A POPULAR band from Bolton have released their debut album 39 years after they first formed.

Stormchild found fame in 1981 after winning the national Opportunity Rocks competition, with most of the group still teenagers.

However, they split up in 1982 when the band's management company collapsed, with only one official single, 'Rockin' Steady', ever recorded.

While the band went their separate ways, their music would grow in popularity over the years, culminating in 2012 when a copy of the single was sold online for £2,300 - making it the most valuable song to come out of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal movement.

In 2016, the group met up with legendary producer Chris Tsangarides and decided to reform and record debut album, 'Lightning Never Strikes Twice', which was finally released earlier this month.

Chris Mitchell, the band's drummer, recounted his happiness after finding out that other members of the band wanted to get back together.

He said: "I was living in Greece at the time so it was Facebook that brought us together really. The first thing we did in 2016 was put together a lot of old demo tapes and I think that kind of thing was what sparked Chris' interest.

"It was great to know that everyone was still out there, we brought back all our old friendships and got back together.

I don't know about the rest of the guys but it was quite rewarding for me to see everyone again.

"We had completely lost touch after what had happened, we gave so much up and then it all disappeared."

After the band won Opportunity Rocks, they were offered a record deal with Kilo Records, a company owned by rock label K-Tel, and were put under the management of Paradise Promotions.

However, on the eve of moving to London to begin preparations for a spot supporting Bob Seger in a tour of America, the band were informed that Paradise had gone into liquidation.

This created a major issue for the band's members, who had quit jobs and stepped away from university courses in order to pursue their musical dream.

Mr Mitchell said the incident left the group "disillusioned" and wanting to go their separate ways, indicating the end of Stormchild until nearly four decades later.

After Mr Tsangarides got in contact with the band, they were able to produce their first full album, although the Grammy-nominated producer - who worked alongside Judas Priest, Thin Lizzy and Anvil - died in January 2018 before the album could finally be released.

'Lightning Never Strikes Twice' featuring Chris Mitchell, Geoff Harwood, Neil McCurley, Joe Rodmell and Ian Bridge, is now available on Spotify as well as through website store.cdbaby.com.