For a whole generation the words Arrested Development do not bring to mind the Jason Bateman-led American sitcom. For us they evoke the plight of homeless Mr Wendal and the unforgettable lyrics: ‘Here, have a dollar, in fact no brotherman here, have two. Two dollars means a snack for me, but it means a big deal to you’.

Because long before the television show came the band with a conscience, who formed in 1988 in Atlanta and in 1993 won two Grammy Awards and were also named band of the year by Rolling Stone magazine.

And leader Speech says to this day their music is inspiring people.

“People constantly come up to me and say ‘when I see a homeless person on the street I literally think of Mr Wendal and I will pass them a dollar because of that song’.

“I know it has made an impact even though that’s not what I was thinking about when I wrote it. I just wanted to write a song that was honest and real.”

There even was a real Mr Wendal Speech reveals: “There was one guy in particular who was most like what the song described, although that wasn’t his name. But he died, ironically, right before the song came out and became a hit so he never knew how much his story would impact the world.”

Unbelievably just three short years after the song reached the top ten in America, Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom, the group split up and the rapper, real name Todd Thomas, was contemplating killing himself.

“It was really textbook problems with new bands that blow up really big – although I didn’t know that at the time,” says Speech.

“We had our first hit with Tennessee and one of the members, I won’t mention his name because I don’t want to dig up old scores, felt like he deserved more money than I felt he deserved so there was a lot of back biting and talking mess about each other and it started to tear the group apart pretty early on.

“The fact we were able to last until ‘95 was a feat in itself.

“I feel like we did a lot of good work in those early years but unfortunaty there was this real toxic situation early on that was causing havoc in the band.”

For Speech, who had created the hip hop group with then best friend Headliner, it was a devastating blow.

“Oh my god it’s hard to put into words how hard that was for me. The gravity I felt on my spirit was unprecedented and I literally considered suicide.

“At that time my career was my god and it was the only thing I had worked for. I was never good at school or sports. It was music and this band and I put everything into it and to see it not working and not being able to stop it was like bleeding that you couldn’t put a band aid over. I felt helpless.”

Fortunately he found a way through and was enjoying an extremely successful career as a solo artist in Japan when his former band mate Montsho Eshe called in 2000 to get the group back together, and they’ve been performing ever since, including sell-out gigs at The Jazz Cafe.

Now they’re over in the UK for a full headline tour and will be making a special appearance at Wireless in Finsbury Park in the summer.

Today the band (who settled out of court with Fox over the use of their name for the TV show) is introduced by Speech as Fareedah Aleem who brings “sensuality” to the show with her African dancing, soulful singer Tasha LaRae as a “powerhouse”, bassist Za from the days of “Earth Wind and Fire”, JJ Boogie as from the “gut bucket delta Blues” and 1Love as a “hip hop soldier”.

Headliner never rejoined the group but Speech says there was a fortuitous and unusual reconciliation during an interview with a local Atlanta radio show.

“He called in live on the air and just started saying amazing things and talking about love and apologies,” says the 46-year-old.

“It was a very meaningful live on air moment for the healing that needed to happen amongst friends.”

The father-of-two says although he has grown up a lot he still puts his all into his music and says he is looking forward to “vibing” with fans new and old and performing some of the classic hits such as Everyday People and Tennessee as well as a mixture of samples, hip hop, beats, live instrumentation and ceremonial dances.

“The thing that inspires me personally is literally looking at the faces of who’s there. It’s a really communal type of experience when you see Arrested Development perform.

“Even the band themselves don’t know what I’m going to pull out next.”

Although he says fame doesn’t appeal, these days he does hope the band will help bring hip hop back to where it belongs.

“It has forgotten the fundamental points of what it was supposed to be about – peace, love and having fun.”

He adds: “I don’t pray for fame or money but I hope for Arrested Development and our music to become relevant again around the word like it was before.”

Wireless, Finsbury Park, Sunday, July 5. Details: arresteddevelopmentmusic.com,  wirelessfestival.co.uk