NASTY NICK’ JOINS PUNK BAND

LONDON – John Altman, a/k/a “Nasty Nick” Cotton (No. 9 on SoapLife's list of 100 Best EastEnders characters), has joined the British band the Heavy Metal Kids as lead singer. Altman sent me the band photo (left). The storied group harks back to the early 1970s. Even though John is best known as an actor, he has always been around music, and in fact, played George Harrison in the 1979 TV movie Birth of the Beatles.

Check out on YouTube the Heavy Metal Kids’ new music video for its punk anthem “Uncontrollable” featuring John belting out the words and acting out not unlike Nasty Nick. Too bad they couldn’t get June Brown (Dot) to make an appearance:

Altman previously had a connection with the Heavy Metal Kids, whose original lead singer Gary Holton he met on the set of Quadrophenia, the 1979 film based on The Who’s classic album of the same name. Both appeared in minor roles, and they stayed friends until Holton’s death in 1985. Altman also interviewed the great guitarist Jimi Hendrix in 1967 when he was a lad cutting school. –Larry Jaffee

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