MENTION the cities Liverpool and Manchester and music immediately springs to mind.

The Merseyside metropolis is virtually synonymous with The Beatles, while the latter is inextricably linked with bands like The Smiths, The Stone Roses and Oasis.

Sheffield, which lies just over the Pennines, has also produced a long list of influential artists.

Unlike its North Western counterparts, however, the South Yorkshire city never seems to have shouted about its legacy, even though it counts Arctic Monkeys, arguably Britain’s most exciting band, among its sons.

Look slightly further back, and the Steel City — so nicknamed because of the metal industry once at the heart of the area — has given us Britpop visionaries Pulp, cover-version maestro Joe Cocker, rockers Def Leppard and 80s synth-pop pioneers The Human League, ABC and Heaven 17.

Tony Christie is also from the city and his forthcoming album — a collaboration with another of Sheffield's favourite sons — highlights its cultural importance.

Made In Sheffield sees the veteran crooner, aided by former Pulp and Longpigs guitarist, now highly acclaimed solo artist Richard Hawley, record his own version of songs made famous by Sheffield artists, as well as a few unknown gems and a couple written by Christie especially for the album.

Fittingly, the seed of the project was planted when Tony heard a Richard Hawley song on the radio one night.

“I was driving back from a recording studio with my son, Sean, who's also my manager,” begins Tony, who, in dapper suit and Brylcreemed, albeit dyed, hair, looks younger than his 65 years.

“Coles Corner came on the radio, and we listened, and then I said ‘That’s the kind of stuff I should be doing’.”

From there, he went to see Hawley in concert, spoke to him afterwards and asked if he would produce his own version of Coles Corner for an album he was working on at the time.

The “Amarillo madness” is something Tony refers to a few times during our interview.

Written by Neil Sedaka and Howard Greenfield, and originally released by Tony in 1971, (Is This The Way To) Amarillo is still the Conisbrough-born singer's biggest hit. Thanks to Peter Kay, the song got a new lease of life when it was re-released in aid of Comic Relief in 2005.

Despite being that year's biggest-selling single, shifting more than a million copies and topping the charts for seven weeks, Tony seems slightly embarrassed by the song, and says it misrepresented him.

He certainly doesn’t want to be remembered as “the Amarillo guy”.

“That's not what I do. It’s not me at all,” he says, coyly.

“It’s a piece of pop floss. It’s a great pop song, don’t get me wrong, but it’s not me, and anyone could have sung it.”

Made In Sheffield should hopefully redress the balance.

It begins with an Arctic Monkeys' song, The Only Ones Who Know, taken from their second album Favourite Worst Nightmare.

It could prove to be a shot-in-the-arm — in the same way that Johnny Cash received a career boost in his twilight years. Neil Diamond and Glen Campbell have also had similar experiences more recently.

“A legacy is usually the last thing you do, but I hope there are a couple more good albums in me yet,” says Tony.

“I would never forget my early stuff — I'd say about 70 per cent of the stuff on The Definitive album of mine is cracking, but some of it's not been so good,” he concludes, honestly.

“This album was different though. We had a fantastic time recording it and working with Richie and his band was an absolute joy.

“I‘m very proud of the result.”