FUNSTERS The Rubbish may have cleaned up their name . . . but their act remains the same.

The Pendle band have promised to continue their madcap antics and light-hearted music under their new name . . . Tidy.

The name change has come about because of the band's success over the last two years.

With management company Fox Hat Promotions looking after their interests, the lads became aware that the old name was no longer ideal.

Pianist Barney Williams said: "We have a really good management company working for us in London, who've been great about the name, but at the end of the day the last thing we wanted was for it to be holding us back."

The band consists of Barney, Bruce Thomas (vocals), Chris Hartley (guitars), Nick Hudson (bass) and Chris Precious (drums).

Starting out writing and playing for fun, they took the name The Rubbish as a joke. However, the one thing they have always taken seriously is the music and once their debut album Crazy Farmers was recorded, their shows -- most notably at Nelson's Goodnight Club --began to sell out. With a strong local fan base, the band got a little help from celebrity friends.

Comic Frank Sidebottom guested in their video for Bernard, which featured the gang dressed as St Trinian's girls.

Then TV weatherman Fred Talbot got in on the act when he joined the filming of It's a Lovely Day.

Shot in Barnoldswick on the Leeds and Liverpool canal, the video was later shown on Granada Tonight.

Following a headline performance at Burnley's Bands in the Park event last summer came their biggest break yet when they supported Status Quo at Wembley Arena.

Playing in front of a capacity Wembley arena was enough to confirm the management company's faith in the lads.

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