NINE Below Zero are one of the few bands to have survived the mod-fuelled explosion of r'n'b of the late 1970s and early 1980s.

Essentially proto post-punks, Nine Below Zero became popular on the back of the mod revival scene's hotbed of activity in South Wales.

Barry was Brighton as a new generation of mods took over, dancing to bands like Nine Below Zero when they weren't on the northern soul circuit.

The band's roots are in 1950s Chicago blues but they play with punk panache.

In the early days, so popular was the mix, they appeared in the first episode of the sitcom The Young Ones in the very early 1980s. Their popularity peaked at a sell-out gig at the Hammersmith Odeon, hosted by British blues svengali, Alexis Korner, a recording of which became a best-selling album called Live at the Marquee.

The band returned this year with a new studio album, Refrigerator, on their own label, Zed Records. Now 20 years long in the tooth, their fiery brand of the blues is still burning and drawing punters to Nine Below Zero shows (the band took its name from the line in a Bob Dylan song, Outlaw Blues, "Ain't it hard to stumble, And land in some muddy lagoon? Especially when it's nine below zero, And three o'clock in the afternoon.")

Founder member Dennis Greaves has been hailed as one of the UK's best rhythm and blues guitar players, but the real star of the band has to be harmonica blower Mark Feltham whose powerful blasts shape the band's sound.

But when the band played Planet Hollywood in London, Feltham gracefully stepped aside for actor and part time blues harp player, Bruce Willis, to take centre stage.

* Nine Below Zero play The Point, Cardiff Bay on Friday December 21 at 7.30pm. Tickets are £10. Dial (029) 2046 5366 for more information. Also at Beaufort Theatre, Ebbw Vale, on Friday 18 January 2002, at 8.00pm. Tickets are £10.