Fine Young Cannibals are on the comeback trail, mounting their first tour since their demise in 1996.

The line-up will be led as ever by singer Roland Gift, but fellow founder members Andy Cox and David Steele will not participate in the band's return.

The tour will open in Gift's home town at Hull City Hall on June 1 and will visit the Grand Opera House in York on June 8.

Fine Young Cannibals last released an album in 1996, the greatest hits sets The Finest, which featured two tracks from the 1993 recording sessions for their aborted third album, including the single The Flame.

"The Cannibals sort of officially dissolved in 1996. It's better to burn brightly for half as long than to be a dim lingering light," Gift later said.

He branched out into film acting and score-writing, although he did return to the pop fold in 2001 for his debut solo album for MCA Records. The self-titled Roland Gift album was recorded in demo studios, front rooms and Mayfair Studios with producers David Z and Ben Barson and its blend of pop, soul and jazz was typified by It's Only Money, Looking For A Friend and Tell Me You Want Me Back.

Away from music, Gift appeared in such films as Scandal, Tin Men, Sammy And Rosie Get Laid and The Island Of The Mapmaker's Wife.

"When I first started I wanted to be an actor. That's one of the reasons I came down to London from Hull," Gift recalls. "Then the art college punk reggae band I was in - The Acrylik Victimz - got a bit of notoriety, so my music focus grew from there."

The Fine Young Cannibals were formed in 1985 by The Beat's Cox and Steele and their singing discovery, Gift, who, like Cox, was born in Birmingham (but moved to Hull at the age of 11).

Taking their name from a 1960 movie starring Robert Wagner and Natalie Wood, Fine Young Cannibals first caught the eye on Channel 4's cult pop show The Tube, and their first hit ensued in June 1985 when Johnny Come Home reached number eight. Their self-titled debut album spawned a second single, Blue, and further hits followed with covers of Suspicious Minds, in 1986, and Ever Fallen In Love, in 1987.

Second album The Raw And The Cooked sold eight million copies upon release in 1989 and its two stand-out tracks, She Drives Me Crazy and Good Thing, both topped the American charts.

Don't Look Back and I'm Not The Man I Used To Be continued the FYC chart run but I'm Not Satisfied stalled at number 46 in February 1990. Six years later, The Flame burned briefly, and now the Fine Young Cannibals are on the billboards once more.

Whether working in music or film, writing songs, scores or scripts, the 42-year-old Gift continues to seek fulfilment.

"For a long time I used to get worked up about whether I should be doing music or drama," he says. "Then I realised for me it's the message not the medium. All I've got to do now is find out what the message is."

Fine Young Cannibals, Hull City Hall, June 1; Grand Opera House, York, June 8, both 7.30pm. Tickets: Hull, £16.50, on 01482 226655; York, £14.50, £16.50, on 0870 606 3595.

DID YOU KNOW?

YORK record label Red Rhino released two singles by Roland Gift's punk reggae band, The Akrylykz (formerly The Acrylik Victimz) in the 1980s.

Updated: 09:09 Friday, April 02, 2004