Cult Dorset new wavers TOURS hit the reunion trail with a gig in Poole this month.
Favourites of the legendary John Peel, the DJ played their self-released '79 single 'Language School' on 50 consecutive nights, declaring it his second favourite single after 'Teenage Kicks'.
Snaffling an album deal with Virgin, who declared songwriters Ronnie Mayor and Richard Mazda “the punk Lennon-McCartney”, they only managed one more single 'Tourist Information' before grinding to a halt. Mazda, however, made a name for himself as a producer working with numerous bands during the 80s, including The Scientists, The Fall, The Birthday Party, The Fleshtones, Folk Devils and others.
It was only when Cherry Red began preparing the band's archive recordings for the 2010 retrospective comp Album Of The Year... (That Never Was), that Mazda and Mayor began putting plans together to reconvene the band with original guitarist John Hole.
With a new rhythm section of Nick Waugh (drums) and Mark Pitfield (bass) - but not, on this occasion, Mazda, who's currently based in New York - Tours take to the stage at The King Charles, Poole on Saturday 30 June.
“We’ve got five new songs, a couple of choice covers and all my old songs,” says Mayor. “There are even t-shirts on sale at the gig only. We plan to find a way of keeping us all involved as long as there is sufficient interest in seeing Tours on stage and we all enjoy the experience.”
Check out 'Language School'.
Album Of The Year... is available to download from Amazon.
