It's a night he will never forget

"Just marvellous," was how veteran Napier musician Eric Thorpe summed up hearing Dame Vera Lynn had become the oldest living artist to get an album into the UK top 20.
The 92-year-old entertainer, whose now legendary White Cliffs of Dover galvanised and cheered the British populace during the dark hours of WWII, has seen her greatest hits album We'll Meet Again - The Very Best of Vera Lynn climb to number four on the UK charts.
"She's still very popular of course and people still sing and play those songs. I still do," Mr Thorpe said.
But there's an even stronger link between him and Great Britain's sweetheart.
It goes back 73 years to a time when Eric was 14 years of age and the piano player for a jaunty little four-piece band which played the pubs of London.
He was a natural and gifted piano player from the age of 8, which was when a "dear old lady" by the name of Miss Banks began to give him lessons. He only did the lessons for two years as after that there was nothing more she could teach him.
"Because of my age, I had to get permission from the police to play in the pubs," Eric said.
It was 1936, and on a night which would stay in his memory forever he and the boys were playing a pub in Ealing in west London.
The other boys were Eric's brother-in-law, George Cheater (accordion), Dick Burt on drums and Fred James on saxophone.
With a laugh, Eric said he doubted many of the punters in those days took a lot of notice of the bands who played the pubs.
"They were more interested in drinking."
Although when Eric did an occasional vocal job on a song like The Little Boy Santa Claus Forgot he got a round of applause.
But on that night, those who were in that old Ealing boozer, the name of which Eric can't recall, stopped their sipping and listened to him play.
And they listened to the young lady who sang to his accompaniment.
It was Vera Lynn.
"She was with a band then and they came in between shows for a quick squirt," Eric said.
While her contract decreed she was not allowed to sing outside of scheduled shows, she decided to anyway, having spotted the young chap at the piano.
"I was a bit frightened, a bit over-awed because she was a big star. The old fingers were shaking a bit," he said.
But he played well and his unexpected vocalist thrilled the silent gathering with her beautiful and unmistakable voice.
"She was wonderful - a real lady. You know I can't remember what she sang that night, but it was an occasion I'll never forget. I'd love to play for her again but that's unlikely to happen now."
Since Eric arrived from England to live here 43 years' ago, he has become a well-regarded figure in the music business and said he still plays every day.
He has long been a champion of entertaining at rest and nursing homes and, in 2008, was awarded the Queen's Service Medal for services to light entertainment.
And among the tunes he plays?
"Vera's White Cliffs of Dover, A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square ... all the great old songs."