“I was worried about the album. Someone said it was more commercial. I thought, ‘Oh God, what‘s that supposed to mean?”: how Magnum made their masterpiece On A Storyteller’s Night and saved themselves from oblivion

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It’s late in Magnum guitarist Tony Clarkin’s house – the living room clock is ticking through the witching hour. This is early 1985, back in the days before satellite TV, when all four channels in Britain shut down for the night at 12pm. Clarkin has another drink, waits for the white dot to appear in the middle of the TV screen, then turns off the box.

He picks up his guitar from beside the sofa. He thinks about the state his life has been in: his mum has just died; he’s been quite seriously ill; he has no record deal; the singer in his band is ringing around journalists asking if they know of anyone in need of a decent frontman.