COMEBACK king Joe Longthorne, the East Riding singer and musical impressionist, is bouncing back with a new album deal, a two-month UK tour and Australian dates to come.

"Yes, I'm a bit of a lad and I'm not shy about that, but I'm trying to keep myself nice and clear, keep to the business, keep busy," says Joe, who will be appearing at the Grand Opera House in York next Monday in a concert show re-arranged from November 30 last year.

Joe, once a George Best figure of popular entertainment, is on his latest road to Damascus. "It's nice to have the luck going my way this year," he says. "I've got an album coming out in September and a deal for three albums in five years."

Joe has signed to Ritz Records, and while the label with the squeaky clean Daniel O'Donnell as its talisman might not be an obvious home for the Hull firebrand, it could be a canny move on both sides. Longthorne has a track record for platinum and gold sales figures, leading to the present re-issue of his past records, and Ritz works the hard sell as hard as any label. Witness the marketing of the ubiquitous O'Donnell.

"It's important to get the marketing right, and Ritz will do that. I feel I'm being looked after really well now and that does make a difference," says Joe. "As I'm with Ritz, there'll be a country element to the record; Sonny Leslie, from the Brotherhood Of Man, has put some blinding songs together for me; she's written with real raw emotion from what she's been through." Expect easy-listening cover versions too, with Longthorne putting on the Ritz style.

In May, Joe heads out to Australia for five weeks of shows in a land where he hit the heights of playing the Sydney Opera House. "I said 'Let's start there and work my way down'," he jokes, as he reflects on a career that has taken from Junior Showtime in 1970 to a record-breaking summer season in the northern entertainment capital of Blackpool and shows in America and Australia.

Longthorne, who will be 44 this year, harbours ambitions both personal and professional. Personal first: "Coming from Hull, I love ships, and I'd love to have a boat to go up and down the Thames in, but I can't afford it right now," he says.

Professionally, he is working on going back to America in 2002. "I'd love to do Las Vegas. I've done the Albert Hall, the Palladium, and I did 52 weeks non-stop in Chicago and Philadelphia, but I'd still love to do Las Vegas."

Joe Longthorne, Grand Opera House, York, February 19, 8pm. Tickets: £12.50 to £16.50; ring 01904 671818.