One of the things that helped me in my early days was becoming a night manager at the Marquee. Up to this time, it had been a jazz club and its manager, John Gee, was a jazzer.

When it started to get round to booking bands like Long John Baldry, Shotgun Express and all the up-and-coming R’n'B acts, John’s heart wasn’t really in it and he said to the club’s owners, Harold and Barbara Pendleton, “Look, I’ll do the weekends and the administration, but can we have somebody else running the management of different evenings?” So they brought in this policy of having a night manager, of which I was one.

My two nights were a Monday and a Wednesday, and I believe it was the Monday that was a residency for Long John Baldry and Steam Packet, which at that time of course had Rod Stewart singing with them and Reg Dwight [now better known as Elton John] on piano. And the other night I was managing was Humphrey Lyttelton and his band, so the difference was like chalk and cheese!

It didn’t last all that long, but I remember the night with Baldry was always problematic. They would have finished their gig and I would have cashed up and given them their money, and then I’d hear them rowing and arguing. Getting them out of the club was a nightmare! I didn’t drive in those days and my last train back to Bromley was around 11.40pm, so I used to say, “Look, take the argument outside!” Whereas on the Wednesday, Humph would come, they’d set up, they’d play, at the end of the night they’d wrap up, I’d give them their money and they’d be gone! Baldry and his mob were just so unprofessional - and Stewart was one of the worst offenders!

Did you see Long John Baldry and Steam Packet perform at the Marquee in the Sixties? Share your memories here: