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Sir Lenny Henry mural among ideas to boost town

Martyn Smith,Local Democracy Reporter, Dudleyand
Sarah Julian,BBC Radio WM
BBC/John Bray A man with greying hair swept across his forehead stands in front of a yellow and black mural on the side of a house. He is wearing a black suede jacket and black t-shirt with white graphic.BBC/John Bray
Jonn Penney, of Ned's Atomic Dustbin, said he was honoured to be championing the area where he grew up

A rock band frontman says he is proud to be championing the area where he grew up.

Jonn Penney, of Ned's Atomic Dustbin, has been appointed as a cultural ambassador for Dudley by its new mayor, Pete Lowe, who he met at school and once co-wrote a "horrendous" song with.

Penney, from Quarry Bank, said it felt "surreal" to be promoting music and culture in the borough, but "I am very honoured to be doing it".

He suggested, for instance, another mural to celebrate a famous son of the area, Sir Lenny Henry, after three, including one depicting his own band, were painted last year.

"Why wouldn't we have a big mural of Sir Lenny in Dudley?" he said.

"It would be good to shout about ourselves a little bit more and it would be good to recognise our achievements and our potential."

Ned's Atomic Dustbin was founded 39 years ago in Stourbridge, and went on to have hits around the globe in the 80s and 90s.

But Penney's first musical jam happened back in his schooldays with Lowe.

"I have to call him Mr Mayor now," he laughed. "We met when we were 12 at school.

"He played guitar and I was supposedly the singer... And we wrote an atrocious song together."

The frontman said he was happy to see local bands like Gans putting the area back on the map.

"They're saying, 'we're Gans from Stourbridge and I love them about them'.

"We shouted about where our background was when we came through, but a lot of people had no idea what the Black Country was.

"Let's get it out there, I'm really proud of it."

EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock A man in a grey jacket with maroon and white spotted shirt grins with a closed mouth in front of a black wall. He is wearing light brown framed glasses and has a shaved head and greying beard.EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock
Penney suggested a mural should be created of comedian and actor Sir Lenny Henry, who grew up in Dudley

Penney said he would be meeting up with fellow ambassadors, Eddy Morton and Trina Keane, from live music venue Katie Fitzgerald's in Stourbridge, soon to discuss ideas.

He added: "Why wouldn't we have a blue plaque on the side of the old JB's [music] venue in Dudley, to commemorate what we've achieved?"

Alfie Harco A black and white image of a man with short fringe and longer sections swept to the side . He is standing outside with a cloudy sky visible behind him. He is wearing a jacket and a black t-shirt with white logo.Alfie Harco
Penney had a string of global hits in the 80s and 90s

The musician attributed the borough's previous cultural heyday to a nationally recognised art college in Stourbridge, which shut in 2019.

"There were a lot of creative people knocking around the town, musicians and artists… mixing together in pubs," he said.

"It was a bit of a potboiler for talent and there's no reason why that can't happen again.

"The problem with times of austerity, the arts are the first thing to feel the pinch, but also they're times of inspiration.

"If we can get behind our new generation of inspired people, you never know what the future could hold."

This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service which covers councils and other public service organisations.

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