CHINA Crisis will be playing some of their best-loved hits in Otley this month.

The pop-rock outfit are bringing their RETROspective tour to Otley Courthouse on Thursday, November 21.

The band was formed in 1979 in Kirkby, near Liverpool, with a core of vocalist/keyboardist Gary Daly and guitarist Eddie Lundon.

They were part of a wave of new Liverpool acts that emerged in the late 1970s and early 1980s, led by the likes of Orchestral Maneouvres in the Dark, Echo and the Bunnymen, The Teardrop Explodes, A Flock of Seagulls and Frankie Goes to Hollywood.

China Crisis enjoyed the peak of their success in the UK in the 1980s when they had five Top 40 singles and three Top 40 albums.

Their hit songs include African and White, Christian, Working with Fire and Steel, Black Man Ray and Wishful Thinking.

The band will be playing those classics along with a selection of songs from all seven of their studio albums when they take the stage in Otley.

A Courthouse spokeswoman said: “With founding members Eddie Lundon and Gary Daly joined by Jack Hymers on keyboard and Eric Animan on saxophone, join us for an evening of great music and nostalgia as we welcome the boys back to Otley for a long overdue return gig.”

The performance will start at 8pm and tickets cost £21.

Comedy fans, meanwhile can join Arthur Smith for some Laughs, Stories, a Song and a Poem at the venue on Thursday, December 5.

The comedian, writer and broadcaster is one of the ‘alternative’ comedians who shook up the world of light entertainment in the Eighties and Nineties. 

Known for his off-the-wall humour he is a regular on TV and has appeared on a variety of shows including Grumpy Old Men, QI, Have I Got New For You and The One Show.

He has also performed on Radio 4’s Loose Ends and is a Spirit of The Fringe award-winning Edinburgh Festival stalwart and an Olivier nominated playwright (for his work An Evening With Gary Lineker).

Audiences are being promised ‘a night of hilarity, mirth and scandal...with a touch of rudeness thrown in for good measure. Expect an evening of sublime playfulness crammed with jokes, anecdotes, short stories, poems, songs and readings from Arthur’s recently published memoir, My Name Is Daphne Fairfax.”

Tickets for the show, which starts at 8pm, cost £16.

To book a place call (01943) 467466, visit www.otleycourthouse.org.uk or pop into the Courthouse.