No 168, 6th September 1986
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No 1! No 168, 6th September 1986 |
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| Page 1 · Page 3 · Pages 8 & 9 · Page 11 · Page 47 |
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Front Cover Features Stuart Adamson (main photo) - BIG MAC - The Naked Stuart Adamson. Also features - Inside - Morten Centrespread (inset photo) Other features - Frankie, Pop School, Cameo, Smiley Culture, Simply Red, Haywoode, Pet Shop Boys. Cover photo by Mike Prior. |
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Page 3 (Contents) FEATURES 8 Big Country The life and times of Stuart Adamson REGULARS 46 Charts |
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Page 8 Country Life His first group was called Tattoo, he was in the Boys Brigade, he loves motorbikes, he used to be a Skid and there's lots more. Yes, Stuart Adamson is not as boring as he seems. Max Bell listens to his life story, ears agog. Photos: Clare Muller Page 9 Roots "I was born in Manchester but I consider myself a true blue Scotsman. The reason I was born on the wrong side of border was that my father was a collier, working on the tramp steamers delivering coke. He was trained as a naval engineer, which was a job that meant constant travel. When I was six months old we moved back to a little village called Crossgates, near Cowdenbeath. "I have a younger sister who I'm close with. Our whole family is very tight knit. I remember holidays with grandparents in Arbroath. All my cousins would go and it was that thing of seven kids sharing a bedroom and having adventures. "I still feel that my family roots and a sense of belonging are important. I enjoy that security and in my job with its constant travelling, those roots are good to get back to." Fitba Crazy "I joined the Boys Brigade as a kid, mainly for the football rather than any religious reason. I've always loved football - I still support Dunfermline - and I played for the school second eleven. I did well at school though I was a terrible student, always bunking. At High School I got eight O Levels and four Highers and was meant to go to college but I needed money for guitars. I did attend Napier College in Edinburgh for a while, studying to be an Environmental Health Officer, but music was always the priority. "At Napier I got friendly with Willie Simpson (later The Skids bassist) and we'd muck about at home with my first electric guitar, a Hofner Verithin. Music was socially encouraged at home. Dad was friendly with local C&W bands and mum was manageress in a Cowdenbeath record store. After the Saturday shopping she'd put away pennies for singles. "My first record was by Dave Davies of the Kinks - "Death Of A Clown". I'd play all my singles around 30 times in a row on my first record player, on old Dansette given to me by my Aunt Rosa. Dad eventually bought me a Spanish acoustic guitar and I learnt to play using the BBC book Hold Down A Chord." Potatoes And Paraffin "I earnt my pocket money with two jobs. I delivered paraffin in winter and picked potatoes in summer. Both cracking jobs. With the cash I bought records, albums by Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath and clothes. I was a skinhead then with short hair and sensible gear. I remember we'd go to Arthur Black's in Fife for our handmade shirts and we'd be so terrified of the neds outside we'd go on a Tuesday morning! "I'd be about 14 then and in my first group Tattoo. We organised gigs and discos at the local Miners Welfare Institute. They were so successful we could update our gear. That was our Roxy Music/Bowie phase but my real hero was Bill Nelson of Be Bop Delux. "Tattoo split up when our Luton van got knackered. Willie and me hitched to Amsterdam after dividing up the money but I got homesick and came back." A Punk Is Born "Punk was starting to get popular when I got back to Scotland. I wanted to play my own stuff and get away from the cover version image of the local groups. Me and my punky mates bought our gear from jumble sales because you couldn't get narrow bottom trousers in 1976. I took terrible stick for not wearing flares but Punk's self expression was what got me. Willie came back and then we teamed up with Richard Jobson through a mutual friend at a Rezilloes gig in Dunfermline. Richard's first words to me were 'I do a great Lou Reed impersonation'. "We advertised for our drummer and got a guy called Tam Kelly who had sideburns and a moustache. The advert said 'Drummer required for New Wave Band'. When he auditioned he said 'Are you called New Wave Band?', which gives you an impression of how naive folk were. Richard Jobson's brother John christened us The Skids for our first gigs at Edinburgh Clouds and the Kenima Ballroom in Dunfermline." Virgin Boys "Looking back at the early days they were amazing times. Our first single 'Charles' was on an independant label. John Peel picked up on it and we ended up selling 30,000 copies. Today that would get you in the Top Ten. Then it got us signed to Virgin. Again John Peel recommended us to them. We were so desperate to sign we just took the money immediately. It wasn't on outlandish deal. "Virgin was a small hippy label then but it was one of the first to... CONTINUES OVER -> |
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Page 11 ...continued ...break punk, Apart from us they had Magazine, Penetration and of course the Sex Pistols. My own faves were The Clash, Buzzcocks, Jam, Subway Sect and the brilliant Prefects." U2's Edge Pinches Licks Shock! "The Clash's 'White Riot' tour in 1977 shaped my idea of what rock could be. It had to have that energy or there was no point. We were lucky in that Peel was an ally and then The Stranglers got us on a tour as support. We had a hit with 'Into The Valley' and then 'The Saints Are Coming'. The Edge from U2 says those are his favourite singles from that era. He's since stolen all my best licks." Stu And Sandra "I got married to my wife Sandra in 1980. I was still really skint then but Bill Nelson was a friend more than a hero and he invited us to his house for our honeymoon. If you knew how much I rated him...still do. He ended up producing our LP 'Days In Europa'. The Skids went sour after that. Richard was into London socialising and the New Romantic scene, Blitz, Rusty Egan, Steve Strange. I was more of a shy lad. I liked the New Romantic togs but I couldn't appreciate the music much. We took on some influences for the 'Absolute Game' album, which was our best record and then we had a brilliant line-up with Russell Webb. "Richard was getting into his art and poetry thing and I was bored. I thought I might as well leave now. Richard and Russell gave me a terrible bad mouthing in the press afterwards but it's water under the bridge now. I kept my silence and today we're friendly. We met up recently to do a 'Best Of Skids' for Virgin." Jam And Chips "Sandra and I were living in a one-roomed flat in Townhill above a chip shop by now and I was auditioning people for Big Country. Rick Butler from The Jam sat in because we were mates with The Jam. Bruce Watson was first in. We did a support to Alice Cooper almost immediately and it was a total disaster. Mark and Tony joined us from a band called On The Air and we signed to Phonogram. "The Big Country name was chosen by me because it meant a feeling of fresh air and adventure. Our music was very optimistic and romantic then and the 'Boys Own' type graphics fitted in well. I rate our first LP 'The Crossing'. It has a nice innocent quality. The rest, as they say, is history." The Adamson Family "We have two children - Calum, our son who is five, and Kirsten, she's 18 months. I space out my life so I'm at home a lot. Sandra always accepted my lifestyle but as I said earlier roots are important. I reckon I see my kids more than people in nine to five jobs. "Calum has been out on the road with me but I just stress what I do is a job. Kids don't understand you if you say you're playing - they get the wrong idea. Calum's a kid so he's into kid things. It'd be better for me if I was He Man than in a rock group." The Occasional Trout "I don't live in a castle as the press says. We live in a large country house outside Dunfermline. It was given to the Steward for the area by Queen Anne via James I of Scotland in sixteen hundred and something. What I paid for it wouldn't get a two bedroomed flat in London so living in Scotland has its side benefits. There are rough grazing grounds and a burn (river) running through the garden which delivers the occasional trout. We don't farm anything unless you count the two dogs and Sandra's seven guinea pigs. They keep on having litters." Rice Burners "I love motorcycling. I don't quite know why but it must be the feeling of speed coupled with being at one with a machine. It's a touch of the Zen And The Art Of Motorcycle Maintenance and a touch of that pushing yourself to the limits Hunter S Thompson wrote about in Hells Angels. "I've got two bikes, cheap rice burners. I have a Suzuki 1100 and a 750 Honda which I lend to a mate who races for the British Production Team. I relax by doing circuits at the local Knock Hill track. I admire the concentration and dedication of the skilled pros. Maybe if I wasn't a musician I'd have visions of being a motorcycling champion." |
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Page 47 The Network Chart, Week ending September 6, 1986. UK Albums 34, 30, 44, 4 - Once Upon A Time, Simple Minds (Virgin) 49, 34, 9, 4 - The Seer, Big Country (Mercury) 74, 67, 47, 1 - Hounds of Love, Kate Bush (EMI) (This week / last week / weeks in chart / highest position) Compiled by MRIB |