It came to this: Mike Peters of The Alarm wrote his best song in years and realised it would sell better under a different name.

So he drafted a bunch of actors to form a fake group dubbed The Poppy Fields, who released a song called 45 RPM.

It made the top 40 before the story broke and suddenly The Alarm were hip again.

Stars of Hollywood have been turning up at their LA shows and now there's talk of turning the whole deal into a movie.

Mike Peters was approached by some of the people behind Shrek and he has been in talks ever since.

"It's something that might happen over the next few years," says an excited Peters. "The film would be based in Wales, like a cross between Tootsie and The Full Monty."

Tootsie being the Dustin Hoffman flick in which a man pretends to be a woman to get work and The Full Monty being a Brit flick about local guys on a mission, so you can see where he's coming from.

There's already a potential director lined up - Peters' pal from Rhyl Sarah Sugarman, who directed Mad Cows and Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen.

And judging from the faces that have been rolling up at Alarm gigs, Peters has no shortage of industry contacts to call upon.

Steven Seagal came to a show last month.

"He is a fellow harmonica player," says Peters. "He's always been a fan of the band.

"In fact, we have got a few celeb fans. Johnny Depp came to the LA gig. He's a bit of an old fan and has come to quite a few gigs. We also had Sarah Jessica Parker from Sex in the City.

"You see, bands often come and see you when you play LA - The Cult, GNR, Sex Pistols - and they all tend to bring their movie star mates with them."

Back in the real world, The Alarm's next single, New Home New Life, which they released as The Alarm, has not fared so well, only reaching number 45 in the charts.

"And I know why," says Peters. "The barcode problem!"

Some of the CDs were printed with the wrong barcode which meant that their sale did not count towards a chart placing.

"We lost one third of our sales," he moans. "We didn't have enough to break through.

"There was nothing we could do when we realised. We tried to inform stores but it was too late."

The album from whence both singles were drawn, In The Poppy Fields, has been selling very well, however.

In fact, says Peters, it has now outsold some of the old 'classic' Alarm albums.

"The point of the single was just to keep people aware of the album," says Peters. "I don't judge a record's success by how much it sells but how it moves people.

"You can get caught up in all that chart hysteria. More and more younger people are coming to see us since 45 RPM - blokes who've never been to an Alarm gig before come up and say hello.

"I am very encouraged by it. I find it very satisfying. I have been making music for a long time and not all of it has got people through the door but this last one has.

"In the end the story overshadowed how good the track was! Since then it's been spreading around the world. We've got another song to finish the set with - other than 68 Guns!"

Meanwhile, in Cardiff, Peters' place in the Welsh halls of fame was recently found to be surprisingly close to the salt.

Not only is his band selling more records again but he is number nine in the Welsh Heroes chart which is higher than Kelly Jones and James Dean Bradfield.

"I've done a lot of work for charity over the years including stuff for Snowdon so I think that perhaps people voted for me because of that and not just The Alarm," he says modestly. "I appreciate the support of the fans. That's why we have an office in Wales so fans of the band from overseas can ring and find out about us.

"In the 80s I used to hate it when fans would ring the record company and ask when we were going to tour and the person would just say they didn't know and put the phone down."

Peters recently re-visited his early years at the Glastonbury festival at which he played as part of a tribute to Joe Strummer.

"It was like 1975 when I was on stage with Glen Matlock, Mick Jones and Hugh Cornwall," he says. "It was good. A good atmosphere. It was a year since Joe had died and people were able to talk about him and what he did.

"I met him in December 1980. I took a leak in a line with the band! But we had a bit of a running battle with Joe in 83/84.

"It was when they'd formed as a five piece and gone to America. We inherited some of their limelight and there was talk of us being the 'new acoustic Clash'.

"Joe didn't like that and made some disparaging comments about the band and in 1985 they busked outside an Alarm gig in Leeds!

"Then one day after he died I got a letter from a fan who'd spoken to him about The Alarm. He'd been sat next to him in a restaurant and ended up having a long conversation into the night.

"Apparently Joe said that although he had criticised the band whenever their stuff came on the radio he would ask, who is this, because he liked it. I was very happy to hear that."

* The Alarm play Clwb Ifor Bach, Cardiff, this Sunday, July 18.