A FEW eyebrows were raised recently when it was revealed local new wave group Tours could reform - 28 years after they split.

And the band's guitarist Richard Mazda got in touch with the Echo to say they'd lost their bass player, Steve Jeff.

It came as even more surprising news to wiring technician Steve and his workmates at Hamworthy Engineering.

"Someone came into work the next day clutching their copy of the Echo - I never knew I was missing," says Steve.

Tours were formed by Ronnie Mayor, Mark Spiers and John Hole who lived within walking distance of each other in Hamworthy.

Steve saw an advert for a bassist in Armadillo Records in Queens Road, Westbourne and joined the band after an audition.

Richard joined the band from the Talkies when John left a few weeks before the band signed a record deal.

Their initial single, Language School, was picked up by John Peel and lead to them signing with Richard Branson's Virgin label, but they had split before their album could be released.

"After the split I played in a new band called Seven for a couple of years," says Steve.

"I actually enjoyed their electro dance stuff more than Tours, but we got ripped off and when that ended I got really disillusioned with music and didn't play again until the mid-1990s.

"I've done a few things and I still play, but not with any bands.

"A Tours reunion would be fun, though it's quite surprising to find there's so much interest."

The reunion seems to have stemmed from Tours inclusion on an American compilation called Perfect Unpop, featuring music played by John Peel between 1976 and 1980.

"I think Richard might have had something to do with it, given that he's now living in New York," says Steve.

"I didn't even know anything about it coming out, although the royalties are all going to Peel's charity I believe.

"There's quite a nice story in the booklet about us meeting Peel and going for a drink with him, but they got my age wrong and what I was wearing."