Others will remember him more recently as the character Bert Spooner in the long-running BBC classic comedy Are You Being Served?
It all depends on age perhaps. But it just goes to show that not only are his talents diverse – they are also evergreen.
"Retire? Me? I'm not planning on it just yet," he says.
"I plan to carry on with the music, at least until I get bored."
Mike may be 66 but he is still touring and has a diary full of gigs –one of which will bring him to Calderdale.
On November 25 he will head the rock 'n' roll fund-raising event, Small Town Saturday Night – The Dance, which is being staged at the Ritz Ballroom, Brighouse. It is in aid of Calderdale Hospital Radio and the Forget Me Not Trust, which is spearheading a new hospice for sick children in Calderdale and Kirklees.
It won't be the first time he has appeared on stage in the area. In fact his first appearance – on October 23, 1965 – is recalled by Trevor Simpson, author of the books Small Town Saturday Night Parts I and II, on which the charity dance (and a forerunner last year) are based.
The appearance was at Halifax's former Marlborough Hall when Mike was then backed by The Innocents and their first single Stick With Me Baby had gone down well with the audience.
Mike has also been back more recently, appearing at The Ritz.
"I do still get a buzz out of performing. I just love to do it and I can't imagine myself giving up. Hopefully I can carry on as long as people want to listen," he says. "The touring takes its toll these days though", he laughs.
"I'm not all that keen on being away from home if I can help it. At the end of a concert I like to be able to get back.
"I tend to burn the midnight oil if I am honest. In fact, once I get into the recording studio it can be the small hours before I tumble into bed," he reveals.
The recording studio is something of which he is very proud. Based at his London home, he built it himself with the help of a brickie friend.
"We have just rebuilt it so that now it has daylight, which is great. Its walls are so thick though we joke that it's bullet-proof.
"It's a great place for not just recording but for rehearsing especially ahead of a concert."
It's no surprise really that Mike ended up in the music business. His grandfather was a gifted baritone singer and his mother, a talented amateur actress and singer "in the Gilbert and Sullivan mould".
Mike was only 17 when he was talent spotted and signed up by the legendary record producer Joe Meek. His first hit A Tribute To Buddy Holly followed and soon Mike had teamed up with The Outlaws and during the early 60s they were touring the length and breadth of the UK, performing in clubs and dance halls.
A memorable night was appearing at Liverpool's famous Cavern where they met The Beatles and afterwards Paul McCartney gave Mike a lift back to his hotel in his Ford Capri.
Mike was then to sign with Robert Stigwood, one of the hottest managers around and his career shifted up a few gears with a number of chart-topping hits such as Don't You Think It's Time making him household name.
"Looking back it was an incredible time because I was so young and I guess I was very lucky. They were great times but it doesn't always pay to look back.
"You have to move on," says Mike who adds that by the end of the 60s and into the 70s his singing career began to take a back seat.
But Mike was not idle. He chanced into TV commercials and photographic modelling and it was during a filming session that he met director James Hill who offered him the role of Mr Peters in the children's classic Worzel Gummidge.
Mike was to appear in all 30 episodes. A top 10 album followed plus appearances in pantomime where Mike's talent for comedy was spotted resulting in a part in Are You Being Served?.
"That was a great time because I loved working with the cast.
"They were consummate professionals and they taught me a lot. John Inman's death was a huge loss.
"I was at his bedside not long before he died. He was even funnier off stage than on. It was a privilege to have known him," says Mike.
He reveals he has no plans to return to acting "at the moment", preferring to concentrate on his music instead.
"I'd love to do some country and western but really people expect me to stick with the rock 'n' roll. Maybe I'll indulge myself one day."
Can he believe he is still performing in his 60s?
"Not at all. I didn't think I'd be still at it in my 30s," he laughs.
"I was just a kid when I started out and 30 seemed old. I'm thrilled to be still performing."

Tickets for the dance, price £10, are now on sale at Revo Records, 26, Westgate, Halifax (01422 345789), Halifax Rock 'n' Roll Club (01422 354876) and from the Forget Me Not Trust (01484 489789).