THE FOREST-based singer of hit 60s pop group The Searchers says it’ll be "great to get back out there with the gang" after the band announced they were breaking their retirement for a final comeback next year.

Spencer James, who lives in Lydney, has been performing with Merseybeaters The Searchers - who are famous for their 60s hits ’Sweets for my Sweet’ and ’Sugar and Spice’ amongst others - for more than 36 years, and is now getting ready to hit the road with the band once again in 2023 for the first time since they officially ’retired’ back in 2019.

The Lydney-based singer, who in the 80s toured as part of a super-group featuring members of Whitesnake, Bad Company and Ringo Starr’s son Zak Starkey, joined The Searchers in 1985 following the departure of original singer Mike Pender, having impressed the members when he supported them at a gig with his backing group, The Spencer James Band.

The band have regularly toured around the UK and internationally since then, and though they officially played their ’Farewell’ tour in 2019, they did not rule out the possibility of a reunion.

And at the end of last year, they announced they’ll be back for more in 2023 with a tour of UK theatres, which will be billed as a ’Thank You’ to their legion of devoted fans and supporters.

On the prospect of heading out with the group once again, Spencer said: "It’ll be great to get back out there ’with the gang’ as it were.

"It’s all going a bit mad at the moment getting everything organised, we’re going for 41 dates across the country, so we’ll be doing about three or four a week.

"Jon will be 82 in 2023, Frank will be 80 and I’ll be 70, so it won’t be quite as intense as it used to be as we’re all getting on a bit!

"Since the retirement in 2019 I’ve been kept busy with my solo tours and I’ve got a lot planned for this year and next, but the ’big one’ really will be The Searchers tour in 2023."

Spencer’s career took off in the 1970s as a member of The First Class, who had a hit single in the US with ’Beach Baby’ in 1974.

After touring with super-group Nightfly in the 80s, he formed The Spencer James Band, with whom he shared the bill with The Searchers in 1985.

The group’s tours have taken them all over the world, including to Australia and Las Vegas, and the band retains a dedicated international following.

After their ’Farewell’ tour finished in March 2019, Spencer was soon back out on the road with his backing band, playing Searchers hits and album tracks as well as cuts from his own solo albums.

He managed to play around 60 solo shows at theatres across the country before the pandemic hit in 2020, and was back on the road to play another 30 when lockdown restrictions were eased last year.

And not one to rest on his laurels, Spencer has another 70 shows booked for 2022, as well as a ’60s Gold Tour’, featuring other hit artists of the era including Marmalade and The Tremeloes, in October and November.

The singer was coy when asked if the next Searchers tour would be the band’s last, saying: "We’ve said this is going to be a one-off as a final thank you to our fans, but if we all feel we want to do another in the future - you never know".

For more information and updates about The Searchers tour, go to www.the-searchers.co.uk.