Mel Day first came to fame at the age of 77 as a contestant on Britain’s Got Talent. Now he’s made a brilliant slice of Deep Soul with Tito Lopez Combo.

I’ve never watched Britain’s Got Talent and I’ve never posted a song by anyone who appeared on it because I wouldn’t expect to be interested. And yet…

Here is Mel Day, a bloke in his eighties, singing a Deep Soul number that I would have guessed was recorded somewhere in the American South some 60 years ago.

In fact that’s exactly what I *did* think when I heard it on Craig Charles’s Funk & Soul Show last night. Wrong on all counts.

Mel’s got the authentic sound down to a T on this heartfelt lament for lost love, backed by a brilliant band called the Tito Lopez Combo. And it’s just brilliant.

So is the B-side, Baby Girl, which finds Mel strutting his stuff like a born-again Joe Tex.

Despite their equally authentic-sounding name, the Tito Lopez Combo turn out to be a collection of London musicians led by a drummer called Harbans Srih, best known for his playing on the Theme to Starsky & Hutch with the James Taylor Quartet.

Making it even more authentic is that this is a vinyl-only 7-inch single, released on a small label based in Hawaii called Izipho Soul (though obviously you can stream it here from Soundcloud).

I’m told that Mel made his name on BGT performing a medley of three soul standards: James Brown’s I Feel Good, Papa’s Got A Brand New Bag and Sam & Dave’s Soul Man on his way to the finals.

He went on to appear on stage in a show called Entertainers, which seems to be a jukebox musical of old soul music. Anyway, give it a listen, it’s great – and what’s not to love about a bloke making it in showbiz at the age of 80!