HE’S the ideal man to perfectly capture the essence of the rock ’n’ roll era of which he was so much a part.

Agent to the stars, Carl Leighton- Pope, pictured below, has been in the music business for more than 40 years, representing a string of iconic performers, and currently organises the international tours of Michael Bublé and Bryan Adams.

But it’s the 60s, and his brushes with The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and The Who he looked to when penning a semi-autobiographical new musical.

“It was a fantastic time, a cultural revolution really and I had the time of my life.

“People always say to me, you should write a book, but I don’t want to write a book. But I did look at my life and think it really has been quite ridiculous. I’d like to do something rather than just dying not having left anything.

“The characters are based on people I knew when working in the Marquee Club in 1964 and it’s a lot about me and my life on Carnaby Street.

“The Who played in the club along with lots of other bands. I knew them all, I would bump into Jagger and Roger Daltrey.

“No-one knew they were famous because they weren’t famous yet and there was no such thing as celebrity really. There were no mobile phones recording everything you did.

“Two of the characters are based on the Lennon/McCartney relationship and how I saw it.”

Carnaby Street comes to The Mayflower next week.

Directed by Bob Tomson (Blood Brothers and Dreamboats and Petticoats) and designed by Matthew Wright (Evita, La Cage Aux Folles), Carnaby Street tells the story of Jude, a working class boy from Liverpool, new in town and armed with nothing but his guitar and his dreams of fame and fortune.

It features over 30 classic hits from the time, including Roll Over Beethoven, Do Wah Diddy Diddy, Twist and Shout, Keep on Running, Sweets for my Sweet, Mustang Sally, 5-4- 3-2-1, We Gotta Get Out Of This Place, Shout and I Like It.