However, the group originally split up in 1987, after their contract with Portrait Records finished and he eventually formed a new outfit called Buster's Allstars, performing at clubs and pubs in London, but he still played some concerts with Bad Manners at larger venues, along with some new musicians and a few other original band members.
Dempsey became general manager in 1978 of Epic Portrait Associated (Epic Records, Portrait Records and CBS Associated Labels Group) succeeding Ronald Alexenburg who would leave CBS to head up Infinity Records.
The band signed with US Label Portrait, changing their name to Contraband due to the presence of a Dutch band with the same name.
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Eventually, after many lineup changes, the band mutated into Jank Mamba, and then The Flaming Mussolinis, who released two albums in the mid-1980s for Portrait Records (CBS).