BOY band East 17 celebrated the New Year with an open-air concert in Transylvania, and are set to stay in the party mood with a series of shows at Butlins starting next month, writes George Bowstead.

The group, Brian Harvey, John Hendy and Terry Coldwell, all from Walthamstow, played a 40-minute set in Sibiu's Grand Square on December 31 to see in 2007 and mark Romania's accession to the European Union.

East 17, whose heyday was in the 1990s, were second on the bill to Phoenix, described as one of the oldest and most popular Romanian rock bands'. Other attractions included fireworks and a four-hour organ recital.

The group members, now in their 30s, were without founder and main songwriter Tony Mortimer after an attempt to get the four original members back together failed last year.

They played a one-off gig at the Shepherd's Bush Empire in May 2006, but hopes for new projects including a documentary and album were dashed with Mortimer's departure, allegedly after rows with Harvey.

East 17 enjoyed a number of hits including Stay another Day which was the 1994 Christmas number one single.

In 1997 Harvey was sacked as lead singer over comments about the drug ecstasy. He was reinstated but Mortimer then resigned.

Harvey, Hendy and Coldwell, now calling themselves E-17, developed a new, harder, R&B sound but were dropped by their record label following poor sales.

They reverted to the original East 17 name to play low-key shows at venues including holiday camps. They are due to appear at the 90s Reloaded weekends (Sundays only) at Butlins in Bognor Regis, Sussex, between February and June this year.

Other acts include Boney M, Chesney Hawkes and Toyah Willcox as well as Kylie Minogue, Status Quo and Madness tributes.

Brian Harvey continues trying to carve out a solo career and has also appeared on the ITV show I'm a Celebrity, Get me out of Here.

Last year he was badly injured after falling under the wheels of his own car in a bizarre accident in St Mary Road, Walthamstow.

A blog on www.dooyoo.co.uk from a 15-year-old girl who saw one of East 17's Butlins shows said: "I never realised I loved them until then", she wrote. "Although Brian Harvey's reinvention as a fatter Eminem was a little worrying."