A BAND with a collective age of 680, who call Torfaen as one of their spiritual homes, are set to feature on a BBC TV show showcasing the UK’s best part-time bands.

Pieces of Mind have shared the stage with David Bowie and Billy Fury as well as The Who during their performance at the Coed Eva Community College in 1966.

Originally starting at sextet in 1963, the group which was formed in Newport disbanded for 45 years before getting back together in 2013.

“The band disbanded in 1969 but I kept in touch with the singer, Adrian Williams,” said guitarist and harmonica player John Reardon, 70.

“Back in 2012, he mentioned that it was one year away from our fiftieth anniversary and asked if I was interested in getting together with the old guys for a drink in Newport.”

After meeting up the Celtic Manor, Mr Reardon floated the idea of a reunion show at the Cwmbran Working Men’s Hall, which was a roaring success.

“We played at the Cwmbran Working Men’s Hall in April 2013 and we managed to get John Walker, the Radio 2 presenter to introduce us. He is friends with the singer and that was great night. We oversold the Cwmbran hall,” he said.

Mr Reardon added that he received a call from the BBC, which involved participating in a show to find the country’s best part-time bands, fronted by comic Rhod Gilbert and Ultravox frontman Midge Ure.

The idea was for us to be a part of this documentary looking some of the country’s best part-time bands. It’s nothing like Britain’s Got Talent or anything.

“You couldn’t get any more part-time than we are,” he said, adding that the band meets up roughly four times a year and plays a dozen shows as some members live abroad.

“We have no intentions to stop the band – we intend to play until we drop. At our ages, we understand that we are going to lose people at our ages,” said Mr Reardon, adding that three members of the band have passed away since its creation.

The original members of the band with Mr Reardon are: singer Adrian Williams, 69; multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Andy Gibbon, 69; guitarist and bassist Robert Price, 69 and Steve Strong, 68, on drums.

They have been joined by guitarist Vic Johnson, 69; drummer and vocalist Ted Dyer, 65; saxophonists Phil James, 69, and Ric Lawton, 63, and Bob Teague, 64, on keys and vocals.

Pieces of Mind are set to feature on BBC Four’s The UK’s Best Part-Time Band on Friday, June 3 at 9pm.