DENNIS Locorriere is the owner of one of the most recognisable voices of the 70s.
But sometimes the ebullient Dr Hook vocalist wishes his face were similarly well-known. "I am forever having to explain to people that I was not the one with the eyepatch," he laughs.
In fact he was, he asserts with tongue firmly in cheek, "the good-looking one" - silky-voiced crooner of dozens of legendary hits including Sylvia's Mother, When You're in Love with a Beautiful Woman and Sexy Eyes.
Now, almost two decades after Dr Hook hung up their mikes and called it a day, Dennis Locorriere's voice is still his fortune and his songs live on through a series of concert tours, the latest of which reaches City Hall, Salisbury, on February 11.
Alone with Dennis Locorriere is the antidote to the heady days of platinum discs, when Dr Hook were number one in 42 countries and the band was on a never-ending stadium tour, playing to thousands every night.
"We were travelling 300 days a year and soon realised that we had to restrict the partying to on-stage - because the itinerary alone was enough to kill us," he recalls.
"These days I call the show 'alone' because I want people to feel as though they have really spent time in my company. I talk to the audience as though they were one person.
"The solo format works because I can tell my stories without feeling as though I am rabbiting on while the band are just hanging around waiting to play."
The fact that he now carries 100 per cent of the responsibility for the success of the show holds no terrors for larger-than-life Locorriere who, it must be said, could talk for Britain.
"Even in the heyday of Dr Hook, there was always a segment in the show when the rest of the band would walk off and leave just me and the microphone for a few numbers.
"I love the audience talking to me too - although it isn't always flattering.
"Once I asked them why they came to see me and a voice shouted back from the auditorium: 'It's cheaper now'.
"I thought that was hilarious.
"The audience makes every show new for me. That, and the fact that I am lucky enough to be associated with so many great songs.
"I could never get tired of singing them."
Tickets are available from the City Hall box office.
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