Gift of the Lasting Local Sound
What music’s gained from the D.I.Y. attitude of Scotland in the eighties
‘Rip it up and start again’ — the recognisable chorus from Scottish indie band Orange Juice’s 1983 single ‘Rip it Up’. The track, marking a shift in the band’s style, came to define the sound of a movement wheeching out of Scottish venues. The reinvigorated sound of Scottish music.
The contemporary sound of Scottish music lies within the repertoires of Calvin Harris and Lewis Capaldi. And those who indirectly encouraged them, artists like Altered Images and Deacon Blue, go over the heads of today’s youth. These bands alongside Orange Juice were trailblazers of music cultivated by Scots in the 1980s and a sound that reached beyond mere pop. The sound was unique and bellowed to the heart of the music industry.
The political unrest of Thatcherism became a central trope within 80s music but parallel to this, a musical restlessness simmered in Scotland. Aberdonian Annie Lennox, famed front-woman of internationally successful duo Eurythmics, gained success after moving to London, which was the done thing for an aspiring musician. Scotland was the producer, not the nurturer. Successful bands paraded the Glasgow and Edinburgh music scene; eventually, the cries of fatigued musicians championing Scottish music’s progression from folk drew record labels to the nation.
Altered Images, an established band in the Glasgow realm, was formed in 1979 by a group of schoolmates with a collective interest in the punk sound that bounced across Britain. The band led by Clare Grogan, a hybrid of happy-go-lucky with a cool edge, saw nationwide success after the release of the 1981 single ‘Happy Birthday’. The band’s movement towards a more pop-oriented sound resulted in future successful singles like ‘I Could Be Happy’ (1981) and ‘Don't Talk to Me About Love’ (1983).
Aside from Altered Images, Orange Juice lay at the forefront of Scotland’s independent music scene . Glasgow record label Postcard backed the group and defied the nation’s musical belittlement. Combining genres and musical styles, the band’s sound even today is standalone. The band’s only top 40 single ‘Rip It Up’, which premised the use of a Roland TB-303 synthesiser, is widely regarded as one of the greatest songs of all time.
The “Postcard sound” headed by Orange Juice was wholeheartedly a game-changer for the Scottish music industry; Scotland did not need to call on its neighbour. The movement overwhelmed a nation, turning conceptions of music on their head. Scottish internationally acclaimed acts that followed like Texas and Garbage wouldn't have existed without this regeneration in the 80s.
Yet, how did the movement feel and why did it happen? And truly, to a Scot, what was the movement itself? The Saint sat down with Nick Wright — DJ “Screaming Wheels” — to answer these questions.
Nick participated in the Scottish punk-rock-pop movements, as a concert-goer, musician, and club manager. He started out designing graphics for the University of Dundee’s Ents (Entertainment) Team. On this team, Nick met Stuart Clumpas, the Ents Convener who sought out musicians to perform at Dundee’s Student Union. Clumpas later started Dance Factory, a Dundee club, for which Nick worked as the artists’ rider. Brewing bands cycled through Student Union and clubs like Dance Factory, including’s Nick’s own Soul Kiss Club. Eventually, Clumpas and others moved to Glasgow, but Nick stayed in Dundee.
It was in these Dundee clubs that Nick first detected the musical restlessness, an almost whir — what later became the backbone of Scotland’s D.I.Y. (Do it yourself) musical movement.
This interview is an attempt to capture that energy.
Helen: Do you think it’s worth exploring Scotland’s music scene?
Nick: Yes. Scotland massively punches above its weight. Given its size, geographically and population-wise.
Helen: Why do you say that?
To answer this question, we looked a bit earlier.
Helen: What had been the norm for musicians in Scotland before the 1980s and late 1970s?
Nick: You learned how to play your music. You played in club-y bands. There’d be a live band. They’d play a cover. People would sit and sing along.
And although these musicians played covers, they were obtaining the equipment, locating the gear, practising constantly. They were good, and they were everywhere. Nick continues,
Nick: But these musicians didn’t just want to be in cover bands. They had ideas and were interested in doing other things.
This buzz gave way to D.I.Y. punk — a genre defined by simple instrumentation, harsh vocals, politically-charged lyricism, and an attitude of independence. The initial phase of the D.I.Y. punk movement said that anyone could be a musician, not necessarily that all could record and distribute their own records. But then, according to Pitchfork, English punk-rock group the Buzzcocks produced Spiral Scratch, a four-song EP released in 1977 on their own label New Hormones. The Buzzcocks set the example. The D.I.Y. movement was no longer tethered to the corporate label.
The birthplace of this punk innovation, or, rather, independence of sorts, is not obvious: you had the Ramones and Television in New York City, the Clash and the Sex Pistols in London.
But Scotland particularly benefited from the newfound freedom. Not all the music coming from Scotland in the 80s was punk, but it progressed from the D.I.Y. attitude. London was no longer the sole decider of worthwhile music coming from the UK. The decision — to create, record, produce, and distribute — became the individual’s.
Those who had been practising in Scotland started to evolve. And Scotland proved a particularly suitable place to self-produce records and play music. Nick noted the country’s geography made touring accessible to the D.I.Y. band. Aberdeen, Glasgow, Dundee, and Edinburgh were all within a couple of hours of one another. All a musician needed was equipment, energy, and an idea.
Helen: So this was all happening in Scotland?
Nick: Yes, specifically in Dundee because the city had loads of great soul musicians. Edinburgh, yes, but it generally had a more theatre-type scene. Scottish musicians would eventually move to Glasgow. Edwyn Collins came from Dundee but ended up in Glasgow. It’s where you went when you wanted to get signed. Record labels would come up to Glasgow, but the artists were coming from all over Scotland. Once you were in Glasgow, there was more happening, more venues. Bands were breaking up and coming back together. Companies were coming up to Glasgow, signing bands like Altered Images, the Bluebells, Lloyd Cole and the Commotions.
Helen: Where does Orange Juice fall into this?
Nick: Orange Juice was before that. They established the fact that you didn’t have to go to London.
Helen: So, they were the pioneers of that?
Nick: Very much so. Alan Horne of Postcard Records. He said, “We’re not going to London. You’re going to make music here”. ‘The Sound of Young Scotland’ — that was the kind of “tag-line” of their work. Orange Juice used to come and play and stuff at the Student Union when I was there. And, also, they played at the Bowling Alley.
Helen: But it wasn’t just Orange Juice?
Nick: Orange Juice, the Associates, Garbage, the Skids, Altered Images, Deacon Blue, the Rezillos. Indirectly, Simple Minds, the Waterboys, the Proclaimers, Annie Lennox.
Helen: Do you think Scotland’s music scene’s still worth paying attention to? Does the buzz still exist? In St Andrews, you definitely see a wave of techno-electronic music coming up with several DJ collectives.
Nick: That’s just what you’re seeing. But then there’s also, just down the coast, Cellardyke with James Yorkston and King Creosote. And they’re making music all the time.
Helen: What about Dundee and Glasgow?
Nick: I’m not sure about Dundee. I haven’t been involved in the scene in a while. But there’s still a unique Scottish voice. The development of music is constant. It’s potentially more of a Glasgow thing, but it’s there nonetheless.
Orange Juice, the Associates, Altered Images, and, in some format, Simple Minds, the Proclaimers, Annie Lennox — they reflect the understated musical ingenuity of Scotland in the 80s. The country relished its newfound freedom from London. These musicians set the stage for Belle and Sebastian, Biffy Clyro, Franz Ferdinand, Mogwai, KT Tunstall, Paolo Nutini, the Fratellis, Idlewild, Frightened Rabbit, the Twilight Sad, CHVRCHES, and, finally, Calvin Harris and Lewis Capaldi.
The Scottish musical whir never really subsided. And, so it’s clear. The evidence stands. Scotland really does, as Nick noted, punch above its weight.
Graphics: Nick Wright
Illustration: Holly Ward