IRISH duo Foster and Allen have a long, warm history with Tweed Heads.

Currently on their 19th tour of Australia, the pair will return to the showroom at Twin Towns Services Club next weekend.

Looking forward to returning with his comrade, Tony Allen, Mick Foster embraced the enduring demand for their shows.

“We have a great following out there,” Foster said from Ireland this week.

“The people like what we do and they love our records.”

Foster said they’d only ever planned to play a few gigs - enough to make a living - in Ireland.

“In the very early days it was a bit of fun but it went on and we wanted to go professional in Ireland and really make a living in Ireland,” Foster said.

When they released their first international hit, Maggie, in 1983, everything changed.

Now 40 years on, the Irishmen will embark on yet another Australian tour, beginning in Brisbane next week.

Foster said they still loved touring after so many years, even if hitting the road had become a bit of an arduous task given their vintage.

“We love being on the stage, everywhere,” he said.

“In the early days we used to go to Australia about every 18 months. Now we just go every three years because we’re getting older. The travelling gets harder as you get older.”

Having his partner on tour and on stage with them helped with being away from home.

“Myra is from Aberdeen in Scotland,” he said.

“She’s my other half. She does a medley of Scottish songs as well.

“It’s good because it means there’s nobody left at home.”

He said with 41 years’ worth of songs to choose from, they would usually choose the biggest hits for a tour.

“It’s not a major problem because we have to do out hit songs everywhere,” Foster said.

He said their biggest hits were fairly constant wherever they travelled.

“We have to do those, because that’s what made us and made us known to the world,” he said.

Foster was keen to reconnect with their Australian fans, many of whom had been going to their shows since their first visit to Australia three decades ago.

“Now they’re bringing their kids and their grandkids,” he said.

“We get three generations of one family coming now.”

The show

• What: Foster & Allen 40th Anniversary Tour
• Where: Twin Towns Services Club, Tweed Heads
• When: 4pm Sunday, May 22
• Tickets: $52 from twintowns.com.au or 1800 014 014