“KEEF sends his regards to the Echo and Dorset. He says he’d come an’ ’ave a word, only ’ee’s watching the Ashes, now you can’t say fairer than that, can ya?”

Alan Clayton isn’t a household name, but he should be a legend.

As we speak he’s sitting with Keith Richards at his Redlands home watching the cricket – not bad for the son of a Shepherd’s Bush Teddy Boy who grew up with a love of Motown, Stax and soul music.

Alan is taking half an eye off the TV screen to talk about bringing his band The Dirty Strangers to Wimborne’s Tivoli Theatre on August 8, but, try as he might, the conversation keeps coming back to cricket.

“I love Test cricket. There’s nuffin’ better than if you can rack off five days, kick back and lose yourself in it. Hey, we’re flicking all the ashes from our fags into this little urn so we’ll have our own Ashes! Yeh,we are. And you can rest assured they’ll never leave the country!”

The Dirty Strangers came together in west London in the late 1970s and spent a few years building a solid reputation for their uncompromising, unpretentious brand of oldfashioned rock ’n’ roll and rhythm ’n’ blues.

They made waves in the music press in the early ’80s, supported The Stranglers, got great reviews for their debut album and fell from grace.

A second album, Burn the Bubble in 1993,was largely ignored and the band took a break – a long break.

Until the release earlier this year of a third album West 12 to Wittering (Another West Side Story), featuring contributions from Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood, as had their first.

“Look, I had a few line-ups in the Dirty Strangers – other than me,Keith and Ronnie are the two most constant members! We’ve been flavour of the month a few times, but I reckon the flavour must wear off after a while, but it’s just old fashioned music played the way I love it. I wear my influences proudly so if someone says I’ve written something that sounds like Chuck Berry I’m thinking:‘Well, great!’”

Alan and Keith have been close buddies since 1981 when Alan, who was then doing security work for bands,was introduced to his hero by the former Stranglers minder Big Joe Seabrook who was then doing the same job for Keith but was a big fan of Dirty Strangers.

“I dunno what I was thinking, but I just came out and asked Keith if he wanted to play on the record.”

The Stones were on a down time with Mick Jagger making a solo record, so Keith and Ronnie Wood turned up and a bond was forged.

They stayed in touch and with Alan’s band on hiatus Keith asked his mate if he wanted to join the Stones on a world tour.

“What was I going to say? Of course, so that’s where I’ve been for the last two and a half years, what an experience. I’ve had to work my way around the world though and I found a little niche in the backline and kept Keith company.

Admirable work rate though from a band of that age.

Rehearsals was a real eye opener – they had all these songs posted on the wall and rehearsed hundreds of them so they tweak the set every night. Always surprising you. Fabulous.”

I have to ask Alan if Keith is likely to join the Dirty Strangers on their run out to Dorset.

“Oh, listen man. He’s here watching the Ashes, that’s all I know. You’re dealing with a man who does his own thing. I mean, if he’s here, then why not? I’m sure he’d love to come along, but Keith is Keef if you know what I mean.”

It is certain though that counter culture legend John Sinclair will be at the Tivoli.

A true revolutionary of the hippie era, Sinclair was a beat poet who managed seditionary rock outfit the MC5 and founded the antiracist White Panther party to assist the Black Panthers in the Civil Rights Movement.

“Oh man, he’s a legend,” says Alan.

“We had a little practice up in Watford the other night and he’s written some amazing stuff on some big subjects, so we’re just playing these blues-based jams – not boring Sunday lunchtime blues band jams, but real stuff – and he’s doing his thing. It’s incredible, now we’re gonna come up with a whole new set of music for John. Which won’t be hard,we love it – and this time I ain’t gotta write any rhyming words.”