I’d been at Gunnells’ around 18 months, when a girl I knew who was working for Gerry Bron at Bron Artist Management asked me if I would meet with him. She was thinking of leaving and as Gerry concentrated on recording and publishing, they were looking for someone to act more or less as an administrator for Manfred Mann, Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band and a couple of solo artists, like Tony Hazzard and Richard Barnes, as well as looking after Gene Pitney when he came over from the US.

She asked me to talk to Gerry about who was around and what they were like, but it soon became obvious that he thought he was interviewing me for the job! I said, “Gerry, I’m quite happy where I am,” and he said, “Would you be interested?” I said, “Well, what actually is it?” and he said, “General manager of the office.”

I thought that was quite a leg-up from what I was doing at Gunnells’, although I liked it there. Rik and John had a reputation and some of it was quite deserved, but generally, they were not as bad as they were painted – certainly not John. They were always out, doing stuff, and I used to go down the Bag O’Nails most nights. It was all very exciting, but kinda slightly edgy, and I’m not an edgy guy really, I’m quite cautious.

So I was often quite aware that I was living the lifestyle that I wasn’t really suited for, but I did find it exciting and the money was good. With all the bonuses, commissions and everything, I reckoned I was on about £3,000, which was a lot of money in those days!

But Gerry Bron had an incredibly good reputation. His father Sidney Bron had been a music publisher all his life and his sister was Eleanor Bron, the actress. Of course, I’d worked with Manfred before, I loved the Bonzos and Gene Pitney was a big star, so I thought this had to be a good move. I was also aware that Gerry was so different to the Gunnells in that his was a very efficient and well-run organisation. So I decided to make the move.