Gouldman wanted to expand upon his songwriting career by trying his luck as a record producer, but singles for Friday Brown and Little Frankie & The Country Gentlemen didn¹t bring much success during 1965-66. However, Gouldman instigated a casual songwriting partnership with his friend Peter Cowap, leader of The Country Gents. Notably the two came up with "The Cost Of Living" for The Downliners Sect¹s last Columbia single, released in September 1966, while Cowap wrote "How To Find A Lover" for The Mockingbirds, released on Decca the following month.

Gouldman and Cowap also launched a couple of very interesting studio projects onto record that same year, when they brought a few people together in the recording studio to cut some new songs they had written. First out was a group called High Society with a Seekers styled A-side written by Gouldman, titled "People Passing By", coupled with the Cowap written flip, "Star Of Eastern Street". Phil Dennys, Clem Cattini (ex-Tornadoes of "Telstar" fame) and John Paul Jones (later of Led Zeppelin) were hired as sessioneers.

This was swiftly followed by The Manchester Mob, who revived two classic rock and roll songs in one with "Bony Maronie At The Hop". The group comprised Gouldman and Cowap, again using Phil Dennys, Clem Cattini and John Paul Jones as session men. Produced by Mike Collier for Harvey Lisberg Productions the single was released on UK Parlophone/EMI in January 1967. It was a fantastic rock and roll record, packed with energy, but maybe a bit unfashionable at a time when when the hippie fad was coming in big.
Gouldman and Cowap shared the lead vocal work on the recording. The B-side, credited to Plonk (assumed to be a pseudonym for Gouldman-Cowap), was a tribute to the new influences from other parts of the world entering rock music at the time. Sadly the single went absolutely nowhere, and both demos and stock copies are now very hard to find.