Crooner Tony Christie has a Pulp addiction

Nov 16 2008 Billy Sloan

TONY CHRISTIE dumped every track for his new album after hearing former Pulp star Richard Hawley on the radio.

"I heard his song Coles Corner being played and said to my son, 'What a great sound - that's what I want my records to be like'," said Tony, 65.

"I was recording an album in Peter Gabriel's studio near Bath but decided there and then to scrap it.

"I got in touch with Richard and he suggested we do an entire album of Sheffield material recorded in the city."

The veteran crooner - best known for his 2005 No. 1 hit for Comic Relief, (Is This The Way To) Amarillo - has just released Made In Sheffield.

It's a brilliant collection of songs written by local artists including Richard, Arctic Monkeys, Jarvis Cocker and The Human League.

Tony said: "I didn't know a great deal about Arctic Monkeys.

"I listened to their debut album but didn't find material I felt I could do anything with.

"I heard Only Ones Who Know on the follow-up and recorded it. For some reason it didn't sound right.

"But I remembered a classic Ketty Lester number Love Letters from 1962 which was recorded in 12/8 time.

"I rang Richard and said, 'Try doing it like that.' It sounded fantastic.

"At the recent Q Awards I was asked to present the Best Newcomer prize.

"It was won by The Last Shadow Puppets, who are fronted by Alex Turner of Arctic Monkeys.

"He said, 'I must have played your version of my song 40 times over to my mum, it's brilliant'."

Another key track on the impressive CD is Tony's stunning cover of The Human League's 1984 hit, Louise.

"In the 80s, I owned a nightclub in Sheffield called Christie's and the DJ would play Louise so often that I got sick of it.

"I didn't want to cover the song," recalled Tony.

"But I decided to have a go at it with just piano and voice.

"It was the last track we recorded and became one of the stand-out numbers."