Golden Oldie

WE LIVE in a frenzied age of fast food, tilting trains and entertainment on demand – but when it comes to music, the public knows what it likes.

When word got out that I was to interview self –proclaimed ‘King of romance’ Engelbert Humperdinck, it was like Thursday night at the bingo hall.

As memories of parents’ record collections flowed forth and choruses of ‘Release Me’ echoed round the office, it became clear that ‘the hump’ is a golden oldie in a sea of preening pop stars.

Humperdinck, 71, is indeed a fascinating personality, a kind of cartoon character you wouldn’t believe really exists in the flesh. Born in Madras, India and raised in the rather less glamorous surroundings of Leicester, he has acquired an American demeanour over years of exposure to the Hollywood lifestyle.

He scoffs when described as a crooner – “I am a contemporary singer, a stylised performer” – but accepts that while he has a novelty appeal to the masses, his loyal fan base lies in the older generation.

“The music business has changed since I was young, and I’ve had to adapt to that”, he says. “In the 60s, with the likes of The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and Elvis, people made lasting material. The songs we wrote were evergreens, they lasted for years. In today’s world, you’re lucky if a song lasts 6 months before it is dismissed.”

Nobody can say Humperdinck hasn’t earned the right to his opinion. Breaking into the music business in the late 1950s under the name of Gerry Dorsey, he contracted Tuberculosis at the age of 25. While Elvis Presley was busy topping the charts on both sides of the Atlantic, Humperdinck was out of action for the whole of 1961.

“My voice is my lifeblood as a singer, and that was a scary time for me. Back then people thought T.B was a horrible disease and didn’t want to be anywhere near you.”
It is perhaps the memory of this traumatic time that keeps Humperdinck going. As he embarks on a gruelling world tour, including a date at the London Palladium on November 4, his enthusiasm is undiminished.

“After I turned 70, I said I wanted to return to playing 120 dates a year, and that’s exactly what I’m doing”, he says. Surely that must take its toll on a man in the autumn of his career?

“I’m still as energetic as I ever was”, he says. “I jump around on that stage like I’m a forty year-old!”

Humperdink admires fellow artists who appear to go on forever, but accepts that it is rapidly becoming a young man’s world.

“I don’t try to be young, I know my limits”, he says. He marvels at modern technology – “People can just sit down at a computer and connect with me!” – but remains nonplussed by the rapidly changing landscape. “It’s a funny old world right now. Some of it’s good, some of it’s bad.”

He comes across as a man who doesn’t dwell on the past. Does he have any regrets?
“If I could edit my past, I’d get a good manager and get my future secured at an early age”, he says. “Of all the money I’ve earned in my life, management has taken almost half.”

He praises the current team of masterminds behind his enduring popularity, and insists that he has no plans to hang up his microphone any time soon.
“On the day my new record came out, I was back in the studio recording new songs”, he says. “As long as the demand is there, I’ll keep churning them out!”

And with that, the Hump signs off, on his way to another L.A show, to entertain another few thousand adoring fans. Not bad for a golden oldie.

“It has been a wonderful journey”, he says. “I hope it never ends.”

Engelbert Humperdinck plays The London Palladium on November 4. For tickets call: 0870 890 1108.