Despite playing at some of the world’s biggest venues and festivals – including Glastonbury as recently as 2011 – Neville says in many ways he prefers performing at the smaller events.

“You know what, they are all just gigs to me and I love them all big or small. I enjoy the smaller, more intimate events as you can build a better rapport with the crowd and really interact with them. I can’t wait to play in Sudbury, I hear there is a big ska following in the area and I am sure we are all going to have a great party,” he said.

In the unlikely event of anyone not being aware of the huge impact Neville –affectionately known as the ‘Original rude boy’ - has made on the UK music industry let’s regress.  As part of the legendry Specials - the leading act of the ‘2Tone’ scene which swept the nation in the early 1980s – and later as a founder member of Fun Boy Three Neville (along with bandmates Terry Hall and Lynval Golding) is credited with changing the face of UK pop music not once, but twice. Even after the highs of the eighties Neville has remained active and has toured all over the world and spent time living in America actively promoting the ska scene across the pond. He now tours relentlessly with his latest act The Neville Staple Band.

Neville’s packed programme for 2013 includes an appearance at Live and Kicking at the end of this month, so what can we expect when he takes to the stage in Suffolk.

“The set will be a real mixture of some of the hits from The Specials and Fun Boy Three with some of my own original songs. However, everything will have my own personal take on it, going very much back to the original ska roots with mixed tempos to get the crowd rocking. My set today is very much influenced by the music I grew up listening to such as Desmond Dekker, Jimmy Cliff and The Upsetters.”

Today, Neville revels in doing his ‘own thing with his own band’ and openly admits that due to band politics and personalities it is highly unlikely the original  Specials line-up will ever perform together again;  however his time in the band is something he will forever cherish.

“It was a great time, I was just a working class lad from the street. I was originally a roadie but Jerry Dammers (the band’s founder and keyboard player) invited me on stage at a gig and I never looked back and I became a singer in the group. All of a sudden I was playing all over the country and flying off to places like America and Australia to perform, it was a dream come true for me,” he said.

After seven consecutive top 10 hits – including ska anthems Rudi, a Message to You and Gangsters – Jerry Dammers dissolved the Specials to pursue political activities, whilst Neville joined band mates Terry Hall and Lynval Golding to form the more ‘poppy’ Fun Boy Free. The new band enjoyed six further top twenty hits between 1981 and 1983, some in collaboration with the all girl trio Bananarama.

Although rightly proud of his musical successes Neville is equally as proud of the social impact his music has had, particularly via his involvement with the 2Tone record label. At its height the record label had all the UK’s leading ska acts on its books including Madness, The Beat, The Bodysnatchers, The Selector, Bad Manners and of course the Specials. In a time of recession, social disruption and racial tensions of the late 1970s early 1980s the 2Tone label is credited with brining black and white communities, particularly working class communities, together through a shared love of music.

“Jerry went to technical college but really The Specials were very much a working class band and we sang about life as we knew it and our experiences. We were never afraid to sing about the issues of the day, and we refused to shy away from a subject because it was controversial. For example Ghost Town was really about struggle, recession and depression when everything was closing down, whilst Too Much Too Young took an honest look at teenage pregnancy. We sang about issues people could relate to, particularly working class people who were actually living and experiencing the things we were singing about. It’s quite strange really as many of the social issues in the early 80s are very much the same now and perhaps that is one of the reasons why our music has had a massive revival in recent years.

 “One aspect of being involved with the 2Tone scene I am particularly proud of is the bridges it built between black and white communities. There is no doubting there was a lot of racial tension in the late 70s and early 80s, but through this music we were brought together. You had bands made up of a mixture of black and white musicians, which was rare. It was the same with the crowds as you had black youths dancing alongside white youths without a hint of trouble, which was really a first and it is a legacy which has lasted. Jerry was the driving force behind both The Specials and the 2Tone label, he was determined to show black and white people together in harmony, even the famous 2Tone logo was made in black and white to depict racial unity. All of what happed with the 2Tone scene was the foresight of Jerry Dammers and he should be given a lot of credit for the positive social impact he created.”

Today, even at the sprightly age of 58, Neville has no plans to slow down. Despite being based back in his Coventry roots, Neville continues to tour far and wide with his band, including a recent tour in Australia. He is also in the studio cutting a new album which is due for release in early 2014.

“I may not be able to jump of speakers any more but I still love performing and making music, I have no plans to stop and I will go on for as long as I can,” he added.

The Live and Kicking Music Festival in being held over the weekend of June 22 and June 23 and includes 19 live musical acts. Staple is supported by a number of original acts and some of the UK’s top tributes including those to The Jam, The Who, Oasis, Stone Roses and Pink. The festival also features a display of vintage scooters which took part in the closing ceremony of the London Olympics 2012. There will also be a two day beer festival featuring award winning real ales and a giant children’s fun village on day two.

Live and Kicking - is now in its fourth year and is held at the state-of-the-art MEL Group Stadium and free camping is available. For more information on this year’s festival go to www.livekicking.co.uk or call the festival hotline on 07974 222 777.

Members of the media needing more information should contact Patrick Lowman of Patrick Lowman PR www.patricklowman.com on 07792 428555 or by email at patrick_lowman@sky.com