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Zoot-suited 80s legend Kid Creole talks to Paula Thompson about disco, his teaching career and why he would like to wipe shows like Pop Idol off the face of the Earth.

You're starring in Oh! What a Night at the Mayflower. What can audiences expect from the show? "I've been doing this show for 11 years but I still get flustered when I'm asked this! It's a celebration of the disco age and that's the power of the piece. At the end there's this crazy medley with eight hits one after the other and it's the best encore in theatre history. All the audience rise out of their seats and they're singing and dancing. It's fabulous."

Is there a difference between American and British audiences? "Oh yes. Even in the UK there is a difference between audiences in different cities. For some reason the northern cities are a bit more relaxed and the southerners are a bit more reserved - you know, they want to look cool but the northerners just let it go."

Disco is at the heart of the show. Why do you think it has such an enduring appeal? "It's a story of hedonism. There's no pretence. It's just about having a good time. People are so busy today especially with the economy and the way the world has turned. A bit of escapism is what they need."

You have quite a distinctive image. How did you come up with it?

"I stumbled on this iconic image when I fell in love with 1940s movies. My dad used to take me to the movies and I loved people like Humphrey Bogart, Clark Gable and all those guys. No matter how tough they were or how romantic they were they were always well dressed. I loved that look so I borrowed it from my screen idols. It became a bit of a trademark. People who have had many more hits than me don't get recognised on the street as often and it's because of the zoot-suits and the fedora and that whole look. It even works in Oh! What a Night and it shouldn't because that's set in the 1970s not the 1940s!"

Who designs your suits? "I've got one guy in New York and one in California and one in Edinburgh. All my suits are tailor-made. I'm a clothes fanatic. I have three or four closets with all my clothes in."

You've been in the music business for over 30 years. How has it changed in that time? "It's gone downhill. It's imploded and exploded. My first hit was in 1976 with a band called The Savannah Band. We were at the top of the mountain at that time and since then I've seen the bottom of the valley, the middle of the mountain and the top again. You never know when your next hit record is going to come.

"The changes have been enormous. In the early days the record company moguls could make or break you but they believed in you. They would stick with you even if the first and second records weren't successful. They don't do that any more. There's no longevity. On the other hand you have the Internet now and YouTube and downloading. I believe that's a great asset because it allows people to find out the history of a band and you get a whole new audience who wouldn't have heard your music. It takes music away from the powerhouses and gives it back to the indies and I love that."

What do you think of shows like Pop Idol and American Idol that create new music stars overnight? "It's fast food for the masses. I believe in paying dues and roughing it. Every once in a while a great artist comes out of one of those shows but often they burn out too quick because they don't know how to rough it. Artists are a different ilk these days. I'd like to wipe those shows off the face of the Earth."

Is it true you were once an English teacher? What did your pupils make of you? "That's something I like to keep close to my chest because it destroys my street cred! Not really. I'm tremendously proud of those three-and-a-half years. It was my brother who got me out of it by humiliating me about having a straight job!

The children loved me because I was still crazy. I was a different character. It was the 1970s and I was pretty out there with an afro and platform shoes and beads. My pride and joy was my drama class. It was the first drama class the school had ever had and the kids loved it."

How is recording going for the new album? "I've just released one album called Going Places which is a compilation of hits but the new one called Creolism has some of my favourite Creole songs from the 80s and some new ones. One reason I did it was because my dentist in London had never heard of Kid Creole and said I should do an album - a primer he called it - to sum me up. What a great idea!"

You have a cameo in the new Jack Black movie Be Kind Rewind. What attracted you to the part? "The director Michel Gondry is a big fan. He's a French director and went to see me at the Olympia in Paris and carried that memory with him. He asked me to be part of the movie. I got to work with Mia Farrow, who I loved as a youngster, Danny Glover, who's a great actor, and Jack Black, who's funny as hell.

Who are your biggest musical influences? "There are so many. James Brown is soul brother number one, Cab Calloway is who I stole my look from, Frank Sinatra is my favourite crooner and Ella Fitzgerald is my favourite female artist. I love Caribbean artists like The Mighty Sparrow and of course Bob Marley. Then the Beatles are my songwriting inspiration. Salsa is also very important to me and so is theatre like Cole Porter and Rogers and Hart. It's eclectic - what we call a pot pourri."

Kid Creole is starring in Oh! What a Night at The Mayflower from July 1-5. Box office: 023 8071 1811 or online at mayflower.org.uk.

3:08pm Friday 27th June 2008

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