Bad Manners: 'We allow people to go as crazy as they want’

With Covid having put paid to gigs for 18 months, the demand to see Buster Bloodvessel and his merry men take to the stage and delight audiences with hits including Lip Up Fatty, Special Brew and Lorraine has never been stronger.

And as he prepares to begin his own 12 days of Christmas tour starting in Manchester next Friday, Buster reveals the feeling is mutual.

“I never thought that such a thing as a disease would stop Bad Manners playing a Christmas tour but it did,” he said. “Honestly, I was beside myself.

“That’s why this Christmas it’s so special for me and the band to get back out on the road.

“We did some summer shows which were very exciting as people were really pent up and so wanted to let themselves go. Goodness knows what they’re going to be like with a Christmas tour.

Buster Bloodvessel on stage with Bad Manners

“But if one thing is unique about Bad Manners, it’s that we produce music that allows people to go as crazy as they want.”

It was in the Eighties that the larger than life Buster - real name Dougie Trendle - and Bad Manners had a string of hits and were a semi-permanent fixture on Top of the Pops. But unlike many bands of the era, their popularity has not declined and their music is enjoyed as much now as when it was first released.

“People don’t want to take things too seriously, particularly now after what we’ve all been though,” said Buster. “We’ve always encouraged people to come along and be as silly as us.

“Mind you I do feel a responsibility to ensure that they that leave with a smile their faces thinking ‘that was a great gig’.”

Buster is a much slimmed down version of himself from the band’s earlier days, at one point he lost over 18 stone following a gastric bypass surgery, but on stage he remains as manic as ever.

“Bad Manners wouldn’t be the same without Buster at the front,” he said. “It sounds a bit big headed but that’s how I always wanted it. I love it. I was born to play this part of Buster Bloodvessel.

“Buster is a character and as soon as I’m on stage that’s him coming out. Can I play him offstage? Yes I can, but I’m more Dougie when I’m not up there.”

One of the things many people don’t appreciate about Bad Manners is the quality of the musicianship.

“I have always been surrounded by brilliant musicians,” said Buster. “There are over 300 members in the Bad Manners family and currently there are around 30 in Bad Manners squad we can call on for gigs.”

LAPPING IT UP: A typical Buster Bloodvessel pose

Even musicians who have left the band have done so on good terms; it’s amazing that over so many years there haven’t been major rifts which have affected so many other successful groups.

“There are no arguments in Bad Manners,” said Buster. “If you are about to argue we stop the bus. You both have to get off, have the argument and usually they will get back on the bus arm in arm and crying. There’s nothing worse than festering arguments in a band especially a nine-piece band like us. It’s too much and no good for the soul.

“No-one wants to see people arguing on stage, never. That’s very unprofessional. We are gifted in that respect. No-one really argues in Bad Manners.

“Anyway,” he laughed, “if they do they’ve got to deal with me and that’s not the most pleasant of things.”

And he revealed some exciting news for fans.

“After I’ve had the first couple of weeks off in January to recover from the tour, we’re going to start and sit down and write an album,” he said. “During lockdown people did come up with some ideas and we’ve sort of run them though on the tour bus and we think we’ve got enough to start an album.

“I will probably become producer for it and take the ideas people have had and do my damndest to make them better.

“The whole aim is that the album has got to be in same vein as what we do which is produce fun and danceable music. We have to stick to who we are. I’m very excited about it.”

Bad Manners, Manchester Gorilla, Friday, December 3. Details from www.ents24.com