A ST HELENS 1970s rock outfit reformed for this year's Westfield Street Festival, complete with the original line-up.

Snatch-Back, whose 1979 single Eastern Lady is a now collectable item which sells for more than £100, played at Zoo Bar on Sunday (June 5) afternoon.

The four-piece band toured the UK, sold out the Theatre Royal and made around three albums worth of material, before splitting up in the late '80s.

"But, amazingly, we didn't release an LP," guitarist Ste Byatt told the Star, "Because back then we were concentrating on live performances and building up a following."

Forming in 1974, they started out playing at the Capital cinema, supporting Rory Gallagher and Status Quo films. They also played at classic venues including The Wigan Casino and The Warrington Lion.

He added: "We are a classic '70s rock group - comparable to the likes of Free and Black Sabbath.

"We couldn't resist reforming for West Fest. We're proud that fans still love our music.

"Some of them in the crowd were even singing along - we couldn't believe they'd remembered the lyrics.

"Paul Griffiths does a fantastic job of organising Westfield Street Festival so we celebrated by playing live for the first time in 30 years and releasing our new CD 'Back in the Game' at the gig."

As well as Ste, Snatch-Back - whose influences range from Deep Purple and The Faces, to Genesis - are singer John Cowley, Steve Platt on drums and bassist Ian Wood.

The single Eastern Lady gained Snatch-Back a mention in Malc Macmillan's Encyclopaedia of New Wave British Heavy Metal.

For information on the band, or to buy the new CD, go to snatch-back-co.uk.