1. He collected classical and Impressionistic paintings and extremely rare Ýznik ceramics of the 16th century, Ottoman Turkish velvets and embroidered fabrics, etc., etc.

2. "As well as chandeliers, swags and paintings, it has an amazing fish tank, complete with an entire coral reef, which sets the scene in the lobby, and everything is covered in silks and velvets.

3. Paintings by Rubens, Degas, Monet, Turner and Gainsborough were shipped out of the country, alongside a wealth of artefacts including Egyptian sculptures, scores of gold and silver Greco–Roman coins, delicate Qing vases, Ottoman velvets and Lalique jewellery.

4. After all, these two friends from the Bolton Institute of Technology had been drawn together through their love for Captain Beefheart, Can and Iggy Pop, and the understanding that if you formed a band you should know your way around the Velvets‘ ‘Sister Ray‘ inside and out.

5. Paul Morley revisits the city of his youth and recalls the sights and eviscerating sounds that transformed the lives of a generation Sunday May 21, 2006 In 1'76, if you were a teenager in and around Manchester, which was a city still covered in war dust and with streets seemingly weakly lit by gas and an economy financed by pounds, shilling and pence, and you a) read the NME; b) wanted to write for the NME, or just send them letters every week, signed Steven or Morrissey; c) were intimate with the Stooges, the Velvets, Patti Smith and Richard Hell; d) were poor but had a few pence in your pocket; or e) were bored with Dark Side of The Moon, which didn‘t seem as much fun as the dark side of the moon, then you‘d go and watch the Sex Pistols twice at the Lesser Free Trade Hall on 4 June and 20 July.