FIFTY years ago the hottest ticket in town was to see chart-topping band Manfred Mann at the 99 Club. 

The night spot, in Dalkeith Street, was building a reputation as a place to see the latest stars of the music and variety entertainment world. 

Singer Paul Jones took to the stage in a mask of French leader General Charles de Gaulle. 

He had also made an impression a couple of hours before the gig when he politely asked people not to smoke in the club’s dressing room. 

The Evening Mail on Tuesday, April 26, in 1966 carried a single picture of young people crowding around the club’s stage. 

The Mail reported that the curly-haired singer “had sent 200 Barrow girls into an ecstatic chorus of screams”. 

The show was over in 40 minutes and the musicians headed to their hotel in a lipstick-covered car. 

Mr Jones answered questions on the steps of the unidentified hotel – in between singing The Man Who Broke the Bank at Monte Carlo to a startled passer by. 

He said: “It always goes quite well when we come up north. 

“We’ve been three years here and there around the country and we’ve never been here before. 

“It’s quite a way to Barrow but if you’re up here and you’ve got a night to fill in, it’s a damn sight better place to come than most places up north.” 

Three of the band’s singles, Do Wah Diddy Diddy, Pretty Flamingo and Mighty Quinn, topped the UK singles chart. 

The early line-up was Tom McGuinness, Manfred Mann, Mike Hugg, Mike Vickers and Paul Jones. 

By July 1966 Jones was replaced by Mike s’Abo. 

The band was named after keyboard player Manfred Mann, who went on to lead the 1970s group Manfred Mann’s Earth Band.