�Eight grand for a poster and you can�t even tell when the record�s out,� he notes in dismay. �There�s a right way of doing things, and then there�s a Stereophonics way of doing things.�
Dressing room 129 at the Beeb resembles a dentist�s waiting room, with grey sofas and plastic chairs, two school-issue sinks and brightly lit vanity mirrors. Stuart Cable is here, spitting balls of phlegm into a sink. Guitarist Scott James reads a music theory paper. Backing singers Anna and Aileen chat in one corner. A production assistant peers around the door to enquire if the band are ready, but Richard Jones has not yet arrived from his home in Kentish Town. �He�s be late if he live upstairs,� says Kelly dryly.
When Richard appears, 20 minutes late, the band head to the Later�set and run through Madame Helga and Maybe Tomorrow three times each for the benefit of the sound and camera teams. It is routine work enlivened only by a light-hearted stab at Fly By Night, an early �70s tune by smart-arse Canadian rockers Rush.
The Dandy Warhols are also appearing on the show and linger nearby. Their drummer�s afro is of some concern to Stuart Cable, himself a celebrated exponent of big rock hair. Cable consoles himself in having a bigger kit � and with a trip to Warr�s Harley-Davidson dealership in the King�s Road once Jool�s people are satisfied. Cable is quickly astride a Road King Classic, a giant hog with a suitably large price tag of ?14,000. Bouncing in the seat, he reveals that he has a similar model at home in Wales. Asked if he might be tempted to buy another, he blushes: �I shouldn�t. No I can�t.�
Over a lunch of Thai chicken curry in a pub around the corner, his famously booming voice softens to a near whisper when he speaks of his relationship with Lisa Rogers and the attendant media interest. Stuart Cable enjoys playing the rock buffoon � point a camera at him and he�ll instantly pull a crazy drummer face � but he remains guarded about his private life.
�I think everybody�s striving to get a picture of me and Lisa together. I understand that. The only argument I have is that in this band, I�ve never used the tabloid press for anything and now they�re invading my privacy. If you play the game, yes, you deserve to have it, but I don�t play the game.�
Recently, Cable was horrified when paparazzi congregated outside a jeweller�s in Kensington where he and Lisa were browsing.
�Loads of photographers appeared from behind a car,� he says, wearily. �Lisa pointed me in one direction and she went the other. She ducked into another shop and they waited for her. She counted 16 of them. I cut down an alley and a photographer followed. I just shouted at him, If you come near me, I�ll hit you. Afterwards we were wondering where the fuck they came from, and then we found out that the shop has its own PR department that phones the paps. I don�t know why they�re bothered,� he shrugs. �I play drums in a rock band and she�s a fucking Z-list TV presenter!�
She�ll thank you for saying that.
�She says so herself! The two of us find it mind-boggling. Its like all that fuss about David Beckham�s hair�� He trails off, briefly and uncharacteristically lost for words.
�Deep down inside, I don�t want that shit in the paper. Maybe it would be OK if I met Lisa and circumstances were different.�
Cable�s mood brightens during the cab ride back to the BBC, when his thoughts turn to a forthcoming Paris gig supporting The Rolling Stones.
When then band�s manager John Brand told them that the Stones job was confirmed, they were so excited that they each spent the next hour on their mobiles banging on about it to their mates.
�We had a few drinks with Ronnie Wood in Dublin a few months ago,� Cable beams, �We were in Lily�s Bordello, and when that shut we went back to Ronnie�s place.�
Hasn�t Ronnie stopped drinking?
�Well,� he replies, coyly, �as Ronnie says, Nobody likes a drought and noboady likes a flood.�
You had a wild night then?
�Er, no,� he says. �I just found a bedroom and went to sleep.�
Tonight, also, Cable is early to bed. Once the band have finished recording Later�in front of an audience including BBC sports reporter Rob Bonnet and Duran Duran�s head fop and Dandy Warhols producer Nick Rhodes, Cable enjoys one quick pint in the BBC bar before home. In the morning he�ll be back in Wales to take his boy to play at a swimming baths with a wave machine.