I remember watching Top of the Pops as a kid, fascinated by the glam-rock and disco artists of the early to mid '70s. However, whenever a crooner came on, I legged it to the garden for a few minutes of football kick-about or carried on crayoning all over the spaces in my dad's copy of The Sun - that'll teach Linda Lusardi to leave her coat off!

However, I didn't mind Johnny Mathis' Nat King Cole-esque voice so I guess he gets more props than most of his genre. His biggest song was undoubtedly "When a Child is Born", a sprawling Christmas song that does err on the side of twee, it has to be said - far better was "Stone in Love With You" and his version of "Misty". The man could sing, and my mother wouldn't have a bad word to say about him!

Later this year, Mathis returns to the stage once more, armed with a new album called "Let It Be Me - Mathis in Nashville" and a few UK tour dates that will surely have fans drooling. The confirmed arena concerts so far are in London on 12th October (O2), Birmingham on the 14th (NEC) and Manchester on the 16th (MEN). Tickets go on sale this Friday and will no doubt fly out due to these being his first UK appearances since 2006! Prices start at £45.