7; daysin thelife of; John McLaughlin, Westlife songwriter and

Monday

WAKE up back in ex-homeland that is the Milton, at my parents' house after a great weekend in Glasgow. Celtic won and I did some disco dancing at the Maggie's Ball, hosted by my old mate Chris Gorman. Some of the Fame Academy kids were performing at it (I was the song coach at the academy). I met Jack McConnell there and congratulated him for getting the MTV awards to Scotland. We should have some kind of pop industry in Scotland, but we don't. It's a joke. We have more raw talent than anywhere else and we've got some good gigs and a bunch of people like myself, who get to a certain level and then it's a mass exodus on the (pounds) 19.50 bus down to London.

Kiss my ma and da goodbye and head for a lunch meeting in the Metropolitan Bar with ex-Bros bloke Matt Goss about his new album which I'm working on. We're hoping to record a big chunk of it in Scotland. My mate owns Cottage Studios in Glasgow's west end, where I recorded a lot of the Mark Owen album. Any chance I get to bring work to Scotland then we do it.

I also bump into the Fame Academy kids in the Metropolitan Bar. They'd met a bunch of people last night in a club, went to a party, and are now the best of mates. I had about 20 phone calls from their management companies looking for them, but denied all knowledge of where they were.

Head back down the road to London with my wife, Sharon, and baby daughter Cara Jay. Totally knackered.

Tuesday

WAKE up with a head like a bust ba'. Not a hangover but the Australian/Japanese/Belgian flu. Still got to go to a meeting about my new ska-punk band, Hypo Psycho, who have all shaved their heads after spending a wad of record company money on a new photo shoot. Boys will be boys.

Wednesday

GET to spend all day in bed. A rare occurrence though still feel rough as a badger.

Thursday

FEELING a bit better, which is just as well as I have to go to the studio where we're working on the next single for our electro-pop band, Phixx, with those heroes from the past, Duran Duran. Don't finish until 3am, but get a great result.

Friday

EARLY morning and I'm woken from deep sleep by baby. The joys of fatherhood. But when the screaming stops and the smiles start it's all worth it. Finally Cara is wrenched away from me and I'm thrown out to work.

We get good news from the midweek chart on the Phixx single, Hold On Me: it's definitely in the top 10. We wrote and produced it. I'm over the moon. When we started that project it was one nobody wanted to do - five guys who were the losers of Popstars: The Rivals. To take that negative and turn it into a top 10 gives me great satisfaction.

We should be doing that now with Scottish kids. I've made enough English kids millionaires. It's time we made some Scottish kids a few quid.

Saturday

DAY off at last. Banned from all talk of work, which is difficult as I am obsessed. Get to spend the day on the Chiswick High Road with the family. Bliss.

Saturday night and we are preparing for a trip to sunny Spain.

I'm going to there to work with Tony Santanos, who won the Spanish Pop Idol. I did his single last year which was the biggest selling single in Spanish history. So now we are working on his album.

Sunday

ADIOS. We are off to the airport. It will be good to get a break from my phone ringing with people wanting MTV tickets. But the only person who could get one if they needed one is Celtic manager Martin O'Neill.

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