TRY as he may, former Radio 1 and present Classic FM DJ Simon Bates can never escape the ghost of Our Tune, the segment on his morning show in which members of the public wrote in about their relationships.

Read out with their names altered and accompanied by the theme music from Zeffirelli's Romeo and Juliet, it ran from 1980 and was the main reason why Simon's voice was voted one of the 10 most recognisable in Britain at that time.

"It's a weird thing," he reminisces. "I think when I left Radio 1 I never wanted to hear mention of the programme again and just thought 'ugh'. I still can't walk down the street in London without some taxi driver hanging out the window going 'dah da dah daa' he sings the theme music sarcastically.

"I got brassed off but then I realised that people were either moved or entertained by listening in and now I'm proud to have been associated with it."

And rightly so.

But for his visit to Basingstoke's Anvil on Wednesday, July 7, Simon will be in a different capacity altogether - to present the Philharmonia Orchestra's night of music from the movies.

"I initially became involved because obviously I work for Classic FM, and Classic FM is tightly involved with the Philharmonia. So I met up with them to do one concert and had a really good time. They're a riot to do, such great fun, and that's why I'm doing a tour.

"It was really Nick Nicholas Dodd's idea, the conductor of the Philharmonia. At the concert, I'm your main man in the middle, with a little bit of background, some gossip, a bit about the movie, basically complementing the music and hopefully not talking too long and boring everyone! I do the movie programme for Classic FM on Saturdays - I just adore movies - so it was a natural move on to this."

And having a look at the programme, I can see why it would appeal to a fan as it includes the soundtracks from Star Wars, Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter, plus well-known masterpieces adapted for films including the Adagietto from Mahler's Symphony No 5 (Death in Venice) and Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana (The Godfather).

Does he have a piece he looks forward to hearing every evening?

"My favourite bit of music actually isn't on the programme. I love the music from The Third Man the 1940 Orson Welles noir classic, that end sequence. I always wanted to look like Joseph Cotton when I was younger, with the hat and the coat, and have every woman look at me."

Well, he may not have had that scenario exactly, but he was a famous face in front of screaming girlies for many a Radio 1 roadshow alongside luminaries of the airwaves such as Tony Blackburn, Mike Reid and Bruno Brookes.

The first two of that bunch have tried their hand at reality television, on separate series of I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here. Would he ever fancy having a go?

"I was asked to do that but I said two things: one, it'll never work, and two, what, Australia? In the bush, four or five weeks just sitting there in my underpants? For someone like Tony, though, it was a real renaissance."

Do they ever meet to have a chat about the good old days?

"About 12 of us do meet up and have a round table meal twice a year. But the great thing about the business is that there's so much going on at the moment which means we tend to look forward - there's no going back. I mean, now Classic FM is mostly staffed by people who are about 25, spot-free and gorgeous. So there's a certain resentment from me - but no, they're very tolerant of the old man!"

So will this old man come out to entertain his fans after the concert in The Anvil?

"That's half the fun. Let's not kid ourselves, it's very good when people appreciate what you do. The British public are pretty nice on the whole - you do get the occasional 'I can't believe you're still working', but most people are very sweet."

Tickets for Philharmonia Goes to Hollywood, presented by Simon Bates, which starts at 7.45pm, are priced from £13 to £25.50 and can be purchased from the box office on 01256 844244, the website www.theanvil.org.uk or the ticket fax on 01256 366900.