HE’S the pharmaceuticals multi-millionaire who saved Hampshire cricket - but he’s a rocker at heart.

Rod Bransgrove took to the stage to debut his band Strapped For Cash’s Christmas single at a charity gig at The Concorde Club in Eastleigh. The six-piece, which also includes Sean McMenemy – the keyboard-playing son of legendary Saints manager Lawrie – and Rufus Stone frontman Malc Eyers, performed a string of covers of everything from Love the One You’re With by Crosby Stills and Nash to ELO’s Mr Blue Sky.

The other members of Strapped For Cash are Solly Read on bass and vocals, lead guitarist Tim Payne and Chris Pope on drums and vocals.

It was the rock ’n’ roll that music lover Rod had always wanted to play since getting his first guitar at the age of 11 and going on to perform at various clubs in return for drinks money. The 63-year-old joked: “I could have been a bum all my life. My career in business derailed my life really!

“Performing with the band has definitely taken me out of my comfort zone. I get really nervous every time and wonder why I’m putting myself through it, but I always love it in the end.”

For their encore, the band performed Strapped For Cash This Christmas to the recorded sounds of the Twyford School Choir. An impressed crowd, including Rod’s former-dancer wife Mandy and son Jack, packed the dance floor for the number, which is in aid of four children’s charities and could be playlisted by Radio 2 after a meeting with Breakfast Show DJ Chris Evans.

The Daily Echo-backed High 5 appeal for a new cardiac ward for young people at Southampton General Hospital will be among those to benefit. Profits will also go to BBC Children in Need, the Shane Warne Foundation and the Hampshire Cricket Community Trust. n Strapped For Cash This Christmas is available for download from iTunes now.