The Great Jock n Roll Single

Jocknroll

5. NORMAN FERGUSON (Tranent, East Lothian)

1. TV21 - On The Run. Passionate, powerful pop from a band that, despite critical plaudits and a spot supporting the Rolling Stones, never quite reached the heights they should have. Being too young and distant to see them I was heart-broken to miss them at the John Peel commemoration gig in Edinburgh last year. It's number one for me as its combination of emotion and energy has never waned, 25 years after buying it.

2. The Proclaimers - Letter From America. Doing what they do best, and have been doing for 20 years, the twins combining a heartfelt lament with a rousing chorus likely to be sung for centuries.

3. Jesus and Mary Chain - Just Like Honey. Scotland's coolest band of the time, back then defying the glitzy white sheen of the 80s and bringing us to the grime of East Kilbride. Its reappearance at the end of the film Lost in Translation showed the timeless power and glory and that style doesn't go out of fashion. Pity their drummer never did much with himself.

4. Cocteau Twins - Pearly Dewdrops Drop. Has there been a band like them? Transcending musical genres the Cocteaus gave us something completely unique. Their towering cathedrals of majestic sonic etc etc wasn't dinted by seeing them live in the 80s and having to wait on the encore, as the tape reels were rewound, to let them play the first song again.

5. The Skids - Into The Valley. It didn't matter that no-one knew what Richard Jobson was singing about, least of all him. With Stuart Adamson's charging guitar behind him we were happy to go along for the crazy, euphoric ride.

6. Big Country - In a Big Country. Given the spotlight and the mic, Stuart Adamson went for a less triumphant style, and a fashion choice that Millets were glad to see endorsed. It is utterly depressing that his talent is lost now but the memories of the energetic, communal live shows live on.

7. Teenage Fanclub - Sparky's Dream. Hard to pick just one single by Scotland's favourite band (With a singer called Norman who could I say otherwise?) This one sums up all that is great about them. If they did Bandwagonesque in its entirety at the Barrowlands recently can we wish for a repeat with Grand Prix - a contender for best Scottish album, in another poll perhaps?

8. Sons and Daughters - Johnny Cash. Defying easy categorisation, Sons and Daughters live are completely captivating and on their recent support slot of Morrissey they seemed to challenge the disinterested members of the audience in the face to ignore them. This song from their taut-as-the-mic-lead-round-singer-Adele's-neck" debut Love the Cup shows them at their best. Would you mess with any member of this band?

9. Franz Ferdinand - Take Me Out. Are they Scottish? Greek, German, English? Does it matter? The opening bars of this burst through like they did themselves on their speedy ascent to the toppermost of the poppermost, to quote another great four piece pop combo with an eye for a good haircut and irresistible pop melodies. The Frannies - or are they the Ferdies? - have produced great single after great single but this early one will always stand as the beginning of their moment.

10. Simple Minds - Waterfront. Enormous, thundering, preposterous - Jim Kerr's ego knows no bounds, but for a moment in the 80s it all made sense. Simple Minds progression from European electronic minimalists to global rock gawds saw its clearest indication with Waterfront's release. Its power can be seen when I took to wearing a raincoat and taking moody walks beside a river. In Brechin.

Worst ever Scottish single: Simple Minds - Belfast Child. The horror, oh the humanity.

Interestingly enough Norman voted for Simple Minds in the Best and Worst category. He also heard about us through the Camera Obscura website but didn’t vote for them!
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Jocknroll · Posted: Sat Nov 04, 2006 10:17 pm Post subject:

2. JOYCE GIBSON (East Kilbride)

1. Pearly Dewdrops Drops - Cocteau Twins (ah memories seeing them at Glasgow's Pavilion singing this live, the bastards refused to play it on Top of the Pops though. Not their finest moment but definitely their finest single. Elizabeth Fraser is the finest female singer Scotland has ever produced and this band are my all time favourite.)

2. Eat Your Heart Out - Hey Elastica (I seem to recall seeing this lot supporting Big Country in East Kilbride in 1982 when this single was released. Used to dance to it all the time at clubs. Thought they were pretentious arses but loved the single. Were hyped up but for some reason it wasn't it a hit!)

3. Take Me Out - Franz Ferdinand (what can I say? One of the best singles EVER. Will never forget seeing them perform this at the Barrowland - the floor boards were moving with the audience.)

4. Party Fears Two - The Associates (I had tickets to see the band at the Ultratheque in Glasgow in 1982 and was bitterly disappointed when it was cancelled due to Billy Mackenzie suffering from "pharingitis" which I had never heard of at the time. Never did see the great man sing live. Anyway this is practially peerless. It sounds like nothing else, showcasing the stunning voice the greyhound loving Dundonian had. Still sounds amazing nearly 25 years after it was released, but obviously has a melancholy feel when listened to now, realising Billy is no longer with us.)

5. Trees and Flowers - Strawberry Switchblade. (Their first single and finest moment. Beautiful, ever so slightly twee, but still sounds great all these years on. I used to see the pair of them wandering about in Glasgow City Centre in their full gear - it wasn't a manufactured image, it was just the way they liked to dress.)

6. Mellow Doubt - Teenage Fanclub (Gorgeous. Wish Norman had written it for me.)

7. Last Request - Paolo Nutini (Beautiful and I reckon it will be getting votes in 20 years time. Even better when he sings it live with full on Scottish accent. He sounds 40 yet he's only 19.)

8. Sunshine on Leith - the Proclaimers (Another one sung in a Scottish accent...beautiful sentiment, reminds me of an ex I wish I was still with (in a non-stalker kind of way of course!))

9. The Big Music - The Waterboys (This was when the band were in their prime, Mike Scott was on a roll. I guess Whole of the Moon was a bigger hit but it was never my favourite...didn't want to choose any of his Irish inspired tunes either, so it was a toss up between this and A Girl Called Johnny, which was a Peel favourite at the time)

10. Broken Years - Hipsway (The sound of Glasgow 1985, played in every club and bar yet still they didn't get a hit. Hugely underrated band.)

WORST SINGLE

Ally's Tartan Army by Andy Cameron. Obviously. And I know you're not allowed to choose b-sides but a special mention must be made for I Want To Be a Punk Rocker But My Mammy Willnae Let Me...dire.

My name is Joyce Gibson, I (still) live in East Kilbride but I'm not famous or anything. Felt compelled not to vote for Jesus and Mary Chain or Aztec Camera for some reason...

Heard about the site through the Cocteau Twins fan forum. Which is full of stupid Americans wanting to nominate obscure album tracks, they seem unable to understand the concept of a single...

Interested in seeing the results, hope at least one of my favourites is in there.
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Jocknroll · Posted: Sat Nov 04, 2006 10:20 pm Post subject:

3. DOUGLAS CUMMING (Crookston, Glasgow)

Hello, love your website. Here is my top 10 for your delectation:

1. PARTYFEARSTWO by The Associates. Quite simply, the greatest by theGreatest. The most astonishing vocalist ever to have lived. His geniuslives on. End of story.

2. MARY’S PRAYER by Danny Wilson. Breakthrough release by criminallyunder-rated outfit, like Billy Mackenzie they hail from Dundee. Must besomething in the water. They split up before I had a chance to see themplay Hull University in the late 1980s but their debut album "Meet DannyWilson" is magnificent. Perfect pop music.

3. WAITING FOR ANOTHER CHANCE by Endgames. Brings back undergraduate daysat Strathclyde University in the mid-80s. I believe it only bothered thelower reaches of the Top 40, but it was a belter. Had it in on vinyl, tillit melted some years back. Would love to hear it again. Unlikely, though.

4. THE HONEYTHIEF by Hipsway. Another perfect pop band who seemed to comeand go in a flash. This was a groovy, typically gallus Scots concoctionfrom the mid 1980s, which as you can probably tell, was my golden era ofmusic.

5. PILLAR TO POST by Aztec Camera. So many to choose from the boy wonderRoddy Frame but this just shades it ahead of Oblivious. Saw him at the ABCin Sauchiehall Street last year. He should have been a major internationalstar but partial obscurity seems to suit him better these days. Brilliantsongwriting.

6. WONDERLAND by Big Country. My tartan shirt phase only lasted a couple ofmonths but these lads were the first band I ever saw in concert. Theirmusic was big and dumb, but my was it marvellous. Difficult to believe thatStuart Adamson, like Billy Mackenzie, an icon of my formative years, is nolonger with us.

7. THE AMERICAN by Simple Minds. Got to have something from the Godfathersof Scottish pop. They may have gone a bit mid-Atlantic latterly, but theirearly stuff was top-notch. Dance music for people who can’t dance. thisone. Obviously designed for me, then.

8. BAKER STREET by Gerry Rafferty. Read the other day that he was carriedoff a private plane totally legless. Fair enough, if I was coining in theroyalties from this monster worldwide smash, I would too. Much respect toPaisley’s finest. I even liked the dance version of a few years back.

9. BYE BYE BABY by the Bay City Rollers. Daft, joyous and utterly brilliant.

10. OBSCURITY KNOCKS by the Trashcan Sinatras. Have to include the bestband in the world... ever (apart from the Associates, of course). Theyshould now be on the same level as REM now but are not, unfortunately, soyou will just have to take my word for it when I tell you they are FANTASTIC!

WORST-EVER SCOTTISH SINGLE:

I WISH I WAS A PUNK ROCKER by Sandi Thom. No you don’t, hen.

Thanks for letting me share that with you.
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Jocknroll · Posted: Sat Nov 04, 2006 10:23 pm Post subject:

4. TOM McPHILLIPS (Llanelli, South Wales)

Great idea. I saw the posting on the Digital Spy site and it immediately grabbed me and gave me a great couple of hours figuring out my favourites (and why). Here goes:

1. Corries – Flower Of Scotland

The track was originally released on single on Fontana in the sixties. Most people will be more familiar with the live 1970’s version recorded at Glasgow City Hall. The people decided long before the powers-that-be that this was the Scottish anthem.

2. Lulu – Shout

The song that announced that Scotland had a new talent who could take a song and turn it into a classic. Still sounds as good today as the day it was recorded

3. Proclaimers – I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles)

I saw them support The Housemartins at a North London dancehall and realised that they may look gawky but they really could put over a song. It was a really difficult choice between this and “Letter From America” but this just edges it on sing-along value.

4. Clyde Valley Stompers – Peter And The Wolf

OK this one gives away my age. A Saturday morning children’s radio favourite. I was delighted to see them do this when an old Black and White Morecambe & Wise was repeated a few years ago with the CVS as musical guests.

5. JSD Band – Sunshine Life For Me

A folky romp through a George Harrison song given to Ringo for his self-named album. I don’t think this was on any of the JSD Band albums but is well worth a listen to.

6. Skids – Into The Valley

Represents a time of great guitar fuelled music which made you proud to be Scottish.

7. Simple Minds – Promised You A Miracle

Another of those “which track do I choose” moments. PYAM stands out for me though. Jim Kerr still owes me lines from when he was a snotty first year and I was a prefect. Doubt if I’ll get them now.

8. Nazareth – Broken Down Angel

What can I say. The Apollo Centre – a sell out crowd – instant party!

9. Chris McClure – The Dying Swan

This guy has been going forever. This track was produced by Jonathan King (but don’t hold that against it) and is one of those sixties “let’s put words to a classical tune” that really works.

10. Big Country – Fields Of Fire

Another guaranteed party favourite. Seen them live half a dozen times and was never disappointed.

WORST

Andy Stewart – A Scottish Soldier

Sorry but it really is embarrassing to listen to

Tom McPhillips - Llanelli, South Wales (originally Glasgow, South Side)
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Jocknroll · Posted: Sat Nov 11, 2006 10:17 pm Post subject:

6. LENNY HELSING (The Thanes) Edinburgh, Scotland

1. The Poets - That's The Way It's Got To Be - Uh, well this is just the crunching-est piece of Scottish 60s beat noise you can hear. I was only born in 1962 so was only 3 when this was issued, but I must've listened to it 1000 times since the early 80s. Pure class! I did pen the sleeve notes for this Glasgow troupe's first ever LP collection, subsequently issued on CD with extra demo / unreleased material, from a few years ago. The Poets - Scotland's No. 1 Group (Immediate / Dyno Vox - USA 1995)

2. The Beatstalkers - Ev'rybody's Talking 'Bout My Baby - Ditto this one, a fabulous slice of raving beat noise from the Glasgow guys who were H U G E in Scotland during the mid 60s. I did also pen the sleeve notes for their first ever anthology, only on CD - The Beatstalkers - Scotland's No. 1 Beat Group (Ika Records - 2005)

3. The Scars - Adult / ery - Wow!!! yeah this is serious stuff here, the band's first and best slab, including the killer B side 'Horrorshow'. I've got to say the Scars were uber-fab live back in these days and I was fortunate enough to catch a few gigs they played, including the infamous Anti-Nazi Carnival in Edinburgh's Craigmillar Park. I also got to roadie for them - my flat-mate and erstwhile band mate from the Belsen Horrors, Steve Fraser, was the temporary bass player for John Mackie as he was under doctors orders not to play bass due to a lesion in his arm - on a tour in 1980 where they supported Siouxsie and the Banshees.

4. Bee Bee Cee - You Gotta Know Girl - What a storming track this is, from the group who used to be a kinda glam-ish pop group known as Image. This single is pretty damn rare these days and commands almost three figures on the collectors scene.

5. The Marmalade - I See The Rain - Another 60s gem from before they went trite with Ob-La-Di etc bla bla bla. Incidentally Jimi Hendrix's fave disc of '67.

6. The Buzz - You're Holding Me Down - Whoah! One of the great Joe Meek's most extreme productions...and from an Edinburgh combo too, no less, clobbering everybody over the head and stunning them into complete aghast-ness (is that a word?) when they first heard it way back in 1966 no doubt. The Buzz were the immediate post-Boston Dexters formation, formed with Tam White, guitarist Johnny Turnbull (and writer of this killa-dilla freaked out mess), and I think there was an ex-Athenian in the group too...Tam White's vocals are well growly, and his screaming end coda stuff is just way-out...the mega-trebly slashing guitar sound could easily strip paint offa walls at 50 paces. I've got a feeling even Meek's sink was thrown into the mix somewhere here. And you know what, the group themselves have gone down saying that they hated this single (wha?) as they believed that Meek had destroyed what was originally an aggressive, propulsive beat number, with all his echo-overload and overdub mania ha ha...but this is what it is, a genuinely aggressive, propulsive beat number. A bloody rare one too, and one of the wildest slabs of '60s noise ever to grace a piece of black plastic.

7. The Athenians - I Got Love If You Want It - Edinburgh beat combo par excellence doing the business on this cool rhythm'n'blueser, y'gotta hear their wild version of 'Louie Louie' too, it's ace!

8. The Fun 4 - Singing In The Showers - Blaaaarrrrnnngggg! ear-damaging-trebly punk-junk pop genius. Too true. Another one that goes for silly money these days.

9. The Boston Dexters - Nothing's Gonna Change Me - Tam White's crowning glory here on an independently-released single from 1964. A wild'n'harp-wailin' stomper. This is way up there with the best of the 'Stones, Animals, Kinks, Pretty Things, Yardbirds and Them, you betcha!

10. The Jesus and Mary Chain - Upside Down - What is there to say about this debut except it personifies reckless rock'n'roll like hardly any other modern group could...and they had the know-how to cover Syd Barrett's crazy 'Vegetable Man' on the flipside

Worst = Big Country - Big Country

Sender: Lenny Helsing - lead vocals / guitar with The Thanes. Drum kit hitter and sometime vocalist with The Wildebeests...
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Jocknroll · Posted: Sat Nov 18, 2006 12:34 pm Post subject:

7. ALASDAIR DUKE, EDINBURGH

1. The Proclaimers, Letter From America
This song raises universal themes of love and loss, whilst being really quite Scottish at the same time. It has a great chorus, and being a good party tune. It’s the best Scottish song from one of the best Scottish bands, who almost single-handedly revived the Scottish accent in pop music.

2. Belle and Sebastian, A Century of Fakers
This single actually has five songs on it, but is a bona-fide, legit single, and captured B&S when they were still fairly obscure, and still idealists. As ever, the lyrics tell us about the meanness of cynicism, boyfriends and girlfriends who don't give a damn, and the importance of getting it all off your chest.

3. Runrig, Loch Lomond
I assume that this has been released as a single at some stage. It’s probably the best Runrig song, full of confidence and bombast. Whoever the song was written about is lost in time, it’s just a brilliant tune.

4. Danny Wilson, Mary’s Prayer
80s rock gold. The sort of song that EVERYONE wishes they’d written, if only they thought of it first

5. Arab Strap, The Shy Retirer
This song is the perfect Arab Strap tune, nay the perfect Scottish tune- danceable, miserable… funky

6. Bay City Rollers, Bye Bye Baby
Sorry, but I wasn't around in the seventies to be nauseated by it. This song has aged really well, and could go into a time capsule.

7. Mull Historical Society, Barcode Bypass
What an incredible song. It’s cleverly arranged and written from the heart. Good for the serotonin.

8. The Supernaturals, Sheffield Song
The Supernaturals’ songs were immense. I still remember most of them years later. The chorus for this one is a good singer.

9. Aztec Camera, Oblivious
The quality of songwriting is just really, really high. It's got a really nice rhythm and it's very memorable.

10. Wet Wet Wet, Love Is All Around
Forgive me, but it’s timeless. It succeeded in becoming ubiquitous, because it’s a hard song to dislike. It’s really memorable, and much better performed than the Troggs’ version. It’s another one that, to this day, I reckon I could have a go at remembering all the words to it. It’s not a distinctly Scottish song, but the band that recorded it are Scottish, and they pull it off really well. A slushy ballad it may be, but it deserves its place at the top table of slushy ballads, right next to ‘Total Eclipse of the Heart’, and just opposite ‘Hero’ by Mariah Carey.

And the worst-
Primal Scream, Country Girl
(It's complete gash)
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Jocknroll · Posted: Sun Nov 26, 2006 5:12 pm Post subject:

8. DR GISELLE, LONG BEACH, CALIFORNIA

Top Single: Strawberry Switchblade: Trees and Flowers
Most gorgeous song ever written. I heard this last Fall on a post-punk pop radio show out of Milwaukee (Radio Drill Time) and fell immediately in love. Later became e-pals with one of the DJs, Brian, who sent me a slew of compilations that have totally changed my auditory life; "Trees and Flowers" happened to be one of the songs on there, though I wanna say I'd already managed to find it on vinyl by the time I got it in digitized form. I play this one almost daily and take a special pleasure in picking out new layers of harmonizing and strings, and a greater pleasure still in repeatedly rewinding bits and pieces trying to duplicate the parts. And the vinyl single is quite a treat because of the instrumental B-Side. Has an oboe ever been able to convey such angst?!?! It's sweet and longing with this veneer of self-protective faux-disdain and then confession in the verse of the lyrics, all the while with the sweet and longing in the timber of the vocals, themselves. Sublime.

The other 9, in no particular order:

Cocteau Twins: Bluebeard
Yes, Elizabeth Fraser DOES sing in something resembling English!! And you can almost make out all the lyrics, here….and yet even without being able to make out all the lyrics, you can pick up on what she's working out, communicating, asking. Meanwhile, you've got those Scottish guitars….almost as much range as Liz’s voice.

Orange Juice: Rip It Up
I dreamt once about a calypso cover, haha. 'twas a great dream. And such insight from a man!! A straight one, to wit!!! Edwyn Collins is a god.

Biff Bang Pow: She Paints
Just a sweet little song with synthed echoing voices, and this guitar intro that kind of starts the verse out.

The Clouds: Get Out of My Dreams
Jangle jangle, and the vocals are desperately entreating, without being soft. Just insistent.

Jesse Garon & The Desperados: You'll Never Be That Young Again
Carpe diem, my friends.

The Orchids: Striving for the Lazy Perfection
I had voted for Caveman, as it’d originally been given a thumbs up (yes, I know it’s on a “mini-LP,” but mini-LP/long single….hard to make that call, haha) by one of the webmasters, who’d also voted for it and has since had to recant. But this works out, because I’d been torn b/w Caveman and Striving for the Lazy Perfection (given that you can only vote for one song from any one band). The instrumentation in Striving is 80s pop at its best, with some New Wave-ish synths, James whispering the lyrics over it, Pauline Hynds lends her voice to the lads, this drum rhythm that sounds like the best of “world-music,” and then the synths or string section comes in for the refrain and it’s operatic in scope. GREAT song.

Incredible Blondes: Where Do I Stand
I just found out they’re Scotsmen! I had to rescind my vote, and Incredible Blondes kicked Aztec Camera. Syncopated drumming and jangling guitars start off this awesome song. Lead vocalist has this clear soft yet determined voice, and you end up really rooting for him “Give him a chance! He’s gonna try to change! I can tell!!” haha. There’s a Japanese cover that is so awesome, too.

Motorcycle Boy: Big Rock Candy Mountain
Beautiful harmonies with this hard guitar and bass background. Just a kick-ass song about choosing freedom, and the loss that comes with that.

Laughing Apple: Participate
Politics and life, all in one. Syncopated guitar plucking seeming to countdown the passage of time….GO GO GO and do something for and of the world. The transitions are awesome in their complicated string simplicity; kind of calls to mind "Don't Fear the Reaper." By the time the tambourines come in (or maracas or whatever the Hell they're using), you've got the appropriate sense of urgency.

Dr Giselle has offered no selection for Worst Scottish Single as she is far too nice.
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Jocknroll · Posted: Sat Dec 02, 2006 1:02 pm Post subject:

9. BARRIE FRANCIS, CARDIFF, WALES

The Rezillos-(My Baby Does) Good Sculptures
A fantastic single, brilliant from start to finish. I used to think this must have been about 5 minutes long because there's just so much in it...but it's only just over 3 minutes. Mention The Rezillos to anyone and chances are they remember 'Top Of The Pops' or --if they're a wizened old punk--'I Can't Stand My Baby', but this is better than either.

Aztec Camera-Somewhere In My Heart
I remember one morning, when this was in the charts, lying in bed wishing
I didn't have to get up and go to work, hearing the rain lashing down over the rooftops of Sunny Cardiff while the microencephalic DJ on the radio blathered on about nowt. Then this came on, so I got up to face the day. Just as well, or I could be there still.

Goodbye Mr Mackenzie-The Rattler
Who would have thought, out of all The Mackenzies, that it would be
Shirley Manson who went on to international fame and fortune? Where, for
instance, is Rona Scobie now? I could have chosen any one of about five other GMM singles, but this one just nicks it from 'Blacker Than Black' and 'Love Child'.

Jesus And Mary Chain-Just Like Honey
Again, could have chosen any one of several JAMC singles, but I liked
'Lost In Translation' and this one playing over the closing credits is just
perfect.

Long Fin Killie-Heads Of Dead Surfers
Like GMM, a band that should have been lighting their cigars with tenners, but we all know how crap the taste of the average record buyer is. So
many great songs...they should have released 'How I Blew It With Houdini' as a single,all 8+ minutes of it. That might have given The Rezillos a run for my top spot.

Orange Juice-Rip It Up
I don't know how, but somehow I managed to miss out on how great early
OJ were....until I heard this and went off in search of their previous stuff. So this nips in ahead of other, probably better stuff, for being the signpost.

Primal Scream-Loaded
Or 'Come Together'. Either would do. Bobby Gillespie may be a knobhead at times, but no-one with any sense can debate the brilliance of 'Screamadelica' era stuff.

Eddi Reader-Nobody Lives Without Love
Not many people's first choice of Eddi Reader song, but I love it .From
the soundtrack of one of the Batman films, though I can't remember offhand which one. A pulsing electro-throb with Ms Reader's plaintive vocals perched atop, a perfect union of form and content.

Sensational Alex Harvey Band-Sgt Fury
Difficult to think that it's 24 years since Alex died, which means that
if he was still alive he'd be in his middle 60s....and probably still as mad as
ever. I played 'The Impossible Dream' to death when it came out in 1974, and, even though I haven't heard it for the best part of 20 years (some git nicked my copy), I can still remember virtually all the songs .....must get the CD some time.

String Driven Thing-It's A Game
I hope my memory is playing tricks on me but I feel almost certain The
Bay City Rollers had a hit with a cover of this. I don't want to check in case I'm right. I also liked 'Mrs O'Reilly' by SDT, so perhaps I should have chosen that and saved myself some mental anguish.

THE WORST
Annie Lennox-No More I Love Yous

My intense dislike of Annie Lennox goes back to the release of 'Thorn In My Side' by The Eurythmics. which was released too soon after tabloid revelations of upheavals in Ms Lennox's personal life for it to seem purely coincidental. I always felt that a big pop star had rather too much of an advantage at getting their side of the story across and since then have viewed the recorded works of Ms Lennox with a jaundiced eye. As it happens, this is irritating shite of the first degree and her pissing about with Mickey Mouse ears on TOTP only made it worse.
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Jocknroll · Posted: Sun Dec 10, 2006 6:29 pm Post subject:

10 MURDO MacLEOD, Edinburgh

1. Joyriders: Don’t Ask Me
My second band. We were better than your band – we were better than everyone’s band. Others caught on but they never caught up. Often an uncomfortably disappointing live experience—lay off the drink and drugs, kids.

2. Teenage Fanclub: Everything Flows
Just utterly utterly fantastic in every possible way. I could’ve chosen any single by TFC – they are the most consistently brilliant band ever to grace fair Alba and that they are not huge stars is a tragic indictment of the state of the nation’s lugs and taste. Saw them for the first supporting Primal Scream (who were unconvincing leatherclad rockers at this point doing “Ivy Ivy Ivy” etc) and was overwhelmed. Still am every time I see them. The only band ever to actually make me cry with joy in public. It’s all right tho’ – my wife cried too.

3. The Pastels: Truck Train Tractor
Simultaneously the most overrated and underrated band ever. This is the very epitome of art-pop nous and pure-pop suss. To be caught live during the 80s at yer peril – they were either a car crash or a ballet. All their records from this period are outstanding.

4. Pilot: January
If you don’t like this you have no soul and are the owner of a worn set of cloth ears, to boot. It’s even got those harmony lead guitars, for God’s sake!

5. Orange Juice: Simply Thrilled Honey
Simply captivating, Edwyn. Anything by OJ is better than anything that’s not on this list. First time I heard it I had to listen to it about 15 times on the trot. I still can’t believe how good it is.

6. Goodbye Mr Mackenzie: The Rattler
Waddaya mean it didn’t get to number 1???!!!

7. Strawberry Switchblade: Trees and Flowers
Agoraphobia made plangent and beautiful. Golly, but I fancied them summink chronic. Still do. Scarier, cleverer and more tuneful than a bag of riot grrrrls.

8. The Associates: 18 Carat Love Affair
I still get jealous when I hear this. This really is the voice of an angel. Used to “dance” to this a lot when I’d had too much fizzy pop and my legs went squidgy.

9. Bourgie Bourgie: Breaking Point
Big pop as she is meant to be. Classy beyond belief. A fave to be overwhelmed and cheered by when maudlin after nights on the piss in the 80s.

10. Cateran: Die Tomorrow EP
My first band. Sporadically brilliant. Regularly fierce. Never dull. This is the first time anyone anywhere melded proper steel guitar playing (on “Virgil’s Way”) with roughneck angst rock. Paw tried it years later to less effect. This record might be better than anything any other “rock” band in the UK was producing at the time.

Worst ever is Fandabeedozee, or howeverthfack ye spell it, by the execrable Krankies.

Speaks for itself, really. I only hope they’re not proud of this.

I’m Murdo, from Edinburgh. I was in two of those bands (Joyriders and Cateran), but am relentlessly impartial, of course, and the placings reflect my honest-to-God belief in all these releases’ greatness.
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Jocknroll · Posted: Sat Dec 16, 2006 4:12 pm Post subject:

11. MICHAEL ROBINSON, MANCHESTER

Let's get the shite out of the way, worst Scottish single Sandi Thom 'What If I'm Right'! Makes me want to puke the lyrics make my ears bleed! Now on to the good stuff:

1.Just Like Gold - Aztec Camera
I was too young to catch this first time around, only getting into Aztec Camera after seeing the video for 'Walk Out To Winter' on TV AM. So this became a Holy Grail for me, I needed to track it down to hear what I was missing & then a good friend sent me a Postcard tape with it on. There's an urgency to the song that smacks of youthful yearning, imply beautiful, still one of my all time favourite songs.

2.Fancy Dress - The Bathers
Again I was slow to discover The Bathers & went about it backwards by first discovering Love & Money, then Friends Again which lead me to Chris Thomson. This is not my favourite Bather's song but one of the two singles they released & The Bather's deserve more credit than they get.

3.Reason For Living - Roddy Frame
I went to an album launch in Glasgow & won a raffle for the album sampler, fantastic! Roddy showing his maturity, such drive & passion with great lyrics, truly inspirational. The man's got the looks, the licks, the lyrics & that lovely voice, what a package in such a wee fella!

4.Strange Honey - Bloomsday
I'd read about Chris Thomson's collaboration with 2 ex-Commotions but didn't know what to expect. I think I saw the video first on The Chart Show & I was hooked straight away. A departure from his solo Bather's material but a great single that should've been a hit.

5.State Of Art - Friends Again
My brother bought this at a college jumble sale, at the time I had not made the connection with Love & Money. This has the same kind of youthful feel that 'Just Like Gold' has.

6.Trees & Flowers - Strawberry Switchblade
I loved 'Since Yesterday' & pre-ordered the album before I went on holiday. When I came back to collect my vinyl the guy had got me a special edition with a free repressing of 'Trees & Flowers', I was blown away by it & was delighted to see Roddy Frame played on it & Kate St. John of The Dream Academy. Earlier this year I got to see Rose McDowall play in Edinburgh & the highlight was her doing 'Trees & Flowers', the teenager in me was delighted!

7.Headlights On The Parade - The Blue Nile
I got this CD single for 99p to check out who this band was, I'd read people name-checking them but had heard nothing. I hadn't expected it to be this good & I know it's obvious but it's a fantastic song.

8.Winter - Love & Money
James Grant coming of age, still a fantastic song even when he does it acoustic. One of Scotland's finest & yet underrated.

9.Chains - The River Detectives
The Chart Show was my source for discovering new talent & I taped this video as there was something I instantly liked about the song. I rewound & played it over & over then went into town & bought the single. The greatest band from Motherwell & two really nice guys who let me stay in their flat one night after a gig by my last choice.

10.Stupid Thing - Paul Quinn & The Independent Group
I was working in a CD store & I found out about this through the record company rep who new what I liked. What I heard was like nothing I'd heard before from what to me was an all star cast of a band. 'The Phantoms & The Archetypes' is such a haunting album, I travelled from Manchester to Glasgow to attend a gig at the RAF club on West Princes St the home of Postcard.

Thanks for doing your website. Cheers, Mike
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Jocknroll · Posted: Sat Dec 23, 2006 4:44 pm Post subject:

Mike Boyle from Forfar, who heard about your site from my Mrs, who heard about it from BBC Radio Scotland and Fred MacAulay. She says she told me because I'm an old anorak, and knew it would get me going, and also that I'd probably humiliate myself by coming up with stuff either a) no-one else has voted for or b) no-one else has heard of...

1. This Poison! - Engine Failure. Named after a Magazine song, hailing from Perth and the band I was in played with them three consecutive nights in Blairgowrie, Perth, and our native Dundee in the early 80s... What a bill! They went on to the dizzy heights of supporting the Wedding Present and releasing vinyl, we faded into nothing. It never, ever fails to raise a smile or get my blood flowing. Just a great, great song.

2. The Rezillos - Destination Venus. There are more obvious choices, but this was the first for me and still the best. It has a great intro, false ending and showcases everything that was fantastic about the first band I truly got into. Oooh waa waa waa.

3. The Exploited - Dead Cities. A huge wall of thunderous noise and passionate shouting from the Mohicaned Menace and his happy band of hoodlums. Their earnestness and intensity make me smile, along with the fact that they got busted as dole cheats after doing this on Top of the Pops. Thrash punk on TOTP? Those were the days.

4. Goodbye Mr McKenzie - The Rattler. Two from Big John Duncan? What's going on? Sunday night Dance Factory gigs upstairs at Fat Sams in Dundee. No matter what the band, the DJ always played this and every week my mate Grant would say, "That's brilliant. What is it?" Every week it was The Rattler and it is still brilliant. I can almost smell the Boots Country Born hair gel and taste the snakebite.

5. Jesus and Mary Chain - Upside Down. I feel my temples throb and want to scream when I listen to this. It makes me angry, powerful and happy all in one burst. In other words it elicits a response. Music that moves me makes it every time.

6. Del Amitri - Nothing Ever Happens. This moves me to tears. For a long time it was so personal and summed up my life..."and the married ones turn on a chat show"...by the time "businessman snap up Van Goghs for the price of a hospital wing," I am so sad and angry at the injustice that still exists in the world I could greet all over again.

7. First Priority - Lady Christabelle. Darlings of wonderful Radio One's Peter Powell, for whom they did a couple of sessions, this song swings and swirls. My mates' (that I was in the band with) cousin played bass for them, and for a wee while in Edinburgh you couldn't move without someone trying to get you to go to one of their gigs. Sadly not enough people did and they faded and died.

8. Armoury Show - Castles in Spain. We all know about what Stuart Adamson did after The Skids, but this was Richard Jobson's retirement fund. Just as well he went into modelling, making movies and punditry then because it seems like only me and a couple of other people bought this. We all had the 12 inch version too, must have been on special promotion in Dundee. Another Magazine connection, with the sadly now deceased Glasgow-born John McGeogh plucking that amazing riff that just won't go away...

9. The Skids - Circus Games. They had to be in there somewhere but which song?? I bought their early stuff slavishly and loved them, graffitiing the name wherever I could, but rumours started to circulate about questionable right-wing leanings and tendencies towards folksy-ness (Oh Iona!). This was in my view their great hurrah. Catchy, rocky, underpinned with a certain sadness, not sure about the children's choir though or it might have been in my top five.

10. Aztec Camera - Good Morning Britain. Roddy Frame's homage to The Clash, upon which he is ably supported by the legend that is Mick Jones, whose influence and feel is all over this bouncy, beautiful record. Another one which raises a snarl tinged smile.

Worst single
So much crap, so little space...

The Associates - Party Fears Two. Controversial choice no doubt, but isn't diversity what makes life so wonderful!? Wailing, overwrought, over-produced, nonsensical, self-indulgent...Need I go on?
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Jocknroll · Posted: Sun Jan 14, 2007 3:46 pm Post subject:

IAIN "10p Punk" MIDDLETON. ABERDEEN

Location: Aberdeen, suspected Dundonian origins.
Bands: Pint Glass. The Solicitors. No known recordings. Not many witnesses.
Heard about you from faffing about on the internet.

I didn't think I could be bothered voting what with the having to justify one's choices and the thinking and typing involved, but as you'll see once I get started I can get quite up myself. Enjoy/endure:

Best Scottish Single ever:
(The) Skids – Into the Valley Alright, if I'm honest this chart would consist at least 40% Skids singles but you've got to go with the flow sometimes… this song just kicks down walls and puts fear into the heart of… well, of fearties. Not like us, oh no. The Skids represented all it was to be young, Scottish and full of yourself - and male, particularly. Their unfulfilled demise reflected other national disappointments such as our early departure from Argentina '78. But at least we have Archie Gemmill's goal and this to be proud of…

I remember seeing this on Top of the Pops and being scared of Richard Jobson, who was still in thug mode (just prior to his "poseur" period). Hey, I was only 8. But the song stuck with me forever more and when I finally found the single years later (thanks Groucho's) I rapidly slid into my current state of being i.e. Johnny-come-lately punk rock archaeologist. This culminated in a truly memorable evening
(memorable were it not for the drink) in Dunfermline this year where 40 similar headcases held a convention to celebrate this high point of Scottish culture and sing "Into the Valley" with 2 real live actual former members of the band!

The Rezillos – Top of the Pops Fun, distilled into its purest form. Punk, pop and plastic collide in a shower of sugar-saturated "Sun-Kool" local cola. I was only a bairn at the time and got confused when they suddenly changed from "Rezillos" to "Revillos". Finally got to see them a couple of years back and they still play an almighty show. And Fay Fife still looks exactly the same. But not as the same as Jo "Dorian Grey" Callis still does. Pact with the Devil if you ask me.

The Fun Four – Singing In The Showers More fun, of a different sort, by different people. An early light in the Scottish independent punk scene showing the way with that brilliant chorus. In fact I've only ever heard this about once (thanks Lenny) but it's a measure of how immediate the hook is that it makes the 10.

Big Country – Fields of Fire Och, this is just huge. Make all the sartorial/bagpipe/daft references you like, this is a mighty, mighty tune. Naturally reminiscent of the Skids's finest (see above) due to Stuart Adamson's leading role in both, Big Country represented all it was to be young, Scottish and full of yourself (etc)… but this is rather more joyful and (somewhat) less lyrically obscure/bizarre than their antecedent band. More heart, less rock'n'roll paranoia. One of only 3 songs in history that I immediately ran for a pen and paper so's I could go and buy it.

Belle & Sebastian – I'm a Cuckoo This is just a great riff and a great tune all round – so up! Could've chosen from a whole load of B&S singles (Lazy Line Painter Jane a close contender) but this one just makes me happy whenever I hear it. There's room for pure, simple happiness here isn't there, not just cynicism, analysis and my smartarse comments?

Orange Juice – Felicity I don't know nearly as much about OJ as I should but this is genius, jangling, cantering, slipping-sliding pop with rough jaggy edges. No wonder they were, briefly, the height of cool: this sounds so clever, but effortlessly clever, like it just popped straight out of blue boy's heart.

Roddy Frame—Reason For Living And this sounds like it popped straight out of Roddy Frame's heart. I want to listen to every note and word to understand how great life can be. Oops, that sounded gay. I mostly hate singer-songwriters with their wanky listen-to-me-aren't-I-great-(and-so-humble-as-well) attitudes, but hearing this live is summat else.

Altered Images—Don't Talk To Me About Love Always remembered for "Happy Birthday" and for Clare Grogan as a precocious, saccharrine little girl… but Altered Images had a knack like few others for killer hooks and tunes to make you jump-jump. And although Clare keeps up the baby-goo-goo vocals, this tune has real emotional depth, while remaining infectiously danceable.

The Vaselines—Son Of A Gun Almost like the Ramones in its basicness. You could write it off as twee, but you'd be wrong (and thick as pig's). Perfect pop, naïve the way intelligent pop should be. Builds up into a romantic stomp. I felt really cool being into them, even though I was about 5 years late. As usual.

'Sploited – 'Sploited Barmy Army How can mere words convey the genius of the Exploited? When a kick in the bollocks is a far superior medium? Sounds like a wrong turn at sundown in the scariest housing estate in existence.

WORST:
Owen Paul: My Favourite Waste of Time. I was going to try and be all clever about this, but instead I have to go for the one which just pisses me off within a nanosecond. It's shit. Galls me even to type the title.

CONFESSION: I'd have voted for the Skids' The Saints Are Coming, but Into the Valley is at #2 so it might win. I missed out the Associates Party Fears 2 for the same reason. Tactical voting? Of course. Leaders, you get the electorate you deserve!
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Jocknroll · Posted: Tue Apr 10, 2007 5:19 pm Post subject:

Apologies to Mike McConnell for forgetting to add his Singles choices when he was a Featured Voter:

Name: Mike ‘Belfast Child’ McConnell
From: Aberdeen via Belfast
How heard: Word of mouth

1. Big Country—Fields Of Fire (400 Miles): This is the most Scotland record ever. It’s so Scotland, they even made a Scotland shaped picture disc of it. I saw the video for this on Saturday Superstore, rushed out and bought the 7” and then played it 78,016 times a day until my mum remarked scathingly that it sounded like an Orange flute band. But even this heinous slur and the carps and sneers of 10,000 music journalists over the years cannot dim my enthusiasm for this mighty mighty tune: it has all the heart and all the soul - right down to the very last second of chiming guitar on the fade-out.

I’m also sure I’m not the first person to point out that it is an exceedingly clever rewrite of ‘Guns of Navarone’, arguably making it the only ska-influenced record in your chart.

2. The Proclaimers—I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles): The Proclaimers are so Scotland, they’ll go 100 miles further than Big Country, aye, and then ALL THE WAY BACK AGAIN, so they will. And they’ll WALK, too, rather than get the train like those puffs in Big Country did in the video.

I’ve included this because a) it’s a brilliant song and b) my first ever dance with my beloved was, astonishingly, to this. Earlier that same evening I was kissed by Fab from the Strokes. A heady brew of Auchtermuchty, New York, and man on man action, I’m sure you’ll agree.

3. Associates—Party Fears Two: Fresh, sparkling, modern, clean, crisp, evergreen, sweet, alien pop genius. The great nation that is Scotland brought us the Enlightenment; television; the phone; tarmac; anaesthetics; MRI; pneumatic tyres; etc., etc., etc.. It deserves a uniquely beautiful record to represent it; not the shortbread-tin Skids.

Arise, Scotland! Make this the greatest jock ‘n’ roll single!

4. The Blue Nile—Tinseltown In The Rain: From awkward teenager, to gauche young man to graceless middle-aged oaf, the Blue Nile have soundtracked my life. This exquisite record was, to my teenage self, as delicate and beautiful as a flower; expressing perfectly the hope and fear of love, and the immense, fathomless, terrible mystery of life.

Now in weary middle age, my senses dulled by alcohol, Walkers Sensations, central heating and reality TV, it has become, as the poet Phillip Larkin once said, ‘a reminder of the strength and pain of being young; that it can’t come again, but is for others undiminished somewhere’.

5. Aztec Camera—Oblivious: AKA why must I be a teenager in love? Albeit with considerably much less angst than your mannie out of the Blue Nile.

When I was a boy I saw Roddy Frame on The Tube playing this and he looked like a man. I saw him in concert last year and he looked younger than me. How did that happen? Perhaps the naïve, hopeful beauty of this song prevents him from aging, and in his attic lurks a hideous replica - a 25 stone opposite-Frame: twisted, puce, bloated and cynical, playing god-awful American goth metal like Korn, or something. Or perhaps he just drinks less than I do.

6. The Needles – Let U Down: Aiberdein’s finest, the Needles. I have been following them for nearly 10 years and wondering why, why, why in the name of all that is right and just and true are they not the biggest band in the world? They make me weak at the knees, they make my pulse race, they make the hair stand up on the back of my neck. I love them so much I forgive them their perpetual use of ‘U’ instead of ‘You’ in their song titles.

Although all their singles are fantastic, this is the best one they have released to date and savagely spits out in 2 brutal minutes the theme of almost all Needles songs – why doesn’t that bloody girl love me?

It’s also a proper single, having been released solely on 7” vinyl. Make sure that you track down this version (on Lithium Records) pop-pickers, and not the re-recorded version on their debut album. You won’t regret it, cos you’ll also get the mighty ‘I Don’t Wanna Go To Skool’ on the b-side.

7. Soft Porn Eddie – Jane In The Rain: The drug-crazed, unGoogleable Soft Porn Eddie hailed from Bellshill in Lanarkshire. I was one of the lucky few who saw them supporting the aforementioned Needles about seven years ago and it was the only time I’ve seen the Needles outclassed. Went to see them a second time in Aberdeen with two friends and we were the only folk there, aside from SPE’s considerable (and scary) entourage fae Bellshill. SPE and friends looked like the kind of people a middle-class poof like me normally crosses the street to avoid.

However, emboldened by lager we approached the band after the show and they proved to be thoroughly nice chaps during the 5-10 minutes they weren’t fighting with each other. Thank God I had the wit to buy this great single from them, for it is now one of my most treasured possessions.

For the 99.99% of your readership who will not have heard it, it’s a wonderful glam-stomp-punk-Roxy-rifftastic-love song type thing, sung by a shirtless lunatic who sounds like a cross between Jello Biafra and Kevin Rowland. I have no idea where you might get a copy, and you can’t have mine.

8. Dawn Of The Replicants – Hogwash Farm: People from the Borders are weird, aren’t they? I imagine they all live in places like Hogwash Farm where the dog has no sense of humour and will remove your leg.

Chaos theory suggests that the mere flap of a butterfly’s wing at the North Pole can cause a tsunami in Dundee (or something). Such was the case when I speculatively bought this masterpiece in a bargain bin at a record fair for 50p, for it caused me to embark on a ten year tour of duty in DOTR’s warped and gothic world. My house now bulges with their records and memorabilia and I even have a hand-made DOTR soft toy next to my bed. I finally got to see them in concert last year and was at the bar when I realised I was standing next to the mighty Paul Vickers. Emboldened by lager, I squeaked in his ear, “will you play ‘Hogwash Farm’ tonight?” I didn’t add “sir”, but I wanted to. The great man turned slowly to me, and fixed me with a watery, otherworldly stare. “We will. We will play ‘Hogwash Farm’. We will play it” he said. And they did. And it was good. And I was happy.

9. The Exploited – Dead Cities: So imagine you’re sitting in your new Barrett home (part of a “unique exclusive development” on the site of a former Victorian museum and park). It’s Saturday night and you’ve just got your slippers on and sat down with a nice glass of Lambrusco to watch ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ Eeeh, it’s nice to get your feet up after hard afternoon hanging your new curtains. Your ‘real flame’ effect gas fire flickers becomingly next to your new high definition TV.

Suddenly your hear a roaring noise outside. My goodness, what could that be? Before you have time to think, a huge punk truck packed with punk explosives and driven by four mad punks smashes through the walls of your house and explodes, destroying everything in a righteous firestorm of punk justice and realness. As you are consumed by the rapacious flames and your ears burst with the volume of the sound, you fleetingly realise for one pure second what real living is – ‘Dead Cities’ by the Exploited.

10. Arab Strap – The Girls Of Summer: “I don’t think I’ll need a jacket”. This record manages the amazing feat of being both cynical and beautiful at the same time, and will strike a chord with anyone for whom any or all of the following applies:

a) has experienced Scotland in summer
b) is a drinker/drug user
c) is a man
d) carries with them an ineffable, world-weary sadness

Definitively Scottish and about as far from Big Country as it is possible to get.

Worst Ever Record: Simple Minds – Belfast Child: Ah ha ha. Ever get the feeling you’ve been patronised? It is said that we hate in others that which we most hate about ourselves. Well, I am a Belfast Child and I hate this record avec passion.

Weary of releasing doves for Mandela Day and bringing peace to the Middle East, Jim Kerr turns his pontificating eye to the next deserving target – the Oirish Children. What could better help stop the ‘war’ that is ‘raging’ through the ‘Emerald Isle’, than a bastardised folk song, enhanced with skirling guitars? Fair takes me back to my youth in Belfast when we danced about the streets in rags, playing our tin whistles, while picturesque snaggle-toothed peasants staggered about hurling bricks at the peelers. But, alas, now, ‘the streets are empty’. Why? Because everyone is hiding in their houses to avoid Simple Minds.

What makes this record even more heinous is that up until about 1983, Simple Minds were an amazing band: arty, weird, different, pushing boundaries. Try telling that to the youth of today and they’ll laugh at you: the band’s latter-day sell-out has destroyed their canon. And so it is that the contemporary consumer wishing to purchase an early Simple Minds CD has to hide it from the young folk working on the till amongst other credible purchases, as a man might conceal the pornography he is buying under a copy of the Daily Mail.

Of course what I hate most about this record is that on some small, dark, hidden, shameful level, I quite like it too.
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Jocknroll · Posted: Sat Apr 21, 2007 4:03 pm Post subject:

2. PETE TONKIN (we don't know where he's from, but we know where he's at)

1. The Associates - Perhaps

Vastly (I mean, hugely) under-rated, a big daft plonky-synth (side A) and torch-pop (side B) album.

(All the people who voted for 'Party Fears Two' will vote for 'Sulk' anyway...)

2. Hue and Cry - Seduced and Abandoned

I dunno, it sounds like people having FUN, loving what they're doing.

Plus you can sing along, loud, to every damned song.

3. Simple Minds - New Gold Dream (81, 82, 83, 84)

Just the best thing they ever did (*). At the time, I wasn't really interested, but now I play this album at least every few days, and I never get tired of it. Maybe that makes me a bit sad, but **** it.

(*) Where it all went wrong: "East At Easter" from 'Sparkle In The Rain'. Everything in their career from that point on was toss.

4. Gerry Rafferty - City To City

The man with the creamiest voice in rock. Such a bloody WARM album; it always sounds like deep summer, whatever time of year you play it.

5. Bis - Return To Central

Record companies who don't throw tens of thousands of pounds at these three kids (well, they're kids to me) to make music are stupid cloth-eared c***s. It's shocking both how talented they are, and how little recogntion they get.

6. Orange Juice - Texas Fever

Phew, it just scrapes in on your 'mini-LP' rule. I'd never heard of Dennis Bovell (the producer) before this, and it seems a slightly bizarre pairing, but it really works. The production really brings out the songs and gives them some welly.

7. Billy Mackenzie - Outernational

Hah, nearly forgot I could vote for Billy too. All the cliches spouted about this record are true, that's why they're cliches.

(Apart from the cover of 'Pastime Paradise', what was he thinking there??)

8. Primal Scream - XTRMNTR

Everything else they've ever done: overblown, worthless wannabe detestable crap.

This album: brilliant. WTF?

9. Motormark - Pop:Up

They stayed in our house and were lovely people

10. Belle and Sebastain - Dear Catastrophe Waitress

Trevor Horn!! Those songs!! Hahaha. Fab.

Worst album by anyone ever, let alone Scottish:

The Fratellis - Costello Music

**** OFF **** OFF **** OFF **** OFF ...(this goes on for a couple of days - The Cat)... **** OFF **** OFF YOU TALENTLESS IDEA-FREE C**TS. *cough*
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Jocknroll · Posted: Sat Apr 28, 2007 8:22 am Post subject:

3. ANDY JACKSON, Tayport, Fife

The Best

The Blue Nile : Hats
(Just the best record ever recorded by a Scots band. No-one who's ever heard it playing in my house or car has failed to either a) ask me who it was, or b) told me how much they love the Blue Nile. Will still be played in 100 years time).

The Cocteau Twins : Treasure
(Shimmering soundscapes and a bonecrunching drum sound. Utterly compelling in an 80s way. The ultimate Cocteaus album).

Lloyd Cole & The Commotions : Rattlesnakes
(The literate heart of Scotish pop. They were only ever going to get away with one LP of this sort of stuff, but they crammed the LP with tunes and lyrics that were so perfect that they could have packed up and gone home after the sessions leading to this album were done. The Scottish Smiths? Or were The Smiths the English Commotions?).

The Waterboys : The Waterboys
(This really was 'The Big Music'. 'December' and 'Girl Called Johnny' are obvious standouts, but the slow-burn of 'Savage Earth Heart' and the majestic conclusion to 'Gala' are quite breathtaking).

The Associates : Sulk
(Billy is dead and he was truly a one-off. His best tunes aren't buried with him in a lonely Dundee grave, they still strut and swagger around your town on this musical testament to how being alive is just the best thing that can ever happen to you. William and Alan, it was really something).

Primal Scream : Screamadelica
(Ground-breaking albums are genuinely rare, but this is one. 'Come Together' and 'Loaded' set a standard for dance-rock which has yet to be matched, and 'Movin' On Up' can be played at my funeral to ensure everyone leaves with a smile on their face).

Win : Uhh! Tears Baby (A Trash Icon)
(A lost classic. Davey Henderson was at least as smart and lyrically strong as Llloyd Cole, but chose bright synthpop to illuminate his talent. Should have sold millions, should be available on CD, but unfortunately neither are the case).

Simple Minds : Sons & Fascination
(Forget the bombast of later years - twittering synths and muscular bass mean it's the 80s again, but this was the sound of a band finding out that it really had something to contribute).

Boards of Canada : Music Has The Right To Children
(BoC have a sound that no-one else can re-create, and this is an electronic LP that owes no debt of influence to anyone. A million miles from the dancefloor but with a pulse-racing all the same)

Mylo : Destroy Rock'n'Roll
(Mylo is a bit closer to the dancefloor, but every list needs a record that allows you to let your hair down. Uplifting grooves and euphoric sounds like these don't owe much to Scottish pop, but if this is the Sound of Young Skye then I'm heading back there right away).

The Worst

Stuart Anderson : Stuart Anderson Plays Scottish Favourites
(Dreadful cute chocolate-box Scots kid who modelled himself on Andy Stewart, singing twee Scots standards (and getting repeat invitations to Swap Shop, or one of its successors) with a cheeky wee glint and a hint of emerging puberty in the swish of his kilt. Everything I hate about Scotland in one record. I suspect he was put up to it by his parents.)
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