THIRTEEN might be an unlucky number for some, but for the duo behind one of East Lancashire's best-selling music acts ever, this weekend will mark a magic 13 for them.

N-Trance, who have been banging out tunes since the two men behind the group

-- Kevin O'Toole and Dale Longworth -- first met in 1990, are set to notch up their 13th top 40 track this weekend.

Signed to Blackburn's All Around The World Records since 1993, N-Trance released Forever, featuring the vocals of Kelly Llorrenna, on Monday.

Playlisted on commercial stations everywhere, Forever is already the most requested song on the likes of The Box and it has even cracked Radio One's playlist.

For Kevin, the success N-Trance have enjoyed since joining AATW is something he never expected.

He said: "At first it was just an excuse for four or five students to get a load of free studio time and to mess about with all the college's equipment but after a while we began to produce stuff which we thought was comparable to what was in the charts at the time with the 'rave' scene just taking off in the UK.

"Our first demo tape in 1991 was a dance version of the theme from the children's TV cartoon Roobarb and Custard, which failed to get any reaction from record companies."

Undeterred, they put together Back To The Bass, a hardcore, sample-laden track which ultimately caught the attention of Pete Waterman, who signed them.

However, it wasn't until 1993 and now with AATW that N-Trance first sampled chart success, reaching the dizzy heights of number 81 with Set You Free.

It was re-released in April 1994 after being more heavily promoted in clubs and made number 39. Bouyed by the success, the lads went on to create Turn Up The Power, which reached 23 in October 1994.

"The buzz for Set You Free was still there," said Matt Cadman, from AATW. "We were being asked for it daily so we decided to give it one last try."

This time it made number two, selling 600,000 copies and opening new markets for the group in Europe and Australia.

Staying Alive followed in September 1995, and featured the vocals of ex-KLF rapper Ricardo Da Force. Japan, USA and South America all fell under the N-Trance spell with this one, and it made number one in Australia, Canada and South Africa.

Three more top 20 singles followed before Do Ya Think I'm Sexy hit the stores in October 1997. It made number seven and was to be the group's last top 10 hit for four years. Matt added: "This year has been really good for us. We reckon this new single will go in at around seven, and it will be our seventh hit of the year so far."

A compilation, the Best of N-Trance (1992-2002) is available now.

N-TRANCE FACTS:

1. Set You Free is one of the most remixed songs ever, with 25 versions having bee released so far.

2. Even Tony Blair is a fan. When on Desert Island Discs, he picked their version of Stayin' Alive as one of his choices.

3. N-Trance have had number ones in 15 countries, but none in Britain.

4. The video for Set You Free cost just £5,000 -- less than most acts spend on makeup.

5. To date, N-Trance have shifted 10 million records worldwide.