REWIND to 1984 – long before MP3s were king – the Thompson Twins’ Into the gap was one of the most played vinyl records in my house. As a music-obsessed six-year-old, I must have spent hours listening to those nine songs over and over again...

On August 17, Tom Bailey, singer, guitarist, bassist and keyboard player for iconic new wave group the Thompson Twins, will take the main stage at Temple Island Meadows, appearing as a headline attraction at the 2014 Henley Rewind Festival.

Fast-forwarding to the present, I recently had the opportunity to talk to the man whose music was a key part of the soundtrack of my childhood – here are the highlights: Ross: This is, I believe, your first retro festival?

Tom: Yes, I’ve never been to anything like this before – all I know is that they sell out mainly due to word of mouth because the people who go are really passionate about this sort of music.

I’m looking forward to it so much – honestly, it’s a mixture of excitement and terror! This is going to be the first time I’ve played the Thompson Twins music at an event in 27 years.

Ross: What made you choose this year, and what led you to the main stage at the Rewind Festival?

Tom: I was slowly but surely talked into touring in the United States as part of the Retro Futura Tour and one of the people who twisted my arm was Howard Jones.

When we were talking about dates, Howard said he couldn’t start until after he’d done a festival in Henley.

My initial thought was that was pretty cunning of Howard, getting a warm up in before the States! So I thought I’d see about doing that too and got in touch to find out I’d missed several messages in the past enquiring if I would be interested in appearing.

The more I found out about the festival, the better it sounded and, in the end, rather than being a warm up for America, it’s become the biggest and most important gig for me this summer.

Ross: Given that you’ve gone on from the Thompson Twins to other musical projects, it’s clear that creating music has become a lifelong passion of yours.

Tom: Absolutely, I’m very lucky in that. I’ve always been passionate about music and I can’t believe it’s lasted this long – not just my luck and my career but my interest in it.

I wake up every day and I want to make music. Music becomes your first language, the way you want to express yourself.

Even since the Thompson Twins, I’ve played all over the world in various guises, be it with International Observer, an ongoing electronic dub project of mine which, incidentally, is releasing a retrospective album this month, or The Holiwater Project, which is an East/West musical fusion. But I haven’t sung in public since the late 80s.

Ross: How’s your voice these days?

Tom: I tried it out recently – I remade the music and re-recorded the vocals from the Thompson Twins songs to see if I still had it in me.

I was amazed to find that my voice seems pretty much the same as before!

Its range is a little bit more limited because that’s what happens as you get older, and it also probably has some endurance issues so I’ll have to take it carefully.

Ross: How long is your set in Henley going to be?

Tom: It’ll be 45 minutes. I like to do extended versions of songs.

Obviously, I’m going to do ‘the hits’ but if you do the 3m 15s versions like the records as they were, there’s never going to be a break from singing. I need that break – and I think the audience does too!

Ross: Which songs are you going to give us?

Tom: There were a couple of songs that I realised I wanted to do but not in the same form as the original record, so I’ve changed them quite a lot beyond just extending them – I’ve rearranged them. I won’t say which ones!

On top of that, there are the songs you know you’ve got to give to the audience, Hold Me Now, Doctor Doctor... I think people remember that the Thompson Twins had the dance and party thing going on but we also had some big emotional songs and that’s what we build up to in this set.

I’ll be fighting back the tears by the end!

Ross: How are rehearsals going so far?

Tom: I’m working with all of the band individually right now and we’re building up to formal rehearsals together in August. By total accident, I have an all-female band, which is an interesting dynamic. It’s going well, it’s all very electronic and hi-tech.

We’re doing things we couldn’t have done back “in the day” but it’s a question of finding the right balance.

We want to make it so people recognise it as the music they heard back in the good old days but we want to add something more to it and be experimental with the work.

Ross: Looking back, what was the high point of your run as part of the Thompson Twins?

Tom: There wasn’t any one particular moment, just a period of four or five years where the non-stop party was going on – but of course, you can’t live your life partying every night.

It wears you out, it wears you away and stops you doing other important things that need to be done more quietly and more considerately.

We were going too hard and fuelling ourselves on nervous excitement – it was exhausting. It was great but I’m glad it didn’t last forever!