This lot - The Blocked - were a band when Newport was being hailed as the new Seattle.

Along with groups like 60ft Dolls, the trio had some success in the mid-90s before disappearing as the decade wound on.

Their bittersweet tales of sexual encounters and insecurity hit a nerve in Wales and the sensation spread throughout the UK.

Tracks like Keep Your Hands Off Felicity made them sound like a Welsh Buzzcocks and Louder Than London was better than The Clash.

This month the group releases a 'best of' compilation on Detour Records and are set to emerge from hibernation to promote it with live gigs.

The Blocked were, and are, Jason Channing (singer and guitarist), his younger brother Damion (drummer and singer) and Craig Addecott (bassist and singer).

They are so old that they remember releasing their first songs on pieces of 7in black vinyl.

The songs The Prisoner In Me and Anger From Ulster were released on the group's own label, Zennor.

All 500 copies sold out in three years and the band tells Mono that they now fetch up to £3.75 on eBay!

"So, if you are lucky enough to own one of them, hang on to it, as it will only increase in value," said Jason Channing.

The group's next releases were two compilation LPs - S & M and Takin' a Detour - on each occasion with Keep Your Hands Off Felicity, one of Jason's earliest comic-erotic songs.

They became TV stars when they appeared on BBC1's Dez Rez and 1996 played alongside the likes of The Damned.

Next release - Plastic Punks - even made it on to the charts in Japan.

However, it was to be their last record as the record company pulled the plug soon afterwards.

* The Blocked 'Smashed Hits' is available in Diverse in Newport and Spillers in Cardiff or on www.detour-records.co.uk