THE enduring popularity of singer Elkie Brooks was never in doubt. So why did she join a group of has-beens on TV?

JENNY SCOTT finds out. . .

THERE were stand-up rows, stormy walk-outs and tearful tantrums about faded careers. Throughout it all, Elkie Brooks managed to cut a dignified swathe through the ego-fuelled bickering that surrounded her and get on with what she's been doing for most of her 58 years -- performing to a euphoric crowd.

"It certainly made for good TV," said Elkie, who will wind down from her stint on ITV's Reborn in the USA with a gig in Blackburn in October.

"I didn't always enjoy it but I just got on and made the best of it."

When it aired last spring the TV show became known as a home for has-beens. It featured faded pop stars competing for public votes in a desperate bid to relaunch their forgotten careers.

Yet Manchester-born Elkie, whose career spans four decades, hardly falls into this category.

So what on earth prompted her to take part?

"My husband originally took the call from the show's producers," she said. "And he told them he didn't think I'd be interested.

"But to me it was like going back 30 years, carrying my own frocks around and performing in all these different venues. I thought it would be quite a laugh."

Barely a week into the show, however, Elkie found not all of the other contestants were the light-hearted, easy-going travelling companions she had hoped for.

Then Jericho singer Mark Shaw quit the show and was nearly followed by '80s star Sonia, who had fallen out with pop duo Dollar.

"It was a shame the show got off to such a rocky start," reflected Elkie. "Some of the others were a bit childish.

"We got stuck in a bar in New Orleans in the middle of the Mardi Gras, which was fatal for some people.

"While I sat and nursed a glass of wine, some of the others knocked back a bottle of Jack Daniels and the outcome was unfortunate."

Always self-sufficient, however, Elkie was able to take a step back from the others and concentrate on her music.

"I'm pretty insular," she admitted. "The producers got me a piano and I'd just go off and practise. I also spent a lot of time walking round towns on my own. When I've toured America previously, I never had much of a chance to look around. There was far more luxury about it this time. It was like a working holiday."

Her fiercely independent streak has always governed the way Elkie has led her career.

A baker's daughter, she began her career singing at weddings with her Uncle Nat's dance band before making the trip to London, aged 16, to sing with Eric Delaney's jazz band.

In 1969 she joined Dada -- later to become Vinegar Joe -- and shared lead vocals with Robert Palmer before they both left to establish solo careers.

The charts of the '70s and '80s were liberally scattered with Elkie Brooks' hits, including her memorably throaty renditions of Sunshine After the Rain and Fool If You Think It's Over and the worldwide smashes Pearl's A Singer and No More The Fool.

"I've always tried to be strong about things," said Elkie. "If you let yourself be controlled by the industry, you'll always be at their beck and call."

Having earned her place at the top of the industry, what does the future now hold for Elkie?

She is currently helping her daughter-in-law pen her biography and is looking forward to her tour of Britain and Ireland, which will take in King George's Hall, Blackburn on October 20.

"I'll be singing a lot of my old hits, but there's also some new blues material I'm going to try out on my audience," she revealed.

"Some of it they'll have heard before and some they won't. I'm looking forward to it."

For tickets , call the King George's Hall box office on (01254) 582582.