whole group £3 a night (equivalent to £ in ).. Every Saturday thereafter, queues lengthened onto the street, which was financially good for Mona, as she charged one shilling admission on top of the annual membership fee. Pete was studying at the Collegiate Grammar School when he decided he wanted to be in a music group, so Mona bought him a drum kit from Blackler's music store and Best formed his own band, The Black Jacks. Chas Newby joined the group, as did Brown, but only after he had left The Quarrymen. The reason for Brown's exit from the group was that he turned up on the seventh Saturday night of The Quarrymen residency at The Casbah with the flu, so Mona ordered him upstairs to the Best's living room to rest. This caused a massive quarrel with the rest of the group when Mona came to pay them, as they wanted Brown's money to be shared amongst the three of them, since Brown had not played. Mona refused, and so The Quarrymen angrily cancelled their residency and stormed out. Colin Manley, from The Remo Four, was also given a booking to play in the club, which was the only venue that young amateur bands could play at the time. Other groups like The Searchers and Gerry and the Pacemakers later played in the club. The Black Jacks became the resident group at The Casbah, although The Quarrymen occasionally played there again and often visited. It was in The Casbah Club that Lennon and McCartney convinced Sutcliffe to buy a Höfner president bass guitar and join The Quarrymen. Although the membership list later spiralled to over a thousand, Mona closed the club on 24 June 1962, with The Beatles as the last group to perform. In 2006, the Best's ex-coal cellar was awarded Grade II listed building status by English Heritage. It has now been opened as a tourist attraction in Liverpool, along with Lennon's and McCartney’s previous homes. The Beatles When Pete became a member of The Beatles, Mona repeatedly tried to get the group a lunchtime residency at The Cavern Club by talking to the owner, Ray McFall, but they were turned down, as The Cavern had a jazz-only policy at the time. This was soon to change, as rock became more profitable than jazz. Brian Epstein later wanted to manage the group, and Mona was asked for