Jazz is the last refuge of the untalented. Jazz musicians enjoy themselves more than anyone listening to them does.

There is no celebrity quite as powerful as the local, homegrown celebrity.

Energy, energy? Energy is, is, it's nothing more than a lot of new age hokum masquerading as religion.

Every band needs it's own special chemistry. And Bez was a very good chemist.

I am not a piece of hash. I'm in charge of Factory Records. I think.

I'm a minor player in my own life story.

I've been a minor celebrity since I was 23 years old.

The special relationship between the region and a regional celebrity means that people feel that they have a special investment in you.

Richard Branson once said: 'Tony's very good at selling bands and he's very good at making television programmes. But he'll never be great at either, until he decides which one he wants to do.' I entirely accept that. That doesn't matter to me very much. I like the irony of the two lives.

That came from my mother. She was the biggest influence on my life. I remember once refusing to get on a bus with her because she was wearing a mink, and I thought we should be taking a taxi. She just said, 'Who cares what people think?' and I remember sitting on that bus, being utterly embarrassed, but knowing somehow that she was totally correct.