Was there a genuine rivalry between bands?
  David: Our main rivals were Bucks Fizz (David later joined the band and then fell into a legal dispute over the use of the name Bucks Fizz with rival Fizzer and founder Bobby Gee). A lot of the bands looked down on us because of our image. In fact, I think a lot of the bands on the Here and Now tour look down on us! I never took it that seriously. I was there to have fun.

Thatcher and the ‘80s. How much of an influence was the political climate on your music?
David: (adopts dramatic voice) It was the platinum ‘80s, the era of excess and the name of the game was fame. Teenage transgressions. Failure was not an option we were materialistic and greed was good. I think we were propelled by Thatcher yes, For better or worse. By the way I’m working on a rock opera at the moment along those very lines, called Rock Bottom. I want to tour the provinces with it before coming to the West End

What did you spend your first ever royalty cheque on?
David: A Mustang car. You do stupid things like that. I spent all my money in the ‘80s. You just don’t think it’s going to run out.

Your squabbles with Therese were the talk of the industry. How will you get on now you’re back together again for the tour?
David: Well, we’ve had 13 years off from each other (Thereze now lives in Australia and is married witha family) so we’ve had a nice, long break! I think it will be weird for 5 minutes and then it will be fine. Hopefully we can get through it without arguing!

Any regrets about your career?
David: Oh yeah, loads! I think we broke up too early. We broke up the first time in 1982 and that was a big mistake. There was a deal on the table for America and I never took it that seriously. Maybe I should have.