The Wild Woman of Rock, Elkie Brooks, arrives in Radlett

2:37pm Thursday 26th March 2009

By Kate Sole

Forget yoga and pilates, singer Elkie Brooks has a much more interesting way of keeping fit, and with upwards of 60 dates to honour every year, it pays to stay in shape. “I study Aikido,” the star tells me in her trademark gravelly tones from her home in North Devon. “It’s a wonderful martial art but it’s one of the hardest ones to get your head around. I have been training for 20 years and I’m still only scratching the surface.”

Looking much younger than her 64 years, Aikido obviously agrees with Elkie, while the same sexy, husky voice that first got her noticed by Sharon Osbourne’s manager father Don Arden at 15 years old, seems to be only getting better with age.

Thinking back to the beginning, Elkie, who performs at the Radlett Centre this month, admits: “I had a lot of bad times when I was on my own driving myself to those cabaret shows in 1964-1967, and I thought about going back to school and training to be a PE teacher. But I hung on in there. People like jazz legend Humphrey Lyttelton let me sing with their band and they were a major help.”

After meeting guitarist Pete Gage in the early ‘70s, Elkie’s path took a whole new direction and the pair, who would later marry, formed the rock fusion band Dada. The group transformed into Vinegar Joe when Robert Palmer joined the fold, however, despite glowing acclaim, chart success did not follow and the group dissolved in 1974, along with Elkie and Pete’s marriage.

Disillusioned, Elkie went to the States to decide her future. On her return in 1975, she signed a deal which saw the release of her first solo album Rich Man’s World. However, it was not until the release of Pearl’s A Singer on her 32nd birthday in 1977 that Elkie finally got the recognition she deserved with a top ten hit.

Fondly recalling that period, she tells me: “My early 30s were a memorable time. The chart success of Pearl’s A Singer and Two Days Away (her second album) was quite something, you certainly couldn’t say I was an overnight success. I also met my second husband Trevor.”

Married for 31 years, Trevor has served as Elkie’s sound engineer for the past three decades.

The couple’s sons have followed in their parents’ footsteps, and Elkie jokingly labels her family “the firm”.

Their eldest son Jay is currently working with his mother on her 20th studio album, while Joey, 23, is a “really great singer”.

Born Elaine Bookbinder in Salford, Manchester, music has long since been in Elkie’s blood. Her grandmother was a concert pianist, her uncle had his own dance band and her two brothers, Tony and Ray, were both musicians. In fact, it was her elder siblings who set her on her musical path.

“My brother Tony was a professional drummer and Ray was an amateur bass player. They bought me an Ella Fitzgerald record when I was 12 because I always sang her songs, and that’s how I got started.”

With numerous hit singles, such as Sunshine After The Rain, No More The Fool and Don’t Cry Out Loud, million-selling albums, including the record-breaking Pearls, which became the biggest selling LP by a British female artist, staying in the charts for 79 weeks, and annual tours which still sell out, Elkie deserves her reputation as one of the most successful female UK singers of all time. In fact, she has even been recognised by The Guinness Book of Records as the biggest-selling British female album artists of the past 25 years.

But rather than just going through the motions, Elkie still exudes the passion which saw her supporting The Beatles and The Animals as a budding star-in-the-making, recently putting in some of the most incredible performances of her career.

“ I try to put 100 per cent into everything I do,” she asserts, “and I still feel like I’m achieving.”

Elkie Brooks performs at the Radlett Centre on Wednesday, March 25, 8pm. Tickets: 01923 859291 or www.radlettcentre.co.uk