Known essentially for making a Coca-Cola jingle into a massive worldwide hit, the New Seekers are celebrating the 35th anniversary of their biggest single I'd Like To Teach The World to Sing with a UK tour. KAY MURRAY speaks to long-standing group member Paul Layton.

With their clear harmonies and squeaky-clean image, the New Seekers were an alternative to the glam rock offerings of the Seventies.

"We were a clean image, middle-of-the-road group. We still appeared on Top of the Pops but we were on there with bands like Mud and T-Rex," laughs Paul Layton, bassist and vocalist with the group.

Over the years, the group have seen more changes to their line-up than the Chelsea football team, but Paul has been a regular fixture since 1970 when he joined, along with Lyn Paul and Peter Doyle. Later that year, the group covered folk singer Melanie's hit, Look What They Done to My Song, Ma, which catapulted them into the American billboard charts a feat which has eluded many successful British acts.

So what was it about the New Seekers that allowed them to permeate America's top 100?

"It's difficult to know what it was that enabled us to do it. I think it was the right songs at the time," says Paul."The approach with which Eve Graham sang the song was similar to Melanie but we had melody behind it and got a reaction immediately."

The group went on to appear on The Ed Sullivan Show and The Sonny and Cher Show, to name but a few. Their biggest success, however, came from an unlikely source a jingle for an advert, which was one of 30 they recorded for an advertising agency. One of those jingles became part of a hugely popular campaign for one of the world's most famous beverages, Coca Cola.

"I'd Like To Teach The World To Sing started out as I'd like to buy the world a Coke,' " explains Paul.

"It started to get an incredible reaction on US radio. In the States, they have thousands of local radio stations and they were receiving so many phone calls from the public asking them where they could get the song."

US record companies took note and decided to release a full version of the song by The Hillside Singers a group formed especially for this purpose.

The record slowly started to climb the charts and the New Seekers realised that they should be capitalising on its popularity, which they did by recording their own, longer version.

Paul said: "The song was stretched from a one-minute jingle to a three-minute song. They edited one minute back-to-back three times."

Following the massive success of the song, which overtook that of the Hillside Singers' offering and became a world-wide hit, the group entered the Eurovision Song Contest in 1972 with Beg, Steal or Borrow.

Despite being favourites to win, as often with the Eurovision Song Contest, politics took over and the group had to settle for second place, behind Luxembourg.

"We were disappointed not to win as we were clear favourites, but I think we suffered due to political events at that time," says Paul.

Severed ties between Gibraltar and Spain, unsurprisingly, saw the Spanish give the UK nul points', and events in Northern Ireland could have been the reason the Republic of Ireland also abstained from awarding any points, which ultimately cost the group first place.

But it seems that following Jemini's nul points' in 2003 and this year's pitiful offering by Daz Sampson, the contest is not what is once was for the United Kingdom.

Gone are the days when Lulu, Bucks Fizz and Sandie Shaw made a nation proud with first-place positions, and Paul thinks he knows why.

"The whole thing went pear-shaped when they stopped picking acts to represent the country and voting for which song they would sing," he said.

In the years that followed, the New Seekers' popularity soared and they supported stars such as Shirley Bassey, Liza Minelli and Englebert Humperdink on their tours, as well as performing for President Nixon at his inauguration ball in Washington.

Now, 35 years on, the New Seekers are still enjoying performing, and Paul says fans can look forward to an evening of entertainment with the group's biggest hits and a bit of comedy'.

The New Seekers appear at the Wyllyotts Theatre, Darkes Lane, Potters Bar, on May 19 at 8pm. Tickets are priced £14 (£13 concessions) and are available from the box office on 01707 645 005.