AFTER three decades, millions of albums sold and THAT record breaking single, Wet Wet Wet's popularity shows no signs of waning.

Next month the band will be performing their unique mixture of soul-influenced pop in the splendid surroundings of Tatton Hall in Cheshire as part of the Concerts by the Lake series.

Demand for tickets has been high and bassist and songwriter Graeme Clark is thrilled at the excitement the band's live shows still generate.

"No-one is as surprised as I am that 30 years on we are still able to do this," he said. "I'm truly grateful that the fans come out in their droves."

Earlier this year Wet Wet Wet completed a sold-out UK tour marking the 20th anniversary of their album Picture This and fans were delighted when a series of summer dates - including Tatton - were announced.

"Initially we thought about doing a couple of shows this summer," said Graeme, "but others came up and nothing beats getting out with your mates and dusting down the old songs and getting out there and playing them.

"We have been writing as well, so it won't just be the old songs. There are some new ones in the set too and I think that's important - that's the lifeblood of the band.

"There's a danger that you can become a caricature of yourselves if you don't keep writing and working on new songs."

But fans need not worry, classic Wet Wet Wet songs such as Sweet Little Mystery and Wishing I Was Lucky will still form the heart of any live show.

"We understand who we are, we understand how we got there and we understand what people want when they come to see us in concert," said Graeme. "There are certain songs which if we didn't play, we'd get hung before leaving the venue.

"You do get the fans that would like you to play most obscure B side that even you can't remember and you've got to draw line somewhere though."

The band's tour earlier this year did give them a chance to play some lesser known material.

"That was a great thing about that tour," said Graeme. "Because we were celebrating the Pictures This album we got a chance to look at songs which we had not played for best part of 20 years.

"It's amazing what happens when you don't play a song for so long and how fresh you can come back to it and hopefully can add something to it."

Graeme acknowledges that there is a certain nostalgic element to any Wet Wet Wet song.

"People want to re-live the things they they experienced when growing up with the music of the band," he said. "People want to take something that's theirs from a gig and it's up to us to make it special for them."

Wet Wet Wet are synonymous with the single Love is All Around which featured in the movie Four Weddings and a Funeral which was number one for 15 consecutive weeks back in 1984.

But, as Graeme reveals, the band didn't realise they had a song which would take them to a whole new level.

"Richard Curtis who wrote Four Wedding gave us the choice of three songs for the film," he said. "He said we could do Can't Smile Without You by Barry Manilow, Gloria Gaynor's I Will Survive or Love is All Around by the Troggs.

"For us the Barry Manilow was kind of walking on that fine line of cheese and I Will Survive was already a gay anthem so the Troggs' song was a bit of a curve ball.

"To be honest I wasn't even aware of it until we recorded it. We put it together in about a day-and-a-half and at the end thought that maybe it would make a nice B-side.

"But it took on a life of its own and everyone knows what happened with it."

Wet Wet Wet, Concerts by the Lake, Tatton Park, Friday, July 29. Details from 0844 888 9991.