WHO - of a certain age - can forget the irrepressibly cheerful Cadbury’s Fudge jingle: “A finger of Fudge is just enough to give your kids a treat”?

For that, we have King’s Stanley resident Mike D’Abo to thank.
But hummable fudge jingles are just the tip of the ice-berg as far as Mike’s catchy compositions go.

The 71-year-old singer-songwriter is also responsible for the 1967 song Handbags and Gladrags, which was recorded by Rod Stewart and later became a top ten hit for the Stereophonics and was used as the theme for Ricky Gervais’s BBC sitcom The Office.

And he penned Build Me Up Buttercup, popularised by The Foundations and later revived via the film There’s Something About Mary.

Mike, who found fame after succeeding Paul Jones as lead singer of Manfred Mann in 1966, will perform these songs, and more, at an evening of musical nostalgia at St Swithun’s Church in Leonard Stanley on Friday, from 7.30pm.

With Mike up-front, Manfred Mann, who had already had a string of hits, went on to have nine more, including the Dylan covers Just Like a Woman and The Mighty Quinn, which reached Number One.

Before his set, Mike will give a talk on his early musical influences, which include Buddy Holly, Ray Charles and The Beatles.

Money raised from the concert will go towards roof repairs at the church and refurbishing the kitchen.

Tickets cost £12.50 and are available from Yew Tree Stores in King’s Stanley. Call 01453 822094.