FORMED in 1969, Uriah Heep was one of the “Premier League” of prog-rock bands of the 1970s, but never quite won the championship.

However, they managed to shift more than 30 million albums and are still touring and recording.

Fronted by guitarist Mick Box, who has been present since the start, the band — named after a character in Charles Dickens’ David Copperfield — are going on a short tour of the UK.

Heep’s last album, Into The Wild, was released in 2011. According to lead vocalist Bernie Shaw, this tour is just for the fans.

He said: “Bands are having to go out on tour these days, more venues are opening up and staying open, so we are taking the opportunity to keep the fans happy knowing that we are still out there.”

From their debut album — Very ‘Eavy . . . Very ‘Umble — in 1970 the Heeps slowly built up a following.

Led originally by Box with Ken Hensley on keyboards and David Byron as lead vocals, they brought in drummer Lee Kerslake in 1971 and then Trevor Bolder on bass.

Many changes have taken place and today’s line-up is the 15th, with only Box and Bolder remaining from the 1970s. In fact, the line-up touring could be classed as the 16th as Bolder is recovering from surgery and for the time being is replaced by John Jowitt.

Despite their following, the band’s albums never really set the charts on fire.

Their classic albums, such as Look At Yourself — their third album and first chart entry — Demons and Wizards and The Magician’s Birthday all resolutely stayed outside the top 20.

Their sole top-10 album was the 1975 Return to Fantasy, which reached number seven and was helped by a TV advertising campaign with a voice-over by Arthur Mullard.

“I don’t really know why the band never had great chart success,” Bernie said.

“The band has always had something to say and like some of the top bands at that time, had their own originality.”

The sound of Uriah Heep is unique as the band places heavy emphasis on Hammond Organ and some pretty amazing three, four and sometimes five-part vocal harmonies.

“Those have always been the major trademark of the band and it’s kept strong in the writing,” says the singer.

As for the show itself, Bernie says: “We’ll do a good cross-section of the band’s career; maybe four or five somgs from Into The Wild and all the classic tracks.”

And the future indeed looks bright. He says: “Mick and Phil (Lanzon, the keyboard player) are still turning out songs. They are continually writing, an artist carries on.”

* Uriah Heep is appearing at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester on Saturday, February 23. Tickets are available from the boxoffice and all the usual agencies.