AN ERA WHEN TALENT CAME BEFORE IMAGE

Gilbert O'Sullivan caused a major headache the last time he performed in Grimsby. The Irish-born singer songwriter's piano arrived ahead of him at the then newly-opened Ice House Christian Centre in Victor Street.

It wouldn't fit in the lift - and it took 10 men a gigantic struggle up four flights of stairs to finally get it into position on the auditorium stage.

O'Sullivan, one of the few clean-cut pop stars considered suitable to appear at the venue, later played to a packed house.

The audience, blissfully unaware of the background shenanigans, had their hearts warmed with such smash hits as Clair, Get Down, Matrimony, No Matter How I Try and the million-selling Alone Again (Naturally).

That was back in April 1981.

Now, almost 21 years to the day, he's heading back.

He's promoting a new single off his latest album Irish and the tour reaches the Central Hall on Monday, April 15, courtesy of Solid Entertainments.

It's testimony to his wide appeal that he's still going strong at 55, more than 30 years since he burst onto the scene with Nothing Rhymed late in 1970, a fresh-faced youngster with a pudding-basin haircut, short pants and a flat cap.

His image changed, but his hits stood the test of time. And although he doesn't sell in millions these days, he is happy with what he refers to as his cottage industry.

He owns ByGum Records, has his own music publishing company and a huge band of loyal fans.

Since 1985, Gilbert, born Raymond O'Sullivan in Waterford, Eire, and brought up in Swindon, has lived on Jersey.

"I'm proud of my Irish roots but I've lived in England since I was seven. When I started writing songs I saw myself more in the Ray Davies mould.

"I feel I am an English-style of lyricist. I'm very much an English songwriter and an Irish person."

The voice is unmistakable on the other end of the phone line. He talks fast, still with a touch of the brogue.

He comes from an era where talent came before image, not the other way around. "I'm into the music," he says. "I think something like Pop Idol is more about celebrity than music and so, in that sense, it doesn't interest me. But I wish them well. They've got good voices, but they are not distinctive.

"Westlife, Al - they look good and they've got good voices but they are not distinctive like, say, John Lennon in the Sixties, who had a warble in his voice. Today's kids are confident and sound really well, but they pretty much sound the same and it's a problem."

Although hits have been thin on the ground in recent years, he doesn't covet chart success.

"I wouldn't say no to it but I don't spend time worrying about it. I stopped worrying about it 20 years ago. You write the songs and record them and release them and you hope they are a success. But whether it is or not, you just get on with it.

"In that sense nothing has changed since 30 years ago. Even in the early Seventies it wasn't a foregone conclusion that every record would be a hit. But you didn't worry. If it happened it happened, but if it didn't it wasn't the end of the world.

"Elton John was saying the kids of today are here one minute and gone the next, but it was always like that in the Sixties and Seventies, when you never thought you would last longer than a year."

He went on: "If I couldn't write songs that would be a worry. But I still get a buzz out of music."

"I want to be successful but I want the song to be successful."

"They say the Will Young song is the fastest selling single in history. But is it any better than The Beatles or the Rolling Stones songs? Nobody is talking about whether the song is good."

Gilbert doesn't have rose-tinted glasses about the Seventies.

"I enjoyed the 1970s but this is the year 2002. I don't like living in the past. I'm grateful for the success and to have come through that, but it's over and gone.

"I just love music and the music business. I defend my generation. I'm proud to be 55 and still going for it and people of my generation like that too. It's not about knocking young people.

"Music has nothing to do with age, but the music business has everything to do with age."

His new single, Two's Company (Three Is Allowed), is out together with a rarity - a Glbert O'Sullivan video. It's only his second in 10 years, and features comedian Harry Hill.

"He does me," says the singer. "He puts on a wig and wears an old sweater. I come in as a warehouseman and sort of get in the way.

"I'm not really a video person. I don't watch MTV, I listen to it. That Enrique Inglesias video. What's that all about? They are made by people trying to get to Hollywood and want to get the video on their CV.

"But with this particular track I thought we should do a video and Harry is visually strong. He is a very nice person and he does a good me. He is wearing one of my original sweaters. They were specially made and I still have them all. He wears a red and white G sweater. It was a lot of fun."

He still enjoys being out on the road. He writes nine months of the year and tours for the remainder.

"The writing is the key. Without that there would be no tour. I know it's the most important thing.

"When you come to places like Grimsby there are two hours, and you can sing the songs from 30 years ago and you can do the new stuff.

"It is a great opportunity within a concert to present people with the overall picture."

Gilbert usually produces an album every two years.

"There will be another one at the end of this year. I have the songs so I am going to do it. It is sort of cottage industry level. It would be nice to sell millions but it doesn't worry me.

"I haven't lost my bite. I never think 'I don't need this' or I'll play golf or something.

"I'm cagey about letting anything interfere with what I enjoy most. As I get older I get more disciplined and focus on the thing which is most important, and it is all to do with music."