IT took a pretty cool musician - even in the glam rock glitter days of the 1970s - to appear on Top of the Pops beating a bass drum with a rubber fish!

But Ray Laidlaw, one of the founder members of acoustic rock band Lindisfarne, had no quarms about his unorthodox drum stick. The drummer was bang on the beat, performing the band’s hit song, Meet Me On The Corner. And there is nothing fishy about it being Lindisfarne’s first single to make it to number five in the UK charts.

Today Ray is still on the road with fellow band mate Billy Mitchell, and they will be stopping off in Swindon on Friday, October 9, at the Wyvern Theatre.

Together they are on tour with a new show, The Lindisfarne Story, which is a mix of personal photos, archive videos, tour bus tales, behind the scenes anecdotes and acoustic mixes from their vast back catalogue of songs.

Lindisfarne was named after an island off Northumberland and the gritty rock sound of the musicians came to represent the sound of Geordieland, with such classics as Fog On The Tyne, Run For Home and Lady Eleanor.

Joining Ray in the first incarnation of the band were Alan Hull on vocals, piano and guitar, Ray Jackson on vocals, mandolin and harmonica, Simon Cowe on guitar, mandolin, banjo and keyboards and Rod Clements on bass guitar and violin.

The guys split in 1975 to do individual projects but got back together for a Christmas reunion. It worked so well that they reformed permanently in 1978.

The musicians have worked with various top names in the industry including the Beach Boys, Bob Dylan and Santana.

But it was an unlikely collaboration between the band and footballer Paul Gascoigne in 1990 that got them back in the UK charts at number two with Fog on the Tyne Revisted.

Alan sadly died in 1995 and Billy Mitchell stepped in to sing vocals, but in 2004 the band finally hung up their instruments as Lindisfarne.

Since then the guys get together for memorial concerts, Ray Jackson’s Lindisfarne keeps the acoustic rock band’s music alive, and now The Lindisfarne Story is currently entertaining fans, and newcomers to the Geordie sound, up and down the country.

Tickets for the show which starts at 7.30pm are £19.50 on 01793 524481.

— Flicky Harrison