A BAND from Widnes are set to release their debut album – more than three decades after it was recorded.

Wake Up Afrika regularly sold out gigs at the Queens Hall and many Liverpool venues back in the mid 1980s.

Their pop-infused and harmony-laden guitar pop drew comparisons with the Housemartins, with support slots alongside the likes of the Farm and Hothouse Flowers.

Runcorn and Widnes World:

Wake Up Afrika pictured in 1986

They ultimately released only one single – Simple Words, which was recorded in the town’s Pentagon Studios and featured a picture of West Bank on the cover – before going their separate ways.

Out of the ashes of Wake Up Afrika came Halfway to Eddies and 35 Summers, acts which both went on to sign record deals.

But German label Firestation Records has now brought together the band’s lost tapes, resulting in the release of Big Bridges and Smelly Factories on limited edition vinyl on Monday, April 11.

Guitarist Duncan Lomax said: “Firestation had already included one of our tracks on a compilation album but they were hungry for more, so we worked with them to pull the album together.

“It’s great to hear the tracks together at last, especially as the band are still friends – which is unusual in the music business.”