FOUR years ago Gordon Haskell was making a living strumming a guitar down at his local in Dorset.

Then he borrowed £200 to record a song that not even the bravest of punters would have bet on being a Christmas hit.

Thanks to a bit of plugging from Radio 2 disc jockeys Johnny Walker and Ken Bruce, How Wonderful You Are cheekily pushed its way to Number 2 in the charts back in 2001 - just being pipped to the Number 1 spot by Robbie Williams and Nicole Kidman's slushy duet.

Since then the seasoned plectrum picker has enjoyed a fairytale musical revival with his collection of seminal blues strums making him one of the country's most unlikely pop stars and a big hit with fans.

The former singer with Seventies prog-rock giants King Crimson dusts of his cherished six-string for a night of music at Southampton's Talking Heads tonight with sax man Paul Yeung.

The new album The Lady Wants to Know is likely to make up much of the set list, though get a glass of eggnog ready for Haskell's classic Crimbo hit!

Talking Heads, Southampton. December 24. Tickets: £7.50. Box Office: 023 8067 8446.