It seems strange to imagine a manager of a punk band as not a wheeler dealer on the lines of Maclaren and Rhodes. What was a typical day in the life of The Maniacs manager ? Did you try any scams ?

Those guys were in the super league and I wasn't! I had to balance each day between my obligations to Sounds and the band, with the paper taking priority - the money had to come from somewhere. Fortunately, the band was quite self-reliant, so between us we managed to keep things rolling along quite smoothly. I guess they were playing three or four nights a week at the peak of punk, so that was quite healthy.

How did you come to get involved with them ? Have you a photograph of yourself with the band ?

They were known as The Rings when I met them. I went to the Marquee to shoot The Damned and they were the support. I was quite impressed by them and did a session after they played. To be honest, i can't remember how the question of managing them arose, but when I got home, I knew I was involved. We had talks a few days later and Twink (ex Pink Fairies and vocalist) made some extraordinary financial demands which raised a few eyebrows. I think the other members (Alan Lee Shaw, Rod Latter and Robert Crash) were a bit pissed off with Twink, who'd performed from behind the drums during the Marquee gig to avoid the gobbing! I can't really blame him for that, but it wasn't in the punk spirit! The upshot was that they got rid of Twink, went out as a trio and changed the band's name. That's how the maniacs came into being.

What was it like getting gigs for the band any problems with punk bans ?? How did the Maniacs go down at gigs ? Plenty of gob and plaudits ?

Gigs just seemed to come at us and we had residencies at The Red Cow in Hammersmith and then at The Vortex, in Wardour Street, with loads of others at all the usual places. I don't remember much gobbing and I like to believe we were accepted as a tight, competent band who could really play and perform. Some of the reviews reflected this and we accumulated a small group of followers.

What was the relationships like with other punk bands ? Friendly rivalry or a bit of ego clashing ?

We avoided that trap because I insisted upon it. When Shane was starting out, we gave the Nips support slots at a number of gigs. Many years later, Alan and I were going into the Forum one night and a voice shouted out ""Alan!"" We turned round and there was McGowan and his entourage. He came over and shook our hands and talked briefly, during which he said he'd never forgotten the help we'd given him. That kind of justified things.

The Mont Marsan festival looked interesting any memories ?

For some reason, the organisers had hired a coach and driver from up north - Birmingham or Manchester, somewhere like that. There was us, The Boys, Sting and Copeland and others. We sailed across the Channel and headed south through France. Being August, it was quite hot and the driver began to doze off, which only i seemed to notice. All the others were probably too pissed to care! Anyway, I got hold of some sulphate and took it up to the driver who'd never seen the stuff. I said wet your finger and take some, adding that it tasted horrible. He took enough to float an elephant but it did the trick. Half an hour later, he was standing on the driver's seat, singing at the top of his voice and steering the bloody coach with his feet. I spent most of the rest of the journey keeping him concentrated on his job and listening to his incessant babbling!

How did you come to get signed to UA .... good label with the Stranglers & Buzzcocks ? How did they come to end up on the Vortex album ?

I'd done a lot of work for UA previously and the label manager, Pierre Tubbs, did the introductions. After we got the single out, there was talk of doing an album but Andrew Lauder left shortly after to form Radar with Riviera, so that was that. By that time, the punk thing was beginning to fizz and splutter (it didn't last very long, in reality). We got the Vortex album because we played there a lot and the owners (a bunch of villains) were trying to cash in on something that had a short shelf-life.

As a manager how far did you think the Maniacs realistically could go ? They had some brilliant songs as the Overground cd shows.

By 1978, it was all beginning to fall apart and punk was becoming passe. We talked about adding a second guitar or keyboards and extending the range of songs and things like that, but in reality, there wasn't that much enthusiasm by the end. Robert was the first to go then Rod joined the Adverts and Alan formed The Physicals. I don't really know how far the Maniacs could have gone but what we got down on vinyl shows that they were a tight, musically competent outfit and you can't ask for more than that.

Worst moment ??

Too few to mention...

Best moment ???

Too many to mention!