Are there any group managers as famous as Brain Epstein

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A.� �The most obvious candidate is Peter Grant, who managed The Yardbirds in their last few months, before following guitarist Jimmy Page into his new venture, Led Zeppelin.

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Q.� �What was so special about Peter Grant

A.� �Grant was the manager most bands dream about. He was utterly loyal to his band, whom he regarded as a second family, and scrupulously honest in his dealings with them. As for the rest of the music business�- they were divided neatly into friends and enemies, fine if you were the first, frightening if you were the second!

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Q.�� Why frightening

A.� �Because of Peter Grant's sheer physical presence. Before becoming a show business manager - he ran the legendary Two Is coffee bar in Soho in the sixties�- Grant was a professional wrestler. At 6ft 4in, and a onetime body weight of nearly 30 stone, he was an intimidating individual. Having toured the US with the pop package tours of the sixties, Grant was familiar with the 'unorthodox' business methods of some American venue owners, and was more than a match for any of them.

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Q.�� Apart from intimidation, intended or otherwise, how did Grant operate

A.� �Peter Grant put Led Zeppelin first, and that was his only business ethic. When The Yardbirds split, and Jimmy Page formed The New Yardbirds with a band of virtual unknowns, Keith Moon of The Who famously observed that the band would 'fly like a lead Zeppelin!' and the name stuck, with an amended spelling to ensure nobody misunderstood the pronunciation. When English promoters shunned the band, Grant determined to break them in America, and he created a few new methods of doing business to ensure that success was theirs.

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Q.� �What new methods were those

A.� �Firstly, the small matter of payment. The practice in those days was for a promoter to keep 90% of ticket sales, paying the band 10%, providing�the cheque didn't bounce. Grant simply reversed the figures�- he demanded, and received 90% of the arena ticket sales that Zeppelin sold out from their first tour onwards, and he avoided the inconvenience of dodgy finances by insisting on payment in cash before the band played the show. Anyone who tried to be awkward was 'persuaded' by Grant and his associates, and before long, his reputation went before him, and Led Zeppelin were bona fide superstars.

Q.� And recording deals

A.� Apart from the live concert receipts, Grant negotiated a recording deal with Atlantic Records, securing one of the biggest advances ever paid on the band's first album, a remarkable feat, given that the Atlantic executives hadn't seen the band play. Grant added to the mystique and reputation of Zeppelin by decreeing that they would never release a single in the UK, and they would never appear on television here either. The rule stuck, and apart from import singles, and occasional footage from European TV, Zeppelin were a 'live' and an 'albums' band, heralding the onset of 'progressive rock' that continued throughout the 1970s.

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Q.� �Didn't Grant's methods make him unpopular

A.�� Led Zeppelin loved Peter Grant, not surprisingly; he made them, and himself, extremely wealthy. The music business figures with whom he dealt respected his honesty, and his commitment to his band. His power and wealth made him a magnet for the groupies who surrounded the band, and he lived a life in the fast lane as much as any of the rest of them. Apart from his legendary toughness as a business negotiator, Grant had a sensitive side to his nature, and could be a charming and witty companion when the mood took him. The sensitivity, which he hid from most people, caused him serious mental and physical damage when the debauched lifestyle of the band finally overtook all of them.

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Q.� �What happened after Zeppelin split

A.� �The death of drummer John Bonham saw the end of Led Zeppelin�- the remaining members confirming that 'Bonzo' was irreplaceable. That's possibly true, but no-one was blind to the simple fact that Zeppelin were a band living on their huge reputation, and their creative juices were running dry. Having always frowned on the idea of re-formed bands, Grant attended a couple of the Page / Plant shows that are the nearest thing to a reunion, only a few close friends know his opinions on them. Without his second 'family' to look after, Grant retired from showbusiness, and finally succumbed to years of over-indulgence, dying in 1995.

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Q.� �What's Peter Grant's legacy

A.�� Primarily it's the practice of looking after the artists first and foremost, and making sure that the record moguls and moneymen come second in the pecking order. It was a novel idea when Grant pioneered it, now it is standard business practice. It cannot be coincidence that Grant's idea of looking after one act and devoting all his energies to securing the best of everything for it were learned from seeing the success and longevity of his own idol, Elvis Presley. In becoming the 'fifth member' of Led Zeppelin, Peter Grant has ensured his own legendary status as a manager, and that of his band as creators of a musical style whose influence survives today.

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By� Andy Hughes