ONE of the leading groups in the famous 1980's Tamworth music scene has had their first album released – all thanks to an American disc jockey who fell in love with them after hearing one of their songs in a night club in New York.

Those Attractive Magnets, whose original line up split in 1983, were unaware their synthesizer-based music had travelled across the Atlantic until founder member Rikk Quay was tracked down by top American DJ Josh Cheon.

Mr Cheon heard the band's limited release single, Nightlife, being played in the famous Batcave nightclub and was so excited by what he heard he then sought the band out via the Tamworthbands.com website. And 12 months later he has now proved his commitment to the group by releasing a nine track collection on vinyl on his own Dark Entries record label.

The album – Electro Magnetic Pulse – is initially limited to 500 promotional copies but has already attracted interest stateside. And will be distributed to DJs, clubs and 80s electronic specialists in Europe.

For Rikk, the former vice-chairman of the Tamworth Rock Festival and a barman for many years at the Tavern In The Town pub, in Corporation Street, the fact that the band has been 'discovered' more than a quarter of a century after they split is a source of delight and bemusement.

"I knew that copies of our only single – Nightlife – were being sold for quite a lot of money on eBay but I have no idea how the single ended up in New York. When I heard it was being played in nightclubs over there I couldn't believe it. Josh was so impressed when he first heard it he went to the Tamworth bands website – run by Edward Ian Armchair – and Ed put us in touch. That was 12 months ago and it is amazing to see what has happened since."

Those Attractive Magnets originally began as a two piece electronic outfit featuring Rikk and Andy Baldwin but other musicians later joined including Gary Overton, Clive Starkey, Paul Killick and John Higgins. All of them are featured on the album as is another Tamworth music scene favourite, Clifford 'Chippy' Chapman, who played bass on the original single.

All the tracks were recorded between 1980 and 1983 at the Tamworth-based Steve Adams Studio but have been remastered again by Rikk and the Dark Entries team. The music has been compared to the Human League, Soft Cell and Kraftwerk.

Rikk, who now lives in Scotland, admits he is pleasantly surprised by how it has all come out.

"I hadn't listened to some of this stuff for a very long time so it was great to hear it all again. Some of the tracks sound very fresh but others are clearly of their time. That's fine though because people are still very excited about 80s electronic stuff and are always looking to discover music like this." The band may even reform to play in Tamworth.

To order a copy of the record go to; http://www.darkentriesrecords.com/.