We were at our best when we were playing in the dance halls of Liverpool and Hamburg. The world never saw that.

The first one I actually met was George Harrison.

Anyone who knows the history of the Pete Best Band or the Combo, we were on the verge of breaking in in America. In the mid-'60s, I had great songwriters; we wrote some great stuff.

We were at our best when we were playing in the dance halls of Liverpool and Hamburg. The world never saw that.

I'm happier than I would have been with the Beatles.

Liverpool was an industrial town, a poor town. The people fought hard for what they wanted to achieve and there was a hunger there, and that hunger has remained with the musicians.

When I came back into show business in '88 after spending 20-odd years in the civil service, it wasn't planned.