.

As for Mr Dodd, his shows are now part of folklore lasting five hours.

He is 87 and has no intention of slowing down.

The Squire says his love of theatre came when his mum and dad took him to the circus where he saw elephants in West Derby.

Doddy is playing New Brighton Pavilion on Sunday, a theatre close to his heart, and you can guarantee, like Macca, a ticket price really does mean value for money.

Maybe we should bottle Mersey water there’s something magical in it. Now there’s an idea...

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WHY is our beautiful game turning ugly?

It seems that Fat Cats United are pinching the silverware and no one is taking any notice.

I have never understood the offside rule but I do know that a new term has arrived called the backhander – and there seems to be no penalty or red card for this.

Oh, how these pin-striped suited vultures have tarnished the reputation of a game that should be presenting role models.

Where are the iconic figures like the late great Sir Stanley Mathews, one of my dad’s favourites, who was the personification of integrity?

Here was a man brought up on kicking cans in Stoke’s alley ways because he couldn’t afford a football.

He also used to ask the butcher for a pig’s bladder.

Talking of bladders, FIFA's chairman Sepp in the wrong direction has brought the game into disrepute.

Who voted in this shifty Swiss power-crazed dictator?

And who's big enough to tackle him?

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THIS week we’ve lost a true giant among political players with the passing of Charles Kennedy.

I met him once on a campaign trail when I worked in Birmingham.

He lightened up press conferences with humour – something the other party leaders seem incapable of.

I listened to tributes and crocodile tears from those who once berated the 55-year-old Lib Dem leader who was a self-confessed alcoholic.

He was a man of principle.

In one televised incident he seemed befuddled with figures.

He was lambasted by the media.

Happily not many dwelt on this blip in a career of distinction that saw him bring in the largest number of seats for the Lib Dems when he was an inspirational leader.

He passionately opposed the Iraq war and will be remembered for that stance above all else.

His beloved party are now a shadow of his time in office.

Maybe after losing his seat after 32 years he died of a broken heart.

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AND finally ...

Lionel Richie is one of the headliners at Glastonbury later this year. But will we see him at literary festivals too?

I only ask because a book shop has revealed that one customer perusing the CS Lewis shelves asked a bemused assistant "Have you got 'Lionel Richie and the Wardrobe'?”

Write on, Lionel.

Peter Grant