WE'VE all heard of the Magic Roundabout - but the Magic Sofa? That's stretching our psychedelic powers a bit, surely.

Apparently not. The Magic Sofa is not a surreal television programme best appreciated from the psychedelic maelstrom of madness that was the 1960's, but a band from Holland. There's a surprise.

As those in the know could undoubtedly confirm, the Magic Sofa was one of the great underground outfits of the early 70's, fitting into the gap between post-sixties psychedelia and pre-glam rock.

So now you know. Magic Sofa had a unique role to play in the British music scene, according to their publicity blurb.

Their only real chart success was a number 43 entry to the British charts, called Afterflow.

But the band penned a host of hits for other stars between 1975 and the early 1990's.

Lacking only the late lead vocalist Archie Spooner, the original backbone of Magic Sofa has reformed for a reunion tour.

A performance at The Horn pub in St Albans will act as a warm-up and will be the band's first public performance for 15 years.

In the years between their chart success and today's planned reunion tour, individual members of the band have not given up the musical muse.

Drummer Ritchie Rattbadjjer became a Spider from Mars band member, bassist Ardley Neeffort recorded and toured with the Jackson Five, and guitarist Carols Zipperton joined the American band Fathers of Invention.

Between them, they have written more than 25 hit songs for a huge range of artists.

Now, for their reformation, the band are joined by Rolf Van Hyre on vocals.

The gig is expected to be a unique event in a well-known St Albans venue.

For sheer curiosity factor, this is one event definitely not worth missing.

Magic Sofa will be the special guests of Near Naked when they perform at The Horn, in Victoria Street, St Albans, on Saturday.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.