Susan Cadogan bursts with energy. It may be cold and foggy outside, but the ever-glamorous reggae star is fizzing.

The veteran Jamaican singer, who made her name in the 70s, laughs as she tells me how busy her life has become over the past few years, with a touring schedule to rival that of her recording heyday.

Splitting her time between Florida and her home in the Jamaican capital Kingston, she says she feels almost as at home in London.

“Things are so busy,” says the singer, best known for hits Hurts so Good, Nice and Easy and the reggae version of Piece of My Heart.

“It’s wonderful. I love being in London and I enjoy the cooler weather.”

Susan is over here for a tour which on Christmas Eve will see her return to Oxford for the city’s traditional feast of bass, ska, rocksteady and dancehall: Reggae Xmas, at The Bullingdon in Cowley Road.

She is joined by bassline masters Mighty Leap, local heroes DestaNation and the man in the hat, Count Skylarkin’ who takes to the decks with partner in crime John Dash. Keeth Ulett keeps the temperature rising in the second room.

Susan dipped her toe into the world of reggae by singing the tune Love My Life for Jamaican DJ Jerry Lewis, but seriously took off after teaming up with the legendary Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry.

It was Perry who also ‘christened’ her Susan; she is actually called Alison, though her friends call her by her second name, Anne or Annie.

“Susan is my stage personality” she laughs.

“It’s a different person. I get liberated by the music and all the things I can do. I can even ger a bit naughty with some suggestive songs!”

“Susan Cadogan is an actor as much as a musician."

Her Christmas Eve show will see her performing the hits from back in the day along with new tunes. “I started writing in the 90s,” she says. “I didn’t know I could do it, but I have carried on.”

Her popularity is, she says, the result of a remarkable reversal of fortune. “I went down a rocky road,” she says.

“In the 80s, things got so hard for me and in 2009 when I retired from my job at the library at the University of the West Indies, and couldn’t get another job, I thought I was going out to pasture.

"But The Bible says not to waste your talents that are given to you, so I set out getting some more shows. And things are good.

“All I can do is try my best. I still have my energy and voice and do what I can.”

And we can’t get enough. Susan was last in Oxford in 2013 for a farewell show for the late, and greatly missed DJ Derek. She remains in demand across Europe but says can't wait to come back to the Cowley Road.

So what is it about the music that lends itself to Christmas?

“Reggae is uplifting and carries a message,” she says. “And it’s intoxicating. When the bass kicks in, you can’t help but move. I can’t sing sad songs to reggae. It’s happy music!”

* Reggae Xmas at The Bullingdon is on Christmas Eve. wegottickets.com