Hearing that Michael Caine likes chill-out is a bit like discovering that Harry Potter is a fan of Psychic TV

That’s right: Michael Caine has made a chill-out album. Well, not exactly made one, but collated one, a CD full of the best chill-out tracks known to mankind. Hearing that Michael Caine likes chill-out is a bit like discovering that Harry Potter is a fan of Psychic TV. Like finding out that Alfie likes country and western, but like chill-out is what he does.

With a career that has so far lasted 43 years, since his first hit, Zulu in 1964, a career that has includes Alfie, The Ipcress File, The Italian Job, California Suite, Educating Rita, The Cider House Rules and Batman Returns, a career that shows no sign of fading away, Michael Caine hardly needs a new career. But because of a dinner party with Sir Elton John in the south of France last summer, he’s now got one. In his time he has been restaurateur, author and fleetingly the seventh member of Madness, although perhaps even Caine didn’t envisage himself becoming a pop svengali at the age of 74.

This month Universal releases Cained, a selection of chill-out classics compiled by Caine, a man with the largest collection of chill-out tunes this side of Manumission. By any other name Cained is the Best Of Chill-Out, or Chill-Out’s Greatest Hits. Cained is a chill-out primer, containing everything from Chicane’s “No Ordinary Morning”, John Martyn’s “Sunshine’s Better” and Roy Budd’s “Hurry To Me” to St. Germain’s “Rose Rouge”, Nina Simone and Felix Da Housecat”s “Sinnerman” and Bent’s “Swollen”. There are half a dozen classics familiar to anyone with a passing interest in the genre, and then genuine oddities, like the Roy Budd tune. Budd wrote the music for Caine’s 1971 movie Get Carter, although “Hurry To Me” is far more loungecore.

And how did it happen? Caine was having dinner at Elton’s mansion in Nice, and during the meal became aware of the music in the background. Every time a track came on, Caine would mention what it was called, who it was by, when it was recorded and then offer some little Michael Caine tidbit. Sir Elton asked him how come he knew all this stuff, and then Caine admitted that he was a total buff, and knew more about chill-out than any other form of music, apart from maybe jazz. He also admitted to making his own compilations tapes and CDs.

“I’ve loved this type of music for years, and have literally hundreds of CDs,” says Caine. “I’ve been buying them for about 15 years, and really know my way around. About ten years ago I started making my own compilations. I’ve always been interested in music, and over the years have made literally thousands of tapes. And with chill-out I suppose I finally found my forte.”

Cained is released 3rd September on Universal Records.

And not a lot of people know that.