Leo Sayer was once as famous as Robbie Williams is today.

During the Seventies, the tousle-haired little singer had hit after hit, made regular TV appearances and became a household name.

And it all began at the Mexican Hat, situated at the junction of Rowlands Road and Eriswell Road, Worthing.

Many people with memories of the nightclub stopped to watch last March as a mechanical digger tore down the building, which has been replaced by flats.

Some now on the verge of drawing their pensions probably attended gigs at the venue, which opened at the end of November 1962.

About 500 youngsters, said at the time to be the entire teenage population of the town, crowded into the Mexican Hat on the first night.

The club didn't sell alcohol but in a coffee lounge called Vineyard they sipped premixed soft drinks from a machine said to be the only one of its kind in the country.

Imitation vines and grapes covered the walls and ceiling of The Vineyard, where people sat on benches with brightly-coloured scatter cushions at low wooden tables, listening to the sounds from a £2,000 jukebox.

The staircase walls, previously dark and drab when the site was known as the Plaza Ballroom, were painted with murals of cacti.

From Monday to Thursday, teenagers danced to Raife Allen and the Aztecs, who were joined by Gene Coben and the Chimes on Fridays.

Roy Affleck provided the music on a Saturday while Sunday was Top Ten Night, featuring David Storm, Alan Davison and the Blue Diamonds.

Other acts to perform there included Screaming Lord Sutch and the Savages.

Shoreham-born Sayer attended what is now Chatsmore Catholic High School in the early Sixties and was a student at Worthing Art College in Union Place between 1966 and 1968.

He used to relax by playing the harmonica for a band called Patches.

He recalled: "We used to meet up at a place called the Mexican Hat.

"It is where we played a lot of gigs and used to hang out. It was a great place to go, although a little sleazy.

"I saw a lot of bands there. They used to squeeze them up on a tiny stage in the days when there weren't many venues.

"It was hub of activity in Worthing and certainly part of the history of the music scene in the Sixties.

"Worthing was always seen as a retirement town. The very fact Worthing's youth dared to hang around there and talk in loud voices was severely frowned upon.

"If you were into anything rebellious, Worthing was a difficult place to grow up."

One of his best-known hits, Moonlighting, was based on the club and the lyrics describe nearby Montague Street.

Sayer said: "Moonlighting is all about a van driver we knew. He met a girl, fell in love, and they went off to Gretna Green to get married but she was the daughter of Worthing's chief of police and they were stopped before they got there.

"In the bands I was in, everyone came from Worthing, so we used to spend a lot of times in cafes and hanging around the Pier Pavilion."

Sayer's life changed in 1972 when he saw a notice in The Argus advertising a talent show in Brighton organised by David Courtney.

David said: "I was listening to the band and suddenly I heard a guy singing.

"I just thought 'what a fantastic voice' but looking at the band playing I couldn't fathom out where it was coming from.

"Suddenly this little figure appeared from the side of the stage, walked to the front and turned round.

"When I heard his voice it was so unique and original.

"He had hand movements like Joe Cocker and he used them to express himself in a really unusual way.

"We were auditioning 50 acts and were up to about 46 and hadn't seen anything that special.

"Then Leo came on with his band, Patches, and I knew instantly he was the one."

In 1974, Sayer had his first hit with The Show Must Go On and became renowned for wearing a clown's outfit, with full greasepaint make-up, while performing in front of the cameras.

Other best-selling records followed, including You Make Me Feel Like Dancing, When I Need You and One Man Band.

In the late Seventies, Sayer was packing out major concert venues such as the Brighton Centre, which had a 5,000 capacity.

By then, the Mexican Hat had become the Carioca disco, where rock band REM played one Sunday night, before they became famous, in front of about 50 people .

Now all that is left of the Mexican Hat are memories, fond or otherwise, and a few faded newspaper cuttings.

Leo said: "I am sorry to hear it has been demolished.

"Times change, but the Mexican Hat will be warmly remembered by many old musicians."