HE'S the shy teenager who overcame severe anxiety to interview some of the biggest stars in showbiz during his illustrious career.

Now journalist and broadcaster John Hannam has published his first book, telling the story behind some of his 4000 interviews.

The first volume of the John Hannam Interviews features some of the biggest pop stars of the 50s, 60s and 70s, including Cilla Black, Adam Faith and Vera Lynn.

Hollywood legends such as Charlton Heston, Donald Pleasence and Sir John Mills will feature in a future book, which is now in the planning.

John, from Godshill on the Isle of Wight, has enjoyed a more than 40 year career as a freelancer after overcoming such low confidence in his teenage years that he would lie in a darkened room and didn't like meeting people or eating out in restaurants.

It was his love of Saints which brought John to the radio initially, enjoying a slot on the Saturday night sports show on Isle of Wight Hospital Radio. That led to a newspaper column and his own talk show on Isle of Wight Radio, which has been going for over 25 years.

John does all his interviews in person and has turned down chats with major stars who will not talk face to face.

"I like the thrill of sitting next to my guest and getting to know them for an hour or so. Some have become personal friends. I have missed out on a few big names with this policy but have no regrets," John told Seven Days.

Many of his interviewees have become friends over the years and British rock n roll icon Marty Wilde even came up with the idea for the book.

He added: "When I was a lad, I used to watch Marty Wilde on TV. In the late '50s I saw him on the innovative Oh Boy! television shows and then saw him live on stage at the Commodore Cinema in Ryde. I could never have dreamed that well over 50 years later he would come up with the idea for this book and volunteer to write the foreword! I've known him for a long time and interviewed him many times and one day he suggested I put all the things I've done down in a book.

"I've met so many people - Neil Sedaka, Duane Eddy, Bobby Vee. These were world stars when I was a lad loving my music and it's been a huge pleasure. I've been lucky enough to meet a lot of my heroes. It's hard to believe that some of my idols have now become friends."

John's amazing archives can now be heard all over the world in the form of podcasts and some of his interviews, including Matt Monro, Eartha Kitt, Adam Faith and Lonnie Donegan, have been used by Radio 2.

His very first archive podcast, featuring a 2005 interview with American 60s pop idol Bobby Vee, had an unexpected impact. The hit recorder of songs like Take Good Care Of My Baby has been suffering from Alzheimer's for several years. Bobby's son Jeff sent an email to John within a few hours of the interview going online.

"Jeff told me they were halfway through listening to the interview in America and his Dad was grinning from ear to ear and was clearly enjoying it. I was just so pleased it was helping to bring back some of his memory loss," John added.

Father of two John dedicates the book to his late wife Heather and their two children Sean and Caroline, who spent much of their childhood backstage and have both gone into the industry in backstage roles.

He also thanks his partner Roberta Crismass who accompanies him to most of his interviews these days.

Although he is tight-lipped about his age, John reveals he is past retirement age, but doesn't want to give up doing what he does best.

Look out for the next instalment!

BLOB The John Hannam Interviews is available from Amazon or local bookstores, priced £11.99

For further details, visit johnhannam.com

Some of John's 4,000 interviews in a career spanning 40 years have been used by BBC Radio 2, including

His John Hannam Meets chat show has been on Isle of Wight Radio for 25 years.

Every week John has two new podcast interviews. One contains current interviews and the other features one of his rare archives. All of his interviews are recorded face to face. He doesn't do any phone conversations.

Already online are archive podcasts featuring Tommy Cooper, Larry Grayson, Alan Rickman and Charlton Heston.

Others that will follow include Cilla Black, Anthony Minghella and Neil Sedaka.

Follow links from the Isle of Wight Radio website, John's own website and the iTunes library.