Paul Young may be more of a slippers-in-front-of-the-fire man these days as he relaxes at his home in Barnet, which he shares with his wife former model Stacey Smith and their four children, but in the late 1970s, as an upcoming musician, he was renowned for beer fights at a pub in Hertfordshire.

Now the 59-year-old singer returns to that watering hole with his Americana band Los Pacaminos.

”Bob, who used to run the pub, was a nutcase and invariably by the end of the night we would all be having a quiet drink and he’d say: ’Do you want another one?’ and you would go: ’Yeah’ and he would throw it over you, then there was a beer fight in his own pub.

Paul’s fame sky-rocketed in 1982 when the band he fronted the Q-Tips disbanded.

In 1983 his cover of Marvin Gaye’s Wherever I Lay My Hat reached No 1 in the UK singles chart, in 1984 he sang lead vocals on Band Aid’s Do They Know It’s Christmas?

However in 1992 he decided it was time to go back to basics with a bunch of ”very good mates” – the Pacaminos. The band’s name is a tongue-in-cheek reference to packing in an audience, and were formed when Paul was between recording contracts.

”I just thought: ’Right I fancy trying this kind of music, I’ll call up the friends I’ve got that I think will understand what I’d like to do’, and that was it really. It was meant to be two or three years until I got another record deal and went back in the studio, but it was so much fun that it has been 23-years now.”

The line-up includes pedal steel guitarist Melvin Duffy, accordionist, singer and keyboardist Matt Irving, bassist Steve Greetham, bassist David Levy, guitarist Jamie Moses, lead vocalist and guitarist Drew Barfield, and drummers Mark Pinder and Jim Russell.

The Barnet resident says: ”We love each other’s company, we care a lot for each other. When you play this kind of music it makes you feel happy, it makes you feel good and sometimes that’s all you want.”

Paul certainly loves spending time in the USA. It was this passion for Texas, Arizona and New Mexico which fed his desire to create the Tex Mex sound distinctive to Los Pacaminos.

”I have been on three RV (recreational vehicle) trips with my family, we pick up an RV in Arizona and we drive around New Mexico, South Texas, Arizona, and down to Mexico. I’ve only done it a few times, but I think the longing to be there helps me write the material.”

Los Pacaminos, The Horn, Victoria Street, St Albans, Saturday, March 28, 8pm. Details: 01727 844 627, thehorn.co.uk