THIS year marks 21 years in the music business for Ellesmere Port musician Ian Prowse.

To celebrate the milestone, the 42-year-old is releasing an album of his greatest hits.

The collection includes fan favourites from Ian’s time with former band Pele as well as his current group Amsterdam, and a few new tracks.

Signature tune Does This Train Stop On Merseyside, covered by DJ Irish folk singer Christy Moore, and Don’t Throw Your Love Away, a duet with Elvis Costello, will make appearances on the album, as well as Joe’s Kiss and The Journey.

It certainly has been a journey for the former Sutton High School pupil.

“I’ve been doing this for such a long time that I’ve never known any different,” said Ian, who begins a UK tour with his band on April 19.

“It goes so quickly – this is the strangest job in the world, you can have huge peaks like playing to thousands at Glastonbury and huge troughs like losing a record deal or something like that.

“It’s very unstable and some people might have given up by now but I have always been very driven.

“There have been some amazing highlights in the last 21 years, like my duet with Elvis Costello – you can’t fail but to learn from him.

“Another great thing is getting to make so many friends in all the cities I’ve travelled to. Playing at Glastonbury in 2008 was amazing too – we took over the stage and had the best laugh ever.”

The album is released on Monday and will be available to buy from HMV and on iTunes. You can also order signed copies from www.amsterdam-music.com, where 1,000 limited editions will be available which include a booklet featuring Ian’s notes on the origins of each song as well as rare photos from his career.