DR HOOK singer Dennis Locorriere is back touring under his old band’s name – and he hasn’t ruled out making a new album, too.

The frontman has released three solo albums since the soft rockers disbanded back in 1985, while busying himself with writing for other acts.

But as he prepared to bring the group to the Royal Concert Hall tonight for a sold out show, he revealed new songs are a possibility, too.

“If there is a future release from me it will be a Dr Hook album because I would also like to reintroduce the Hook sound to radio playlists and airwaves around the world,” says the New Jersey born singer.

“That could be a very tall order in today’s marketplace but I’ve always been one to gamble on myself.”

The band enjoyed a huge number of hit singles in their 70s pomp, including the likes of Sylvia’s Mother, A Little Bit More, Better Love Next Time and the chart-topping When You’re In Love With A Beautiful Woman. Those will all feature at the Concert Hall tonight, as Dennis returns to Glasgow, having performed at the Apollo many times back in the group’s heyday.

“It’s always been the audiences that stand out,” he recalls.

“It’s the people. When you do what I do you need a reaction in order to know where you stand and the Scottish audiences make it perfectly clear how they feel. I’ve been lucky enough to be on their ‘good side’ for many years.”

There were other Scottish factors beyond those Apollo nights. Dennis remains a huge fan of the work of Gerry Rafferty, who was enjoying success with Stealers Wheel at the same as Dr Hook were emerging under their original name of Dr Hook and the Medicine Show.

“Gerry’s voice was instantly recognizable in both Stealers Wheel and as a solo artist,” says Dennis.

“His songwriting style was also very much his own. His melodies are beautiful and the harmonies, usually all him, were gorgeous. I miss buying a new Gerry Rafferty album, as I always would, without having to worry about sampling it first. I was never disappointed.”

The current jaunt that Dennis is on comes two years after he went through the band’s whole back catalogue for Timeless, a compilation album that reached the Top 10 when it was released in the UK.

While Dennis never distanced himself from the past, often touring with a tagline saying he was the ‘voice of Dr Hook’, the actual band name was used by his former bandmate Ray Sawyer, before rights reverted to Dennis for its use in 2015.

Coupled with the fact that he had enjoyed looking through the archives at the group’s body of work, he decided to hit the road again, this under the Dr Hook name, playing both hits and lesser known tracks.

A quirk of the band’s career was that while they had plenty of hit singles, success in the album charts proved harder to accomplish, with 1976’s A Little Bit More being their only album to reach the top 10 in the UK, going in at No 5.

Dennis reckons that the band’s mix of styles were a factor in why that happened.

“I think our visual image and the fact that we didn’t stick to a formula when it came to musical styles may have confused the label marketing people as to how to ‘sell’ us,” he says.

“You couldn’t listen to our first two singles, Sylvia’s Mother and Cover Of Rolling Stone, back to back and know they were the same band, but they were both big hits. I think the business found it easier to take Dr Hook three minutes at a time.”

He admits that the business side of the band was something he should have paid more attention to, though.

“I wouldn’t change a thing about the band or its various members,” he adds.

“I had a lot fun and some great friends in Hook, band and crew. A few of those relationships remain today. My one regret is that I didn’t pay more attention to the business side of things. I was a hippie kid who just wanted to sing.

“I chose to trust that things were being done with my and the band’s best interests in mind and foolishly let a lot of things slip by me that I personally and financially paid for many times over. But you live, you learn.”

Dr Hook featuring Dennis Locorriere, Royal Concert Hall, tonight, sold out, 7pm.

JOHNATHAN GEDDES