IT was more than 31 years ago in a small white two-man circus caravan that Haze first told me he would be a rock star.

But after two months touring the South of England with Circus Apollo I needed some convincing.

It was that long hot summer of 1976 which turned into a wet and muddy autumn. Haze and I were the advance party with some ring work and helped to build up and pull down the big top.

He drove, while I navigated and coloured in a street map of each area that the circus played in. Every shop, pub and garage had to be offered a poster and a couple of half-price tickets.

During our rare spare time, Haze indoctrinated me into a love of Marc Bolan and T-Rex and would dance up and down the caravan playing his guitar.

He returns to the Guildhall in Southampton on Monday as the undead ringmaster Doktor Haze and creative director of the hugely successful Circus of Horrors.

But for a man who yearned so long for stardom he is now remarkably modest.

“I’m not a big star, I’m an entertainer,” he said.

Talking of voices, a pretty teenager ballroom dancer was interviewed over the phone this week by an Echo sports reporter, who shall remain nameless.

According to well-placed sources, the young lady put the phone down and said: “He’s got a fit voice!”