Ed Bicknell was on the Hull University entertainments committee, arranging bands for the students, when he first got a taste for the music industry. Moving to London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

, he worked as a drummer for Jess Conrad and then as a booker for John Sherry

John Sherry

John Sherry , was the archdeacon of Lewes between 1542 and 1551.Sherry was an author, was born about 1506 in the neighbourhood of London. In 1522 he became a demy of Magdalen College, Oxford, and graduated B.A. on 21 June 1527 and M.A. on 10 March 1531. Whether he was a fellow is uncertain, but in...

Artists, finding work for a number of prog-rock/college bands - including Wishbone Ash

Wishbone Ash

Wishbone Ash are a British rock band who achieved success in the early and mid-1970s. Their popular records included Wishbone Ash , Argus , There's the Rub , and New England...

 - and frequenting showcase venues such as the Speakeasy

Speakeasy

A speakeasy, also called a blind pig or blind tiger, is an establishment that illegally sells alcoholic beverages. Such establishments came into prominence in the United States during the period known as Prohibition...

.

Towards the end of 1977 Ed was working at the NEMS

NEMS

NEMS may refer to;* Nanoelectromechanical systems* National Energy Modeling System* Nems * NEMS Enterprises , based in Argentina...

 agency when he got a call from Phonogram

Phonogram Records

Phonogram Records was started in 1962 as a joint venture between Philips Records and Deutsche Grammophon. In 1972, Phonogram was merged with Polydor Records into PolyGram....

 A&R man John Stainze who had just signed a new band, Dire Straits

Dire Straits

Dire Straits were a British rock band active from 1977 to 1995, composed of Mark Knopfler , his younger brother David Knopfler , John Illsley , and Pick Withers .Dire Straits' sound drew from a variety of musical influences, including jazz, folk, blues, and came closest...

, to the Vertigo

Vertigo Records

Vertigo Records today is a UK-based record label operated by Universal Music UK.-History:Vertigo Records was the name Philips Records chose in the late 1960s for its record sub-label to counter the progressive labels of its rivals EMI with Harvest Records and Decca Records with Deram...

 label. Ed got the job as their Manager and continued to manage solo performer Mark Knopfler

Mark Knopfler

Mark Freuder Knopfler, OBE is a Scottish-born British guitarist, singer, songwriter, record producer and film score composer. He is best known as the lead guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter for the British rock band Dire Straits, which he co-founded in 1977...

 for several years after the dissolution of Dire Straits

Dire Straits

Dire Straits were a British rock band active from 1977 to 1995, composed of Mark Knopfler , his younger brother David Knopfler , John Illsley , and Pick Withers .Dire Straits' sound drew from a variety of musical influences, including jazz, folk, blues, and came closest...

 in 1995.

Bicknell left the London office of William Morris Agency

William Morris Agency

WME is the largest talent agency in the world, with offices in Beverly Hills, New York City, Nashville, London, and Miami. WME represents elite artists from all facets of the entertainment industry, including motion pictures, television, music, theatre, publishing, and physical production...

 as "Head of International Music" in February 2008, after working there for a year. In recent years, he has often appeared on radio and television to discuss music industry issues and to discuss his beachfront home in Barbados

Barbados

Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles. It is in length and as much as in width, amounting to . It is situated in the western area of the North Atlantic and 100 kilometres east of the Windward Islands and the Caribbean Sea; therein, it is about east of the islands of Saint...

.

He was in The Notting Hillbillies

The Notting Hillbillies

The Notting Hillbillies was a country music project formed by Mark Knopfler, who was then lead guitarist and singer of the Dire Straits, with Brendan Croker, Steve Phillips, and Knopfler's bandmate Guy Fletcher. They made just one album, Missing...Presumed Having a Good Time. This album was...

 formed 1990, playing drums with Mark Knopfler

Mark Knopfler

Mark Freuder Knopfler, OBE is a Scottish-born British guitarist, singer, songwriter, record producer and film score composer. He is best known as the lead guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter for the British rock band Dire Straits, which he co-founded in 1977...

 and Guy Fletcher

Guy Fletcher

Guy Wilson Fletcher is an English multi-instrumentalist, best known for his position as the keyboardist in the British rock band Dire Straits from 1984 until the group's dissolution, and his involvement in nearly every part of Mark Knopfler's solo work to date.-Biography:Fletcher was born into a...

. They recorded one album, Missing...Presumed Having a Good Time

Missing...Presumed Having a Good Time

Missing...Presumed Having a Good Time is the first and the only studio album by The Notting Hillbillies. It was released in 1990.-Track listing:# "Railroad Worksong" – 5:29 # "Bewildered" – 2:37...

. He started life as a musician playing drums in a Tadcaster band called 'Odin's Veld'.