The Proclaimers feel surprised by their own longevity

The Proclaimers have been surprised by their own longevity.

Craig and Charlie Reid formed the group in 1983, and Craig admits that they’ve already surpassed their own expectations in the mu business.

He said: “We’ve had a much longer run at it than we thought we would, so now we are at 60 we just want to do the best that we can and do it for as long as we can and to keep enjoying it.”

The group are currently touring and their clas tunes remain as popular as ever.

Charlie, 60, told the BBC: “‘500 Miles’, ‘Letter from America’, ‘Let’s Get Married’, ‘Sunshine on Leith’, we always do them at every show.

“The fact that people still want to hear them 30 years later is great for us and I suppose for the audience it connects them with their own past as well. But to do a show without any new songs would not be right because I think as writers we’ve got better as time’s gone on.”

The Proclaimers’ latest album, ‘Dentures Out’, is much more political than many of their recent records. And Craig suggests that Britain is in a state of “terminal decline”.

He said: “I think Britain has been diminishing in power and reach since World War Two, but I think that in the last ten years Britain has nose-dived as regards its own self-worth and certainly in regard to its own place in the community of nations.”

Charlie also admits that the new album has a strong sense of “nostalgia” about it.

He reflected: “For the first time ever there’s a constant theme in an album we’ve done. A lot of it is about nostalgia, about people looking back and perhaps looking back with rose-coloured glasses or not remembering at all.”