If you haven't already...

[morgaine_x]

pshtaku's post on musicians originating from Scotland: here, but f-locked, and who/why you love them, originally inspired by this website and BBC2 is a great head-scratcher's way to lose a few hours.



Personal and idiosyncratic, then... (not necessarily in order, or even otherwise organized)

The Jesus and Mary Chain - Psychocandy (I was volunteering at the uni radio station when that came in. And listening to Jim Reid solo on my iPod today at work. I'd marry him. And I say that about very few people...)

Del Amitri - Waking Hours (Not because it's necessarily my favourite, but because "Nothing Ever Happens" summed up exactly how I felt about England when I first heard it. And "Here and Now" has one of the most plaintive lines in existence. On another album, of course.)

Big Country - Big Country (Because I remember listening to it on cassette, and it was Canada & Scotland having loads in common, and they had a Canadian drummer, and oh loads of things) (Or have I confused them with Runrig once again? as I have before.)

Nazareth - Greatest Hits (Because I heard it so many times as a teeneger that it's been burnt into my head, and Dan McCafferty's voice is quintessential, and they covered Joni, and their version of the Bryants' "Love Hurts" is unsurpassed; even though artists I love more individually have also covered it, they still put me back on a teenager's dancefloor at the end of the night.)

Martyn Bennett - Bothy Culture (Because he was magical at Cambridge, but by the time I remembered that and who he was, he was dead. And he'd lived in Newfoundland. I always have this album on the iPod, and may prevail upon some of you on the right-hand side of the Atlantic to source his other recordings for me.)

Lloyd Cole - Rattlesnakes (Because - wry. and it still sounds like it used to.)

ah... Simple Minds - for reasons much like Big Country...

Many others - Texas - only for "I don't want a lover"; Gerry Rafferty for "Baker Street", which owned a summer of lost innocence, along with "Sultans of Swing"; Eddi Reader, for being such an angel at Cambridge; The Waterboys, if their nationality can only be settled! Primal Scream, for their Stones period and my lost weekend; John Martyn, who has a few lost weekends to answer for, in more ways than one; Aztec Camera, who belong here, with Edwyn Collins, and so many more...


ETA: I missed out the Bay City Rollers, the only boy band I ever loved, evah. wingedelf, do you know Martyn Bennett's work? I bet you do... and he was born here in St John's, to my surprise. And I left out Ian Anderson, and Midge Ure, and Deacon Blue, and the Blue Nile... and god knows who else...

Comments

[misfitina.livejournal.com]

no Slade?
no Def Leppard?
no Bay City Rollers?
no Scott Walker?
no CHRIS CONNELLY????

hehe - i just had to be the asshole asking "what about-"

[morgaine-x.livejournal.com]

I mean to include the Rollers actually - becasue they were my only boy band, evah. And I left out Deacon Blue, too.

Slade & Def Leppard were certainly English, but I can't make a Scottish connection? Or for Scott Walker - other than his first name, of course :)

Chris Connelly is Scottish? Geez, I didn't know that...

[misfitina.livejournal.com]

hells yeah!

hmm. am confusing ethnicity with location. sorry! ;P

[morgaine-x.livejournal.com]

See? now you'll have to finish your list... took me ages and I keep remembering the ones I missed.

[misfitina.livejournal.com]

it's on the stack of things i'll never finish ;) haha

erm..

[wingedelf.livejournal.com]

Don't know a lot of Bennett, other than that like Jeff Buckley, he passed all too soon. They're probably off having pints on the Summerlands somewhere.

I'll probably have a go at this bit, but on the morrow when i need to get away from work.

[hano.livejournal.com]

I think we figured the Waterboys were more er, well all over the place really. I must see what bootlegs of theirs I can pick up online - see, I know that in a vault somewhere are multitrack broad cast quality master tapes of nearly every gig they did in the 80s and I would *love* to get my hands on them to put together the definitive live box set. I'll do some digging...

[rhythmaning.livejournal.com]

I like your choices - sorry, love your choices. Aside from Bay City Rollers. And I think I would pick Sensational Alex Harvey Band instead of Nazareth.

Definitely the Waterboys. JAMC. Lloyd Cole (with or without the Commotions?). Primal Scream, if only for Screamadelic. (Actually, if only for Higher Than The Sun!) And Simple Minds for about twenty gigs.

I guess I could go on and on...

[rhythmaning.livejournal.com]

Several years ago, I saw Mike Scott play a solo, acoustic gig in a tent in Edinburgh. Someone called out for the Waterboys. "I am the Waterboys!" Scott shouted back. And he's Scottish.

[morgaine-x.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I know, I could go on & on too. I did, a bit. ;)

Yes, definitely the Waterboys. Lloyd Cole, either way.

SAHB I know, but they haven't made that needed impression on my subconscious. You never know; maybe later. Nazareth were ubiquitous here when I first started listening to music and are still often heard on the local classic rock radio station.

[morgaine-x.livejournal.com]

And the Rollers were just an echo from my pre-teen years - gotta have one...

[morgaine-x.livejournal.com]

you do that. I'll wait ;)