EIGHTIES pop group Haircut 100 are set to reunite for a festival on Cookham Moor this month.

Since splitting up 27 years ago the British group have only played a handful of shows, and their headline gig at Lets Rock the Moor! represents an impressive coup for festival organiser Nick Billinghurst.

He said: “It really exciting to have Haircut on the billing and very special that's their first major gig in 27 years and they've chosen us.

Haircut 100 burst on into the charts in 1981 and became as well-known for their preppie outfits as for the hits, which included top-ten's 'Love Plus One' and 'Favourite Shirts (Boy Meets Girl)'.

Nick hopes this more ambitious approach to the festival will bring in a huge crowd. He said: “We got 1,200 last year but we are hoping to get about 2,500 people this time and ticket sales are going really well.”

Also headlining the ambitious programme is singer-songwriter Howard Jones, whose first album 'Human's Lib' reached number one in the UK in 1984.

Nick said: “It's only our second year, but it was received so well last year that we decided we had to do it again.

“It's a substantial pop concert in a picturesque village and we try to make it quintessentially English. There are so many diverse things going on in Cookham and this has become one of the main events now.”

Covers band Girls Alouder will bring some fun for a younger audience. They promise to capture the looks and the style of the chart topping girl group and feature live vocals, full dance routines and cool costumes.

Soul'd Out will give a high-energy mix of soul, funk and disco party music to the Moor. They feature a three girl vocal line up backed by a four piece rhythm section plus sax and trumpet.

Reading four-piece The Quotes will add “epic..polished rock” to the line-up, having supported The Charlatans and, perhaps bizarrely, Goldie Lookin' Chain in the past.

A local treat will come from The Mean Red Spiders, lead by Lance Gerrard-Wright, in what has been called Cookham's best kept musical secret. The group will belt out classics from The Killers, Scissor Sisters, Amy Winehouse, The Kaisers among others.

All proceeds from the concert, on Saturday, May 22, will go to Wooden Spoon and other Cookham charities. Tickets are £18 for adults and £10 for children. Family tickets are also available. See: www.letsrockthemoor.co.uk for more information.