The 99 Club in Dalkieth street in Barrow in the 60s was owned by Scrap metal impresario Sammy Morgan, who ran a srap metal yard in Hindpool road where now stands the Hollywood Park complex. He was Mr Big in the world of showbiz around Barrow, and beyond. He used to smoke big fat cigars and stand at the mezzenine bar at the back of his club holding court with the visiting stars of the day.

 The 99 was open 7 days aweek and was a real caberet club insomuch as it put on a variety show every week. First act on would be a solo singer or a duet. next would be a magician, or perhap a comedian, then the last act would be some 'big' act like a group or TV star singer. On Monday night it would be local band night, and this band would have usually played the Sunday lunch time session, 12 til 3pm. In 65 the Cynics got to play one of these slots, and we must have done OK because at the end of the gig we were approached by a short bald man in a suit that looked a lot like an accountant. In fact it was the 99 clubs accountant who's name was Alan Diamond. Alan asked us if we had a manager, which we didn't, and invited us to come and meet him at his office at Sams scrapyard. Alan was responsible for booking all the acts into the 99 club and in the age old aproach said that he would like to manage us and make us into stars.

 It was an offer we couldn't refuse, and although we would have to come up with a new name we jumped at the offer. Alan had lots of contacts in the business and it seemed like we were about to be catapulted to fame and fortune. He arranged for us to go to London to meet Troy Tempest who used to send lots of acts up north round the clubs. He gave us some dreadful pop song to go away and learn and soon we would be in the recording studio. Nothing ever came of this, but I seem to remember Alan decideing we needed a girl singer to front the band now with the new name of THE CARNABY SQARES, oh well it sounded hip at the time.

 Mala took umbrage at this suggestion, and promptly left, Alan was trying to turn us into an all round caberet group and so we drafted in a new drummer. The girl singer never really worked out and the band went on to spend the next three years playing with all the stars that came and played at the club. Tom Jones being the biggest, but we played with Hermans Hermits, The Searchers, Manfred Mann, The Mersy Beats and many more I can't recall. Alan did well getting us gigs all over the North West including a gig at the original Cavern Club in Liverpool. We now had a hot band and in 68 we were playing on the same bill as Pink Floyd at a university ball in Blackpool.

Some time in 69 the band broke up, I'm not sure why, musical differences maybe but I was never going to be a caberet musician and I had my eye on moving out of Barrow and getting down to London which was the only place to be for a budding Rock n Roll star, and the rest of the band were home birds, so just after Christmas at the start of 1970 I packed my guitar and a suitcase and headed for the Big city, London town