As he grew up, Brian began to grow increasingly disatisfied with his life in the suburbs. He fell in with a local crowd of mods ( or "modernists" ), who were almost always involved in any trouble in the neighbourhood. Even then, however, Brian was unwilling to ally himself totally to one particular group or trend, and when asked by a girlfriend whether he was "a mod or a rocker", his quick reply was "I'm six of one half a dozen of the other really".

The Sombrero Club
Brian returned to London in the late 1960s, this time to stay. On New Years Eve, 1969, he arrived at the notorious Sombrero Club in Kensington, and it was there that he met his wife, Mandy. At the time, she was part of the group of admirers the of cult, gender-bending singer, Jack Fairy, who had his base at the Sombrero, and was to be a great source of inspiration to Brian in the early stages of his career.

For Mandy and Brian it was love at first sight. After spending much of the night watching her from afar, Brian finally worked up the courage to ask her to dance - simply saying "Do you jive?" After a whirlwind romance, the two were married; and Brian soon became a regular performer at the club, playing the guitar with his band, The Venus in Furs. Taking his cue from the open cross-dressing of Jack Fairy, Brian grew his hair long and would invariably go on stage in a dress. It was during one such performance that he caught the eye of Cecil Feast ( not actual surname ). He was setting up his own managment company and, as he put it, "on the look out for new talent". After introducing himself to Brian, the two exchanged contracts within a week, and Brian was on his way to stardom.

Zounds!
Working with Cecil, Brian soon finished work on his first album - Zounds - which featured the classic singles "Sebastian", and "2HB". Although it has now been given the credit it deserves, the album was a flop in the charts, and failed to achieve much of a following among rock audiences in the early 70s.

Despite this lukewarm reception, however, Brian still continued to play open-air concerts, always with Mandy and Cecil in tow. Rumours have been rife as to the exact nature of the relationship between Brian and his manager ( it is suspected that they may have been lovers, despite Brian's marriage to Mandy ), but these have never been confirmed. It was at one of these concerts that Brian first caught sight of someone who was to become one of the most important people in his life - the outrageous American rock star, Curt Wild. Curt took his turn on stage shortly after Brian, performing one of his first singles - "T.V Eye". His act included covering himself in golden glitter, and stripping off and exposing himself at the audience. However, the audience of hippies did not appreciate his controversial style any more than they had Brian's, and he was viciously insulted before the stage itself was eventually set alight. Brian was overwhelmed by this performance, and it was Curt who inspired him to incorporate glitter into his already androgynous look. At the same time as admiring his performance, and despite being married to Mandy, Brian became completely smitten with Curt, and he did not forget him as he rose to fame.

This meteoric rise to fame eventually began early in 1971, when Brian was introduced to Jerry Devine, a personal manager who later became president of Brian's company - Bijou Music Limited. The two met after Brian and his band had finished a performance for a panel of executives from various recording companies. He attracted Brian away from Cecil's somewhat mediocre management with a persuasive and intriguing speech: "It doesn't really matter what a man does with his life - what matters is the legend which grows up around him. Today you're a talented singer - that's alright. I can make you a star..." The panel of executives made it clear that they would be prepared to accept Brian with different management; forced to choose, Brian decided to place his loyalties with Jerry.