Music ​Preview: Proto-punk pioneer bringing one-man show to city pub

But there is also the promise of “film clips, stories, readings and downright scurrilous gossip from his 40 (plus) years in the arts and entertainment world”. An evening with the London-born maverick - labelled ‘An Accent Waiting To Happen’ and booked for the Greystones on Saturday, March 4 - encompasses his career as a ”writer, musician, composer, nightclub host, curator, actor and adventurer”.

And what a career. He may still be best known for Doctors of Madness - a ‘proto-punk rock band’ that can claim to have been supported by the likes of the Sex Pistols, The Jam and Joy Division. Then came solo excursions and his influential mixed-media cabaret club, Cabaret Futura, in 1980, to be followed by extensive work as an actor on stage, in films and on television.

Film roles have ranged from Batman and Robin Hood-Prince of Thieves to Gangs of New York and Harry Potter. TV appearances have included Men Behaving Badly. As a stage actor, he has worked alongside household names such as James Nesbitt, Peter Capaldi and Marianne Faithfull.

Looking for Sheffield links? He was part of Jarvis Cocker’s Meltdown Festival, at the Royal Festival Hall in 2007; the 2019 Doctors of Madness album, Dark Times, included Joe Elliott as backing vocalist on five songs; Martyn Ware remixed a Doctors of Madness track in 2021.

A brief UK tour offers the chance to “share my memories of working with Doctors of Madness, Jack Nicholson, Tom Waits, Anita Pallenberg, Marianne Faithfull, Tim Burton, Martin Scorsese, Damon Albarn, Zappa, Gavin Bryars, Harmony Korine, Kevin Costner, John Cleese and The Sex Pistols”.

All in all, it’s described as “a gift for anyone interested in the popular culture of the last 50 years from someone who has lived it up to his neck!”

Sheffield music promoter Chris Wilson needs no convincing of Strange’s place in music history. He reflects on Doctors of Madness as “too raw for the prog rock fans and punk before punk really caught on, proto punk is a good description ... and their music has stood the test of time. “Richard's a true gentleman and, wow, what a life he's had since days of Doctors of Madness.” The evening will end with a Q&A session. “Ask anything, request songs … I’ll try to oblige!” says the host, who has never been afraid to take risks.