I DON'T WANT TO END UP A BUTLIN'S REDCOAT; Martin Fry on his comeback nightmare.



Eighties pop hunk Martin Fry has revealed his secret fear ...


Ending up in a holiday camp cabaret, droning out his old hits in a smoked-filled lounge.


The ABC frontman - who reigned the charts with hits like Tears Are Not Enough, Poison Arrow and The Look Of Love - said: "I'm not Julio Iglesias.


"I don't wanna show up like a Butlin's redcoat shouting, `C'mon boys and girls. Shoot that Poison Arrow'.


"We're not cabaret, but a lot of my contemporaries are like that. They're deluding themselves.


"Our early songs were huge and are fondly remembered. Those tunes are nearly 20 years old, but they're not cabaret."


Martin, 39 - who disbanded ABC in 1991 after it took two years to complete their Abracadabra album - says he's used the time to "regain his passion".


He's also had to battle the debilitating Hodgkin's disease, a leukaemia-like lymphatic cancer.


During two and a half years of traumatic treatment, including chemotherapy and radiotherapy, he lost all his hair and underwent a series of operations.


But Martin still believes he has had a charmed life.


He said: "I've been lucky.


"For a long time I was really scared about getting back into the flow of things. Now it feels right again.


"I didn't make records for a few years because I was tired. You make boring records if you are bored. It wasn't a great time because, deep down inside, I felt there was more to say.


"I didn't anticipate making another record - until now."


Martin hits Glasgow with ABC next month, And he promised fans: "I'll give it all of my heart.


"Playing live is about getting the buzz back, dusting off the cobwebs.


"It's about feeling they way I did when I first started out in the business."


And although ABC will perform some of their old hits, they refuse to treat the gig at Glasgow's Garage on June 26 as a nostalgia trip.


Martin said: "I'm surprised at the cross-section of people who turn up at our gigs. They aren't all old.


"They shout for favourites and, hopefully, they'll soon shout for the new songs too." The new songs, come from ABC's brilliant new album Skyscraping.


Martin - who lives with his wife Julia and three children near London's posh St. John's Wood district - hit out at critics who claim he's been lured back into the limelight by the money.


HE said: "Making Skyscraping isn't about making any money or me trying to feed my ego.


"Our back catalogue means I can put bread on the table. It's just important to do this.


"There were a lot of open doors getting a record deal, but I didn't want to be an 80s bloke.


"I live for the present and I wanted to do it right."


Martin added: "I live near Liam Gallagher and I think Oasis have the right attitude.


"Sometimes, I drive down their street and see people making TV documentaries about Oasis. That's stupid.


"Oasis have changed people's perceptions. They've kicked a bit of dust


"And there are 24 cabaret bands who are just copying their style in clubs all over the country to prove it."