Prof's sentences pass judgement on judges .sx By ANDREW CHATFIELD .sx PROFESSOR John Griffith believes writing books is simply part and parcel of being an academic .sx Writing a book that provoked bitter controversy was a bonus , especially when The Politics Of The Judiciary achieved the highest accolade the chattering classes can bestow - extended correspondence in The Times .sx It is a book which asked for trouble by taking on the establishment , and one that was written by a man who is a former Labour councillor .sx Its central theme is that British judges cannot be neutral but have to make political decisions all the time in the way they interpret the public interest .sx " We had great fun , " says Prof Griffith now , recalling the furore and especially an angry article written by one London School of Economics colleague .sx " He more or less accused me of being a subversive .sx " .sx The professor was also delighted to read a comment by Lord Denning himself that :sx " The youngsters believe that we come from a narrow background .sx It is all nonsense .sx They get it from that man Griffith .sx " .sx He admits the reaction was a bonus .sx " I was delighted .sx After all , it is a polemical book , or rather an argumentative and controversial book , and naturally one likes the controversy .sx " .sx And , he adds :sx " The result of all that was that it sold like mad .sx " .sx Since it first appeared in 1977 , the book has been published in three more editions .sx " I was lucky in a way because ever since I wrote it the courts seem to have got themselves into more and more trouble , " he says .sx Professor Griffith , now 72 and living in Marlow , was brought up in Cardiff , the son of a Baptist minister .sx He was educated at Taunton School and the LSE .sx He considered the civil service as a career , but was then offered a place teaching law at the University of Wales .sx Most of his teaching life was spent at the LSE , but in 1986 he was approached to stand for election when the post of Chancellor at Manchester University fell vacant .sx To his amazement he was elected , and he still holds that post .sx Today , he lives in The Close , Marlow , with his wife Barbara , and is mentioned in Who's Who .sx Despite his successes , he is modest about his literary achievements because he is equally modest about his academic status , saying he is not an outstanding scholar .sx " If I am any good at anything , I am good at teaching and secondarily at research , " he explains .sx His most recent original book was a text-book called Parliament - Functions , Practice and Procedures .sx " I think I have consciously written two sorts of books .sx Books for my teaching purposes and then the more political and polemical type of writing , " he says .sx " I am a fairly political animal and I like writing polemical works .sx I suppose this is simply because I am interested in politics .sx " I have been a Labour supporter all my life and I was on Marlow Urban District Council and the county council as a Labour member .sx " .sx HIS main battle as a councillor was over plans to replace Marlow bridge with a much wider version , a move which he believes would have been disastrous for the town .sx " Politically I just think that today all the major questions cannot be solved by the market , " he says .sx " The major questions are things like pollution , housing and the health service , and these questions are not , by their very nature , things for which the market can provide .sx " .sx Music-mad tycoon banks on taking rock band to the top .sx Millionaire takes Wrekless gamble .sx Millionaire Graham Granaski has always had a passion for music , so he leapt at the chance to promote local rock group Wrekless .sx DAVID CLOUGH went to meet him at his home in Hazlemere .sx GRAHAM Granaski is a self-made man .sx His luxury home , Brackenwood House in Hazlemere , valued two years ago at two million pounds , is a testament to his acquired status .sx A pair of old-fashioned red telephone boxes direct the visitor to Graham's back garden , which is only part filled with around 40 cars .sx " Oh yes , they're mine , " he cheerfully confirms .sx The question of when he finds time to drive them springs to mind but not to the lips , as Graham leads the way inside .sx There , three roadie types sit having a drink and apparently doing little else .sx It later transpires one of them is a guitarist with Wrekless .sx Graham shows me into an adjoining room dominated by an indoor swimming pool .sx More interestingly , though , around the room are a number of framed gold discs .sx Graham says he managed to indulge his love of pop music after joining the Variety Club two years ago and that he came by the discs through contacts there .sx He has a similar story to tell about how he came to own the original Beatles drumskin from 1961 , which sits proudly at one end of the pool .sx Memorabilia On a nearby wall , hangs a framed affidavit from Ringo Starr , made in an attempt to stop him buying the drumskin .sx Exact details about how Graham came by his impressive collection of pop memorabilia are not easy to establish .sx " It's through my contacts with the Variety Club , " is his stock reply .sx But he does mention a man called Noel Smith , the road manager with Pink Floyd , who helped him get hold of The Beatles' drumskin at last .sx " He recorded with Pink Floyd in the Abbey Road studios .sx It was through him that I got some of the Dire Straits stuff , too , " Graham explains .sx Graham is clearly delighted with his collection .sx His pleasure at owning such famous pop artefacts is born of a longstanding love of the music scene .sx " I've always been into music , ever since I can remember , and having things like this around is a real thrill , " he says .sx On the subject of how he made the money to buy such things , Graham is less forthcoming .sx It's not so much that he's understated about his business life , as that he cannot prevent his enthusiasm for his latest music project overshadowing everything else .sx But while he may be bubbling over with ideas for Wrekless , whom he has been promoting for four months , Graham has no plans to slow down on the business front .sx He volunteers a short personal history .sx After leaving Beaconsfield Secondary Modern ( now The Beaconsfield School ) , he became an apprentice carpenter and joiner , before going into landscape gardening .sx Neither career worked out .sx " I started out with nothing , really .sx But then I went into car sales and after that property , " he says .sx Graham now owns a garage in London called High Performance Cars .sx His path from failed landscape gardener to property millionaire is not an obvious one .sx But Graham elucidates the situation with one short and telling statement :sx " I am good at one thing , and that's making money .sx " .sx That undoubted gift has put Graham in the enviable position today of being able to spend his time doing just what he wants .sx What he wants at the moment is to see Wrekless make it big and he makes a good job of convincing people he really believes in the band .sx Succeed " I think they'll do it .sx I don't see why not , " he repeats several times .sx Of course , a man like Graham has not made his money by just hoping for the best .sx He knows the importance of making people believe he is going to succeed .sx But , for all his commercial know-how when it comes to promoting Wrekless , Graham has taken on the project as an indulgence , not an out and out money-making venture .sx " I am doing this because I would have loved to have been in a band when I was their age , " he says .sx At 40 , Graham has finally got round to finding some time for his pop music passion .sx He cannot contain his excitement as he shows me a video clip of the band :sx " They are good , aren't they ?sx I think they can do it , " he enthuses .sx " But we're just having fun , you know .sx I don't want to make any money out of this , " he adds , forgetting himself for a second .sx " Well , I do really , but we want to enjoy this as well .sx It's really great .sx " .sx Mike's in the pinko with a socialist hit .sx MUSIC NEWS .sx By ANDREW CHATFIELD .sx LIBERAL Democrat councillor Michael Brand has reached the final stage of prestigious national musical-writing contest with a work based on a great socialist novel .sx He believes Don't Come Monday , based on Robert Tressell's The Ragged-Trousered Philanthropist , is the first brass band musical .sx But he denies it betrays any secret yearnings to go Red .sx " It was my grandfather's fault .sx He was a great trade unionist , " he explains .sx " He gave me the book when I was about 18 , just as I was going up to Oxford , and he said :sx 'Look here , my boy , just in case you get the wrong idea , have a look at this' .sx " .sx Years later , he conceived the idea of transferring that Edwardian tale of industrial strife to the stage .sx " I was interested because socialists have more strong feelings about things , " he says .sx " But the next musical might be about Hitler or something .sx " .sx It is the fourth musical written by this versatile music publisher , who was elected to represent Amersham-on-the-Hill on Chiltern District Council at the May elections .sx He lives in the town's Redding Drive with his wife and family .sx The judging panel of the Quest For New Musicals competition , which includes Richard Stilgoe , like the sample tape so much it was chosen as one of 30 out of nearly 500 entries to go through to the final stage .sx The best eight will be performed in a five-day festival in September , but the others will all be contracted to Buxton Opera House in Derbyshire .sx Michael is now completing the musical with the help of friend and lyricist Ian Chippendale , financial director of the Theatre Royal Windsor .sx HE began writing musicals while studying music at Oxford .sx His first , based on Max Beerbohm's novel about Zuleika Dobson , was staged at The Playhouse , Oxford .sx " It is a terrible ego trip top sit there in the theatre and watch people enjoy what you have written , " he says .sx " After that , it is terribly difficult to stop .sx " .sx Michael then wrote a musical with TV comedian Mel Smith , whom he met at university .sx But the piece , based on the Story of Cyrano De Bergerac , did not quite work .sx His next musical was about a jazz band and grew out of a period spent working as a producer on BBC Radio Two .sx Big-time success has still eluded him .sx But the advice of top producer Patrick Garland , who directed the hit West End show Billy , has kept him going .sx " He said there are no set routes for getting a musical on , " says Michael .sx " If you write a novel or a play , you send it to an agent and , if he likes it , he sends it to a publisher and he takes it or not .sx There are no easy routes for a musical .sx If what you write is good , don't let anyone put you off .sx " .sx The brass band music gives Don't Come Monday a unique style , something vital in any musical success .sx " I think the story has a unique aptness to the current recession , " explains Michael .sx " It is a time when people are rethinking what they stand for , and why they are working and what they are doing .sx it is not just a musical to entertain .sx It has dramatic content .sx " .sx But he adds a comment he applies to all musicals .sx " It is not really a work of art .sx it is a commercial thing .sx " .sx And it is expensive .sx To make a demo tape with any chance of success costs about pounds5 .sx 000 , he estimates .sx Although he currently runs the R Smith and Co music publishing business in Wingrave , his creative work has a strong pull .sx " If I am absolutely honest , I would love to do that all the time , but the chances of earning a living at it are literally a million to one .sx " .sx