IN the Seventies a bunch of working class lads from Newcastle were riding high as one of the biggest bands in Britain.

Songs like Lady Eleanor, Meet Me On The Corner and Fog on the Tyne had seen Lindisfarne achieve huge sales and also saw them packing out the largest venues around the country.

Now, founder member Ray Laidlaw is teaming up with later addition to the band, guitarist Billy Mitchell, to present the Lindisfarne Story, which heads to Oswaldtwistle Civic Theatre next month.

“It is a celebration of the band without being the band,” said Ray. “Both Billy and I were always being asked about Lindisfarne and people who have a genuine interest in music love to hear the back stories, the tales behind the songs and that’s what this show is all about.”

The show is a mixture of reminiscences, songs and some archive footage of the band.

“There is a structure to the show,” said Ray, “and it works in different ways with different audiences.

“We have done the show with Billy’s band behind us but for Oswaldtwistle it will be just the two of us and we do have a tendency to go ‘off piste’ at times.

“Sometimes one of the images that comes up on screen will spark a memory.”

With such an extensive back catalogue to go at, one of the difficulties for Ray and Billy has been selecting the songs to feature in the show.

“Some of them speak for themselves,” said Ray, “and you just have to include them. But others may be more obscure. “People might wonder how the songs work with me on percussion and Billy on guitar but what you have to remember is that is how the songs were written originally. If we didn’t like them with just a guitar and vocals then we wouldn’t carry on with them.

“Every time we deliberately set out to write a single it was a disaster.

“But it is a sign of the quality of the songs we did produce that they still sound so fresh today.”

Ray and Billy have already taken the show on the road to various venues around the UK.

“It has surprised me as to how much fun it is,” said Ray. “Everyone has been so enthusiastic about the show and wanting to know about Lindisfarne. It has been great to get together with like-minded people and to share a few things with them which they really appreciate.

“The beauty of doing the show with Billy is that he was aware of the band from both the inside and the outside and so has a different perspective on things than me. As I was in the band from the start it’s harder for me to put things into context.”

“I recently heard a recording we did for an American radio station in the early Seventies and we were so tight as a band.

“I think people don’t realise that in the early Seventies Lindisfarne were huge. There probably wasn’t a student in the land who didn’t own a copy of Fog on the Tyne.”

To many people Lindisfarne will be remembered for teaming up with footballer Paul Gascoigne for a party version of Fog on the Tyne, which reached number two in the charts in 1989.

“That record was just a bit of fun but I don’t think some people realised it,” said Ray. “We all did it for a laugh and that’s how it should be seen.

“We were just a bunch of working class lads who fought our corner and sang the little man’s songs but celebrated life at the same time.”

The Lindisfarne Story, Oswaldtwistle Civic Theatre, Wednesday, November 2. Details from 01254 380293.