YOU have almost certainly never heard of Martin Spooner, yet he's a singer and performer who plays to more than a quarter-of-a-million screaming fans every year.

Now - thanks to the timely arrival of a hit movie and a wave of musical nostalgia - it looks as though the adulation can only grow.

For put Martin in his sequin-studded Spandex stage gear and he turns into Bjorn in Abba Magic the tribute band featured in the hugely popular show Thank You For The Music which plays the first of two Sunday night dates at Bournemouth's Pier Theatre this weekend.

The touring production has been on the road for 15 years now - round about twice as long as the real Abba.

It was Martin, who also plays Robin Gibb in a Bee Gees tribute band, that producer Michael Taylor approached when he hit on the idea of creating the Abba show.

Together with fellow singer-musicians playing Benny, Agnetha and Frida, the production was an instant success.

By early this year, however, audiences were showing signs of waning and with some 300 Abba tribute shows touring the UK and Europe, Taylor admits he was beginning to wonder how long he could sustain the audience figures.

But this summer's launch of box-office-busting Abba-themed screen musical Mamma Mia! has provided the boost he was after. With Abba Gold - the greatest hits album - back at the top of the charts and cinemas everywhere playing host to rampant Abba fans old and new, the punters are flooding back.

"With the film and Abba back at the top of the album charts, it's really fallen in our laps," said Taylor. "It's come at just the right time too, because there are so many Abba shows out there now that things had started to quieten down a bit."

Ironically Taylor's show used to be called Mamma Mia! but was forced to change its name when the title was registered by the producers of the West End stage show on which the current movie is based.

"I've always been good at ideas," says Taylor, admitting to a certain satisfaction that one that seemed to have been snatched away is now paying dividends.