HE might be a chart-topping music star and the man credited with raising billions for Africa's starving - but Sir Bob Geldolf hasn't forgotten the venue which gave him his first big break!

And when he takes to the stage at tonight's Brit Awards to receive his outstanding contribution to music award, Sir Bob would do well to mention Ribchester in his acceptance speech.

But what he probably won't mention is the reaction of landlady Margo Grimshaw when she heard his Boomtown Rats group on stage at her Lodestar venue - she made them do a second set so she got value for money!

When the Boomtown Rats first came to the UK from Sir Bob's native Ireland in 1977 they found they couldn't get a gig anywhere in London - so they headed for The Lodestar, now the De Tabley, in Ribchester.

Margo, who also boasts of bringing the Sex Pistols to East Lancashire, said they performed at the venue three times, and stayed at the Victoria Hotel, in nearby Clitheroe.

In interviews ahead of his award, Sir Bob said: "In London, they didn't want to know about Ireland. It was west of Wales. The punk scene was big, so we just thought, there are no punks from Derbyshire that I can see, there are no punks from Wales, so let's go to those places.

"Our first gig was in Clitheroe, Lancashire.

"There were 12 people there. We went back six months later and the place was crammed, 180 people in the room.

"Looking After Number One, the first single, became a hit because we'd done that, gone out around the country.

"And all through the Rats' career, that's who kept pumping us into the charts."

Margo said: "I remember Bob coming here, and I don't remember thinking much of the group either, so the first time they came I made them play twice so we got value for money.

"I think Paula Yates was there because they'd just met.

"The second time they came, the place was crammed. I remember them playing I Don't Like Mondays and the place went wild. That was their big hit at the time.

"I went on stage before they played and told the crowd any trouble and you will have me to deal with'. But there never was any trouble with punk."

[Not the first gig poster!]

Here, Margo finally lifts the lid on the amazing twists and turns of her action-packed life. It tells of the young girl with a squint who turned into a beauty queen and went on to become a hugely-successful businesswoman. How she left England as a teenager to start a new life in New York, returned to hit the jackpot running pubs before turning The Lodestar into the north west's premier nightclub.

How she gave Sir Bob Geldof his first "gig", managed several top acts of the '70s, gave comedian Jim Bowen his big break and once finished runner-up to Jimmy Tarbuck in a national talent contest!