For a one-hit wonder, Roachford sure has a lot of tunes. Gone are the early gigs, as a diehard fan reminds him tonight, where he had so little material that he would have to play each song three times. Though best remembered for 1989's top five hit Cuddly Toy, the pop soul singer in fact graced the Top 40 a further seven times, though his lambent grin ceased to frequent the pages of Smash Hits as his chart positions plummeted.

More recently, Roachford has enjoyed the dubious pleasure of being "big in Germany" - but in the same week that his contemporary, Betty Boo, has returned to the stage, he too is back. He's on a zealous mission to promote his new album, Word of Mouth, which contains much the same sort of songs as the other ones did. This is no bad thing - songs such as River of Love and Crazy Love are bland R&B at its best, uptempo numbers equally suitable for the boudoir as the dancefloor.

His performance energy is intense: his white shirt clinging to his dripping chest, his face screwed up in concentration. He instigates a very entertaining singalong competition between the men and women, demonstrating an unrivalled rapport with his live band. John Legend would kill for such authenticity.

The love for Roachford in the audience is quite extraordinary - after the applause for Crazy Love finally dies down he looks like he might cry with happiness - "Thank you, thank you Wembley!" he falters. He also indulges us with old favourites Family Man, Lay Your Love On Me and The Way That I Feel, but it is of course Cuddly Toy that everybody is waiting for. Nearly two hours and two teasing encore songs later, he finally ends his show with his indefatigable homage to a lonely little teddy bear.