John Rowles' voice, as liquid silver as his hair, trails off briefly. He has to put down the phone and farewell his sister, Cheryl (the one THAT song was named after). She lives just around the corner from his house in Te Atatu, Auckland, where it's been raining a lot lately. So much so, in fact, that Rowles is seriously contemplating spending winters elsewhere.
"I like it here. I'm renovating but I think I'll rent it out over winter. To be quite honest I don't like New Zealand weather in the winter," the New Zealand singer says, adding he has got his eyes on warmer climes such as Hawaii, which he first visited in the late 1960s.
Rowles' more recent gigs haven't been quite so tropical: Palmerston North and Kapiti Coast were among the venues for his "Final Bow Farewell Tour" in June and July. New Plymouth, Hamilton and Pukekohe were also among the North Island stops - that is, until Rowles stopped; he postponed the latter performances after contracting a virus and losing his voice.
Again the subject of New Zealand's weather arises.
"I had to change the programme when I got my voice back. I didn't quite lose my voice - I got through Palmerston North - but I knew something was wrong. I thought, well, I've got four days off and I'll be back on next Friday in New Plymouth. So I just relaxed and went back and I wasn't ready to come back.
"I was only able to do five songs and just said to the audience, 'sorry, I can't sing; I can't talk', and walked off the stage. Then I had two weeks off and went back and did those shows I'd missed and my voice was back to normal.
"Then the press bag you - 'he's lost his voice; it's all over' - but when I come back they don't say anything."
Certainly, Rowles has no shortage of breath for our interview, during which he explains the reasoning behind the title of his tour.
"At 64, it's not getting any easier. I'm at a stage of my life now where I don't want to push too hard; I just want to do it when I want to do it. I have to pace myself now. I don't feel like talking to anyone until I get on that stage and then I come alive and when I get off I sort of die again.
"When I was 25, 35 or 45, it wasn't bad, but as I get older, it gets harder. That's one of the reasons I'm easing back. I won't be touring much after this. I haven't quit altogether."
Thus Rowles' ruminations of a "final bow" should be interpreted as "watch this space". He might be planning to spend less time on the road, but this 64-year-old is quite some way from full retirement.
He's working on a biography, If I Only Had Time, to be published next year ("These stories have been with me for a long time and I'm looking forward to telling them in my own words") and is honing a three-album anthology to coincide with the book's release; having recorded more than 1000 songs, he has plenty of material from which to choose.
"I'll also be writing songs and doing occasional concerts, perhaps for charity. I'm just turning the corner for the next 30 years. You just have to organise shows and hope people will turn up."
No fear there. Rowles' recent North Island shows sold out and his latest album, Hits and Love Songs, released just before he began his farewell tour, peaked at No 4 in the New Zealand album charts with more than 10,000 copies sold.
Perhaps it had something to do with Sony's decision to market the album to those looking for Mother's Day gifts.
Yet there is no denying the track record of some of those songs, including Rowles' big three hits, If I Only Had Time, Cheryl Moana Marie and Tania as well as material designed for what he terms the "big balladeers", such as When A Man Loves A Woman and MacArthur Park.
In terms of chart success, Rowles peaked early: his 1968 single, If I Only Had Time, went to No 3 on the British charts, No 6 in Australia and No 2 in New Zealand. A follow-up single, Hush Not A Word To Mary, released the same year, reached No 12 on the British charts, No 11 in Australia and No 9 in New Zealand.
Rowles celebrated his success in England by going out and buying a Mercedes-Benz and a swag of fancy clothes at the boutiques of London's famous Carnaby St.
"Excuse the pun, but timing was everything," he recalls.
"If I Only Had Time was an unbelievable song for me. Here I was singing about not having enough time and I was only 20; it wasn't like I was 75. But it worked.
"I was put in the right situation with the right people. Likewise, I was found in Australia at a time when all the big balladeers were coming out: Tom Jones, Engelbert Humperdinck and Solomon King. That was our forte. I just happened to fit into that family; I had that big-ballad voice."
Despite releasing other singles in Britain, including Cheryl Moana Marie, a song named after the aforementioned sister and written in 1969 when Rowles was invited to represent New Zealand at the Rio De Janeiro Song Festival (he finished fifth out of 42 entries), the song failed to chart there.
Elsewhere, it was a different story: Cheryl Moana Marie went to No 1 in New Zealand, No 20 in Australia and made the Billboard top 40 in the United States; over the years it has sold millions of copies and remains Rowles' best-selling single.
By the early 1970s, Rowles had discovered a future in the US; he appeared on television, including the Johnny Carson Show. Compared to Elvis Presley in a 1970 edition of the Hollywood Reporter, which commented on his superstar credentials following a Las Vegas performance, Rowles went on to land a six-week casino contract worth US$175,000 ($NZ224,000) per week.
And all this at a time when Frank Sinatra was singing at Las Vegas' famous Flamingo venue.
"I was scared to s ... because Sinatra had all this experience and I was only 21. I wasn't ready but I got away with it because of the singing side of it. The experts knew I wasn't that good at entertaining, but they couldn't deny the singing. It wasn't until later, when I was about 35 or 40, that I learnt my craft. I learned how to dance, to move."
Rowles also signed a five-year contract with the Royal Hawaiian Hotel (also known as the Pink Palace) in 1972. With Hawaii halfway between New Zealand and the US mainland, both of which he visited frequently, Rowles used it as a long-term base. However, it wasn't the best move, he reflects.
Rowles believes the decision to remain in Hawaii rather than return to London and work under the tutelage of influential producer Mike Leander curtailed any hope of future British hits. Ultimately, the move (allied to a series of business failures later in his career) left Rowles short of money by the 1980s.
"What happened is I went to Hawaii and fell in love with a beautiful girl. I fell head over heels. I called my London people and said I'm not coming back. I was stupid.
"I don't want to dwell on that, but I did fall in love."
In a television interview celebrating the life of late New Zealand entertainer Sir Howard Morrison, Rowles spoke of the importance of a singer having "magic in the heart" while also being able to put on a show. For this veteran of the stage, showmanship and honesty are not mutually exclusive.
"To be exceptional, to have that X-factor, a singer has to have a strong voicebox - that's where the tone comes from - but also has to have a good heart to provide the feeling, and a brain to interpret it.
"I had to develop that. It wasn't there straight away. When I went to England it started getting really good. I was going up against the Tom Joneses of the world. I had the tone and resonance and worked on the range.
"I travelled the globe and learned along the way. I pushed myself to learn different techniques and learnt how to entertain as well as sing. A lot of people are good singers but not great entertainers - or vice versa. I managed to put both together."
Raised in a large family - he had five sisters, Georgina, Carol, Gabrielle, Cheryl and Tania, and three brothers, Baby John (who died at 2 weeks before Rowles was born), Edward (who died when John was 2) and Wally - Rowles was raised by Phyllis and Eddie Rowles (who played for the Maori All Blacks in 1938, and was also a talented singer).
Rowles says his humble upbringing in the North Island timber town of Kawerau served him well, providing him with a certain inner strength to push on where others might have given up.
"My mother was a very determined German-Irish woman ... I think it was a combination of Irish, German, English and Maori heritage. I had a pioneering gusto to keep trying.
"I started in talent quests as a singer then I picked up the guitar and started listening to Hank Marvin and lost interest in singing.
"My first love was lead guitar - Hank Marvin, Chet Atkins. I remained a guitarist but went back to singing when I left Kawerau and incorporated both guitar and singing. However, I found that when I was singing without guitar I'd get more girls."
In 1962, aged 15, he left school and got a job in a forestry camp. However, music still beckoned. A year later he was playing guitar in an Auckland club. When the vocalist there got sick, he took over the microphone and eventually joined a group that also featured Eddie Low.
"I joined up with Eddie Low and did all sorts of stuff. It was a very versatile unit, similar to those Maori showbands up to that era. We had to do everything to survive," Rowles recalls.
"I was very green and shy when I was in Kawerau, then Auckland then Australia. Then I ended up in London, Hawaii and Las Vegas. I just kept trying.
"It's a hell of a way to make a living, but looking back I wouldn't change a thing. I still love what I do."
In addition to his tour, forthcoming autobiography and anthology, Rowles also has a couple of other ongoing projects. Call them works in progress. They are his Sydney-based sons, Dane (12) and Blake (8), whom he hopes will pursue careers in music.
"I'll be trying to give them a bit of my knowledge.
"If you love it, I think it's the best medicine in the world."
SEE HIM, HERE HIM
John Rowles performs on the following dates:
• Regent Theatre, Dunedin, Monday, October 17
• Civic Theatre, Invercargill, Tuesday, October 18.
