It's the refuge for the mentally deficient. It's made by dull people for dull people.

For the first time in my life the eternal 'I' becomes 'we', as, finally, I can get on with someone.

I don't want to get too involved in marketing budgets, online promotions and download set-ups because it would be a bit like Gertrude Stein mapping out a TV campaign. I want to sing. I want visibility. I am essentially Al Martino, not Seymour Stein.

Now I know how Joan of Arc felt.

I don't even know if I exist offstage.

I've always done quite well as far as the charts are concerned. And yet I always felt I conveyed the spirit of the music I love, which didn't have any chart success.

When they bury me in a church and chuck earth on my grave, I'd like the words 'Well, at least he tried' engraved on my tombstone.