By Andy John

Whine and poses, flash and cash. Racey ignore all these showbiz trappings. These clean, upstanding young men have more important things on their minds…
In these days of whine and poses, one band stick out like a sore, but perfectly manicured, thumb – Racey.
When all around them is snigger and sneer, Racey stand upright, clean and decent. Butter wouldn’t melt in their Y-fronts.
With ‘Boy Oh Boy’ making it a hit hat trick for the winsome foursome from Weston-Super Mare, they’ve also proved to be as consistent and reliable as corn flakes.
Nobody really believes that Racey are as starched and wholesome as they look on ‘Top Of The Pops’. Clean scrubbed cowboys usually turn out to be the worst degenerates of all.
But not Racey. In fact, lead singer Richard Gower, is an even nicer chap than he looks. And that’s not easy.
Richard lives with wife Corinne, and their brand new daughter Natalie, who has gurgled her way just five weeks on this earth.
Richard adores children, and like all first time daddies, is madly enthusiastic about his own off-spring.
“It’s a whole new awakening for me” he says, “I was scared to death of the responsibility before. But when  I saw Natalie, I felt complete. I’m totally happy.”
“I suddenly feel very angry at the people who have kids they don’t want through carelessness. It’s a crime. I don’t understand human nature sometimes.”
‘I don‘t think everything we’ve done has been great, but I’m pretty pleased with it. I’d buy a Racey record.’
“But being a dad is fantastic.”
Being a family man when you’re a member of one of the most successful pop groups in Europe is anything but easy.
Richard is away from home for up to three months at a time, which makes it a real problem to see enough of his family.
“It’s very difficult. I’m very unhappy to leave them behind. But there’s nothing to be done – it’s just part of the job.
“Corinne understands. We’ve been married eight years now, since we were just 20, and we have a great relationship. I certainly have no fears for the future.”
Although he’s completely dedicated to Racey, Richard is not a single-minded person. He’s not a “biz bore” like many pop kingpins, and rarely bothers with parties and suchlike.
He’s more at home helping out Friends Of The Earth – the conservation society – or rounding up stray dogs.
And he isn’t only concerned about animals and the environment. The product of an East London slum himself – Richard shared a two room house with his parents, six brothers and two sisters until he was 14 – he is deeply worried about the underprivileged in Britain.
Richard even hopes to become the world’s first rock ‘n’ roll social worker.
“I’d like to be able to help children and old people” he says. “If I make enough money I’m going to use it to do something for them.
“But certainly wouldn’t give it to a charity, or any organization. It would just get wasted. I want to be able to build a home for old people myself.
“It wouldn’t be very big – perhaps about 20 beds. But at least it would do something to help.
“It’s terrible to see these people lying in the gutters. The government just isn’t doing enough to help them.
“I would go around in a van taking them off the streets – if they would come – and give them food, a new set of clothes and a bed. There are so many people out there who are really suffering.”
Richard says he’s not wealthy enough just yet to be able to fulfill this ambition, but with Racey’s continuing success it looks as if it may not take that long.
He’s already not exactly short of a few bob, having just bought a £ 40,000 house in Somerset. But fame and fortune, as everybody knows has its drawbacks.
‘It upsets me that we can’t write our own songs yet because we haven’t got the knack.’
“People just seem to be jealous of success in this country” says Richard. “People are always knocking us. It makes me really angry.
“I don’t think everything we’ve done has been great, but I’m pretty pleased with it. I’d buy a Racey record.
“Fair enough if people don’t like our stuff, but they seem to take personal digs at us all the time.
“We‘re no puppets. I think we’ve got a lot to offer people. It upsets me that we can’t write our own hit songs yet, because we haven’t got the knack. But it will come.”
Richard also has experienced the classic problems of the successful – insincerity and envy.
“A lot of people I hardly know try to be my friend because they think there’s something good about having a mate who’s famous. I can’t imagine why.
“But you soon find out who’s genuine. It doesn’t bother me. My mates back in the East End still treat me the same.
“But you get a few nasty types who have a go at you just because you’ve got a nice car or something. You just have to live with it.”
Richard feels it is particularly unfair because he’s “not that kind of person. He hates all the flashiness in the music business and keeps as far away from it as possible. After all Weston Super Mare is hardly the trendiest place in the world to live.
And Richard determinedly draws his best friends from somewhere outside the entertainment world. He knows that Racey won’t last forever, and is making sure that he keeps his feet on the ground.
“I’m not interested in the glamour side of things. People try to come on with all this star stuff after they’ve got a bit successful. I can’t understand that.
“I’m still just the same as I was when I was plying little local clubs – not so long ago. There’s still nothing I like more than going down the pub with my mates.”

Donated by Jason Humphreys