Between them they were at the forefront of the New Wave explosion of the late 70s and even now – 30 years later – Blondie and The Stranglers are still pulling in sell-out crowds wherever they play.

It's an inspired pairing and these two iconic bands will be appearing together at the Liverpool Summer Pops next Tuesday.

The Stranglers have amassed two dozen Top 10 singles over four different decades, from Peaches and Go Buddy Go in 1977, through Golden Brown in 1982, 96 Tears in 1990 and Spectre Of Love in 2006. Also in the bag are 18 Top 40 albums in that time.

The line-up these days is almost the same as back in the 70s with Jean Jacques Burnel on bass, Dave Greenfield on keyboards and Jet Black on drums. Today they are joined by Baz Warne on guitar.

JJ says: "We've never done the Summer Pops before so it should be interesting."

They have appeared on the same bill as Blondie before but their memories of shared bills aren't always happy:

"There was one time," JJ recalls, "Billy Idol's people gathered all the acts together backstage and told us all to leave because Billy wanted the space. We said, 'OK come and make us leave'. Billy went and stayed in his car!"

JJ and the boys will be opening on Tuesday night.

"We'll be doing about an hour, doing just the hits. We are drawing a line in the sand and letting people know that we've actually had more hits than most British bands. We're on a mission and we're gonna let the music do the talking. We're a live band essentially. I want to smell the people and strut my stuff."

Both Blondie and The Stranglers appeared at Liverpool's world famous punk club Eric's. "We played at the opening night more than 30 years ago, so we've got fond memories of Liverpool," JJ recalls. "As a band we may have seen many changes in our career over the years but we can guarantee you, there's plenty more years in black!"

* Blondie and The Stranglers will be at The Echo Arena, Liverpool on Tuesday, July 22. Tickets £24.50 and £28.50 from: Summer Pops Ticket Hotline – 0844 847 1616 Echo Arena – 0844 800 0400 and all the usual ticket agencies. Or in person from the 08 Place or the Echo Arena Box Office.