BACK in the late eighties you would be forgiven for thinking that music only consisted of cheesy soap stars cashing in on their moment of fame.

Amidst your Kylie Minogues, Jason Donovans and Stefan Dennises a small Scottish band where shining a beacon of hope for real music lovers everywhere.

Deacon Blue swept to success in 1988 thanks to a haunting tune called Dignity, the inspiration for which was the unlikely tale of a tramp.

"I never really bothered too much about what was happening at that time to be honest," admits the band's lead singer and songwriter Ricky Ross.

" I think if you try too much to fit in with want is going on around then you become false. I only ever tried to do my own thing and do it well."

And do it well he did thanks to 18 top 40 hits, five top five UK albums, two of which went to number one.

The hits included tunes such as Real Gone Kid, Chocolate Girl and Fergus Sings the Blues which kept the band, also consisting of James Prine on keyboards, Graeme Kelling on guitar, Ewan Vernal on bass, Dougie Vipond on drums, and Lorraine McIntosh who later married Ricky as second vocalist, firmly in the spotlight.

But in 1994 they made the surprise announcement they were to split.

Ricky explains: "Then it was everything being in a band but it was constant - writing, recording, performing and touring. It was full on.

I would hate to do that now.

"There comes a point when you want more balance in your life. When you settle down and have kids."

Surprisingly he admits: "I never really wanted to be in a band. It kind of happened by accident and it just seemed like the way forward.

Really I just wanted to write songs and to write and make music."

Ricky trained initially as a teacher, a job he says he enjoyed but it wasn't the career for him.

Deacon Blue were formed in Glasgow in 1985 after Ricky was advised by his song publisher to form a band to perform his compositions.

Taking their name for the 1977 Steely Dan song Aja, the band were synonymous with gritty working class post industrial Glasgow, which formed their inspiration for their debut album Raintown.

"People said I had a distinctive style that suited the songs I wrote," Ricky recalls, " and I suppose that's true in a sense as you don't get many people covering the songs."

During the band's time apart Ricky launched a successful solo career both as a recording artist and songwriter, while wife Lorraine embarked on a successful acting career.

"For me especially working on a variety of different things is great for me creatively," Ricky says, "I am writing for different artists, working with different people and it is hugely enjoyable.

"When you are with a band you get to know each other so well, which is great on the one hand but the variety of working with others outside of that is great."

The door for Deacon Blue was never fully closed however and the band members remained in touch, meeting up to record and perform from time to time.

Their personal closeness was further cemented following the sad death of guitarist Graeme Kelling from pancreatic cancer in 2004, who despite his illness still managed to appear with the band on stage before he died.

It was a year of high and lows for Ricky as professionally he was working with the years highest selling artist James Blunt and co wrote the hit High.

Despite the loss of Graeme the band continued to tour to great acclaim, with this year's dates bringing them to the Cliffs Pavilion on Tuesday (November 6) "It is strange in some ways," Ricky admits, " we are like part of an exclusive club when we get back together. It is quite unique.

"We toured last year and really enjoyed it. We all do different things but it is nice to come back together and perform as a group. It really is a simple as that."

Ricky says he still enjoys getting up on stage and performing the old hits.

"Getting up on stage is great and a real chance to connect with people. In fact I enjoy it more now than I did back in the day," he admits. "When you haven't done it for a while it becomes good fun."

He adds: "Equally though when we get stage it is something special for all of us again. We have been doing this for over 20 years so it is a good thing to take a break. It means you never get too blaze about it."

Deacon Blue Tuesday November 6 Cliffs Pavilion Station Road Westcliff 8pm Tickets £27.50 01702 351135