RAY “Eye Patch” Sawyer was a recognisable presence with iconic American band Dr Hook.

Though primarily a backing vocalist and occasional percussionist on congas or maracas, he sang lead on the classic The Cover Of Rolling Stone and is remembered for the eye-patch and cowboy hat he wore.

Now the band that rocketed to global superstar status in the Seventies will play Eastleigh’s Concorde on October 11.

The ability to pull off an emotional ballad made Dr Hook one of the most successful bands of the Seventies and Eighties with scores of gold or platinum hits.

Sawyer and Dennis Locorriere – who now performs as a solo artist – became central characters of the band with their crazy on-stage antics.

Known as Dr Hook and the Medicine Show, the band’s loopy stagecraft took shape in rowdy bars near a bus station in Union City, New Jersey, where New Jersey native Locorriere and Southern honky tonk veteran Sawyer hooked up in 1968.

The big breakthrough came when they sang cartoonist-songwriter Shel Silverstein’s songs for Dustin Hoffman’s 1970 movie Who Is Harry Kellerman And Why Is He Saying All Those Terrible Things About Me?

It was Silverstein’s mock ballad Sylvia’s Mother that first put the motley band in the charts in 1972 and other massive hits followed including The Cover Of Rolling Stone, A Little Bit More and When You’re In Love With A Beautiful Woman.

Sawyer lost an eye in a near-fatal car crash in Oregon in 1967, and has worn an eye patch ever since.

To this day he is considered Dr Hook because of the eye patch.

Born and raised in Alabama, Ray got his first job as a professional musician at the age of 14, playing drums with a local band.

The original Dr Hook line-up split in the mid-Eighties.

When he left in 1983 Sawyer was reported as saying: “I became a product with a patch and a hat.”

The band did a few more tours to pay back bills before packing it in 1985.

But those distinctive Dr Hook sounds can be heard today.

* Dr Hook featuring Ray Sawyer on October 11 at The Concorde, Stoneham Lane, Eastleigh.

Contact: 02380 613989 or www.theconcordeclub.com.