Founding member of The Searchers Mike Pender went on to pursue his own solo career and will be part of a three hour 60s nostalgia show at Weymouth Pavilion on Saturday, April 27. Joanna Davis catches up with the cheerful singer to find out more.

MIKE Pender is feeling relaxed and well rested.

He's just returned from a month in Tenerife where he's had his much-needed dose of winter sunshine and, unlike many of the poor souls consigned to speaking to me to promote their upcoming show, Mike tells me he's 'looking forward to it'.

Has all the sunshine gone to his head, I wonder.

The part of the job Mike really loves is going out and chatting to his audience after a show.

"It's nice to go out and speak to people," he says.

In Weymouth on Saturday, April 27, the audience can expect to enjoy performances from Mike, Chris Farlowe, Herman’s Hermits, The Swinging Blue Jeans, New Amen Corner and The Fourmost as part of the Sensational 60s Experience.

In the year that The Searchers have decided to call it a day, Mike, as an original member of that band, is still going strong.

He said: "Every year I say to myself 'do I want to do another tour? Then the phone rings and my agent tells me there is demand for another tour. We are all getting on but I don't even think about age. As long as the audience is still there, I'll still be there."

Mike says he's flattered to receive compliments from his audience telling him that his voice still sounds as good as ever.

He tells me: "I don't really do any extra exercise or work out, but I try and look after myself. It's good to get some sun in the bones - it really works for me."

Mike's rise to fame was exceptional - he started out working in a printer and bookbinders before becoming a singer.

"I grew up in Bootle, Liverpool and when I was about nine or 10 my mum would make me sing when people came round. I had quite a musical family. My uncle played the accordion and my auntie played the accordion. At school I wanted to be a footballer but back in 1955 footballers weren't paid very much so I think I chose the right profession by becoming a singer!

"I remember listening to Buddy Holly's EP and getting the chance to see him when he came to the UK not long before he died. I was watching Buddy Holly singing and thinking 'that's what I want to do'.

"We formed The Searchers and we became a big group in Liverpool, we performed at the Starr Club in Hamburg where the Beatles performed.

"We started working with Tony Heath, he heard Sweets for my Sweet and a couple of weeks later we were at number one.

"We recorded songs like Needles and Pins, appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show and had three number ones.

"In showbusiness you have to enjoy the good years while they last. Then it slows down and your fans start to get older and they lose interest and turn to someone else. It got to the stage where we were going everywhere to Sweden, Norway, Australia and it was just becoming hard work."

In 1985 Mike took the hard decision to leave the band and form Mike Pender's Searchers.

He said: "After that I was busy all the time and would be responsible for everything. But now I'm older I don't want to be responsible for all that. When you get to my age you don't want all the hassle. I just prefer to look at the itinerary that someone else has arranged."

Mike says he is very much a believer - in both fate and God.

"I've done this all my life. And I don't really need the phone to be ringing. But while I can carry on, I'm just going to keep going."

Mike remembers sharing the bill at Weymouth Pavilion with many other luminaries - among them Joe Brown, but veteran of the scene that he is 'I do so many theatres, I just tend to forget them all', he tells me.

There have been many highlights of Mike's career, but as I try and get him to select just one, he can't help himself and tells me a few.

"When we received a telegram telling us that Sweets for My Sweet was in the top 40 that was very special. I wasn't even thinking it will get any higher. But all of a sudden it was number one. And we had to pinch ourselves.

"And then another highlight for me was just being immersed in this world, into the United States. This world of yellow taxis and grids with all the steam coming out. We met Ed Sullivan and sang in the same theatres as Elvis. All those moments are so special to me."

Mike still considers former Manfred Mann frontman Mike d'Abo a good friend and says he has learnt a lot from singing veteran Petula Clark.

"She was in the States performing at a large outdoor show with 15,000 people and me and my wife met her before the show.

"She's 85-years-old and she looks about 60. I thought 'well, I think I've got at least another five years left in me.' "Petula just doesn't look her age. There's not a lot of difference between how you see her now and how she was in her heyday. "

Mike is still known for playing the 12 string guitar, which he used to much effect on When You Walk In the Room.

"People who talk to me after the show say 'it's something we still associate with you'," he says.

And of course Mike's Searchers association still delivers the odd royalty cheque, with the band recently returning into the compilation charts because of their decision to call things a day.

"It's funny - all the compilations still have the recordings of the original band, no-one who joined in the last 20 or 25 years," Mike said.

"The record companies still use the pictures of us original guys. It is nice to still have the royalties. It means I can still take my wife to a nice restaurant!" he says.

*The Sensational 60s Experience, Weymouth Pavilion, Saturday, April 27, 7.30pm. Call the box office for tickets.