Bad Manners, Hedge End Social Club, July 24

THE only thing I can't do at the moment is bend over - so when I drop the microphone, I have to pick it up elegantly, like a ballerina."

Only Bad Manners star Buster Bloodvessel could possibly compare himself to a ballerina - and without

having touched a drop of cider.

Buster, who returns to Southampton with three dates over the next two months with his band Bad Manners,

hit the headlines late last year when he collapsed on stage in Italy with hernia problems.

Doctors told him he was far too overweight to operate on, so he returned to the UK and promptly checked himself into a health farm.

"It was pretty serious for a while," says Buster, aka Douglas Trendle, who is still losing weight in order to have the operation.

"I collapsed on stage in Turin and the doctors refused to operate. I was in a health farm for three weeks and lost three-and-a-half stones.

"I went back to the doctors and they told me that I needed to lose a further four stones before they could do anything, which was really demoralising."

Buster's health scare hasn't got in the way of madcap Buster's performances, though, and the oversize star says that at the moment he's busier than ever.

"The doctors said I can still dance and jump around on stage like I usually do as it is good exercise."

Bad Manners enjoyed a string of distinctive hits in the early Eighties including Ne-Ne-Na-Na-Na-Nu-Nu, Lip Up Fatty, Special Brew, My Girl Lollipop and the

Can Can.

Since then, lead singer Buster has opened his own hotel, Fatty Towers, and joined the board of his beloved Margate Football Club.

Although the band have gone notably quiet on the singles front, Buster and the boys have been busier than ever, taking their tour as far afield as Japan, America and Australia.

Although recent chart success has eluded Bad Manners, Buster doesn't seem to be that bothered, as he confesses he wouldn't want to be associated with the current UK music scene.

"The music scene is at an all-time low at the moment and I blame radio for that. All they seem to play is boy and girl bands and it's depressing and the rest of the world is laughing at us.

"I mean, who in there right mind actually goes out and buys the new Hear' Say single because they really like it?

"It's rammed down everybody's throat and the youngsters think that they should like it."

But Buster certainly isn't bitter, as the ska scene is making a slow comeback, and as he says himself, ska is becoming the underground dance music.

"It seems that you have to be on drugs these days to listen to dance music and that shouldn't be the case.

"I think that ska is definitely the new underground dance scene - more and more younger people are coming to see us live and enjoying our show. How can anyone get that type of buzz from seeing a drum machine live?"

Buster hasn't lost any of his enthusiasm for playing live, and tours almost constantly these days.

"We love touring. We always enjoy coming to Southampton and Eastleigh as we have a lot of friends there and always get a good reception whenever we play down there."

You can catch Bad Manners at Hedge End Social Club on July 24, The Hobbit, Bevois Valley on August 27 and Shirley Social Club August 28.