FOR his first live performance he sang into a microphone stuck out of a pub toilet window – as he was too young to get in.

But it gave Terry Fane, now 68, a taste for the game, and after a career that’s seen him play almost every venue in Southend, and even make an appearance on X Factor, he’s back performing at Il Gattopardo later this month.

Describing how he fell into a life of rock and roll, he says: “When I was about 13 or 14 I was sitting down playing the records of the time – Frank Sinatra and Johnny Ray – and I decided I wanted to go out and sing.

“I went down to Southend seafront and to the Ivy House, now Chinnerys, and said I wanted to sing with the trio that were playing there.

“The chap said. ‘You can’t come in, you’re underage’. But the bass player said, ‘Go down the alleyway and round the back, and we’ll pass the mic through the toilet window’.

“So I went there and sang Here in My Heart. They passed the hat round, but someone ran off with it. They said, ‘Come back same time tomorrow’, and they gave me the mic through the window again.

“I stood on a box, and they passed the hat around and gave me the money. It was so exciting. It was all change, about £2, which I changed into notes. It was a lot of money then, and it was my first experience of getting paid to sing.”

Throughout the late Fifties and early Sixties Terry fronted the infamous Terry Fane and the Torledos, a popular Southend rock’n’roll band, who played the Kursaal more than 20 times.

Terry recalls: “In the Seventies I also joined Westcliff Operatic and Dramatic Society and did shows at the Cliffs. I can’t think of any venue in Southend that I haven’t performed at.”

In 2008, Terry decided to give national fame a shot when he auditioned in front of the X Factor panel of Simon Cowell, Dannii Minogue and Cheryl Cole.

He says: “Dannii told me, ‘You’re a lovely man and you sing the song really well, but that is a pub song so I’m going to say no’.“Cheryl also said no, but Simon said, ‘That song is what it is, but you sang it very well’, and he said yes.

Terry says: “I’ve always been up for a challenge. I knew before I went on there I obviously wasn’t going to be a winner. They’re looking for a youngster who is going to sell records. But I’ll carry on singing – like I always have.”

Terry Fane plays with the Essex Rhythm Boys 8.30pm January 22.

Il Gattopardo, Hamlet Court Road, Westcliff.

Phone to book a table 01702 391789