Top 75 Scottish albums
The thread on the top Irish albums reminded me of last year's poll conducted by www.jocknroll.co.uk to find the top Scottish albums.
Some wonderful choices (Teenage Fanclub, Waterboys, Blue Nile) and some not so great I would say (Wet Wet Wet, Annie Lennox).
Still, overall, for a country of just 5 million, I think that's a pretty strong selection.
1 Big Country - The Crossing (1983)
2 Jesus and Mary Chain - Psychocandy (1985)
3 Aztec Camera - High Land, Hard Rain (1983)
4 Deacon Blue - Raintown (1987)
5 Lloyd Cole and the Commotions - Rattlesnakes (1984)
6 Primal Scream - Screamadelica (1991)
7 The Blue Nile - Hats (1989)
8 Franz Ferdinand - Franz Ferdinand (2004)
9 The Blue Nile - A Walk Across The Rooftops (1984)
10 Travis - The Man Who (1999)
11 Orange Juice - You Can't Hide Your Love Forever (1982)
12 Simple Minds - New Gold Dream (81 82 83 84) (1982)
13 The Waterboys - This Is The Sea (1985)
14 Teenage Fanclub - Grand Prix (1995)
15 The Associates - Sulk (1982)
16 Belle and Sebastian - If You're Feeling Sinister (1996)
17 John Martyn - Solid Air (1973)
18 The Rezillos - Can't Stand The Rezillos (1978)
19 The Sensational Alex Harvey Band - Next... (1973)
20 Love and Money - Dogs In The Traffic (1991)
21 Idlewild - The Remote Part (2002)
22 Horse - The Same Sky (1990)
23 Cocteau Twins - Treasure (1984)
24 Trashcan Sinatras - Cake (1990)
25 The Skids - Scared To Dance (1979)
26 Simple Minds - Sparkle In The Rain (1984)
27 Del Amitri - Waking Hours (1989)
28 The Waterboys - Fisherman's Blues (1988)
29 Teenage Fanclub - Bandwagonesque (1991)
30 Belle and Sebastian - The Boy With The Arab Strap (1998)
31 Mogwai - Mogwai Young Team (1997)
32 The Proclaimers - Sunshine on Leith (1988)
33 Goodbye Mr Mackenzie - Good Deeds and Dirty Rags (1989)
34 Big Dish - Swimmer (1986)
35 Camera Obscura - Let's Get Out Of This Country (2006)
36 Hipsway - Hipsway (1986)
37 Kevin McDermott Orchestra - Mother Nature's Kitchen (1989)
38 The Silencers - A Letter From St Paul (1987)
39 Edwyn Collins - Gorgeous George (1994)
40 Aztec Camera - Love (1987)
41 Wet Wet Wet - Popped In Souled Out (1987)
42 Annie Lennox - Diva (1992)
43 The Delgados - The Great Eastern (2000)
44 Gun - Taking On The World (1989)
45 The Proclaimers - This Is The Story (1987)
46 Danny Wilson - Meet Danny Wilson (1987)
47 Roddy Frame - Surf (2002)
48 The Beta Band - Three EPs (1998)
49 Friends Again - Trapped and Unwrapped (1984)
50 KT Tunstall - Eye To The Telescope (2004)
51 Texas - White on Blonde (1997)
52 James Grant - Holy Love (2004)
53 Belle and Sebastian - The Life Pursuit (2006)
54 Boards of Canada - Music Has The Right To Children (1998)
55 Josef K - The Only Fun In Town (1981)
56 The Fratellis - Costello Music (2006)
57 Cocteau Twins - Heaven Or Las Vegas (1990)
58 The Bluebells - Sisters (1984)
59 Texas - Southside (1989)
60 Trashcan Sinatras - Weightlifting (2004)
61 Love and Money - Strange Kind of Love (1988)
62 The Skids - The Absolute Game (1980)
63 Paolo Nutini - These Streets (2006)
64 The Skids - Days in Europa (1979)
65 Scars - Author! Author! (1981)
66 Del Amitri - Change Everything (1992)
67 The Associates - Fourth Drawer Down (1982)
68 Teenage Fanclub - Songs From Northern Britain (1997)
69 Simple Minds - Once Upon A Time (1985)
70 Close Lobsters - Foxheads Stalk This Land (1987)
71 Simple Minds - Sons and Fascination (1981)
72 The View - Hats Off To The Buskers (2006)
73 The Bathers - Kelvingrove Baby (1997)
74 Cocteau Twins - Garlands (1982)
75 Idlewild - 100 Broken Windows (2000)
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The best Scottish album ever...
...is The Crossing, by Big Country?
Jesus.
Scottish nation, have a long word with yourself then go and sit on the naughty step.
For a decade.
I wouldn't agree
with the 'winner' either.
What is most depressing...
...is that in the top 75, there are 74 albums that are better than that one.
I would have anything by the Associates, the Cocteaus, Aztec Camera, Josef K, Orange Juice, The JAMC, SAHB, Fire Engines, even bloody Simple Minds, ahead of that one.
As the late lamented John Peel said... the group that put the 'tree' into 'Big Country'.
Ooops..
Just spotted Paolo Nutini in there.
Make that 73 better albums.
What is a "Scottish album" when it's at haem?
If, rather than any album by someone who just happens to be Scottish (in which case, it'd have to be Solid Air, surely), it's one that wears its Scottishness on its sleeve, then Big Country is a reasonable choice, I suppose.
Everyone's always going to
Everyone's always going to quibble with lists like this but what's striking is the amount of great music that Scotland has produced given how small its population is. Don't really know what the equivalent area in England would be in terms of population etc. but I doubt if any British region of equivalent size could come up with such a wealth of great music.
My order is: 68, 11, 14, 3 and 32. And I'll have some fried rice with that. Deep fried.
Not bad, not bad
but ...
Wot, no KT Tunstall or King Creosote? No My Latest Novel?
Also, I'd definitely go with the early Camera Obscura (Biggest Bluest Hi-Fi, Underachievers Please Try Harder) and the woefully under-recognised ballboy - (A Guide for the Daylight Hours, The Royal Theatre)
And surely No. 1 has to be Belle and Sebastian - Tigermilk, whatever you think of their more recent meanderings.
Oh yes
just spotted KT @ No 50 - partial apology
close lobsters
Close Lobsters above Cocteau Twins? RECOUNT!!!!!!!
A very pleasing list......
....but it would have been good to see acceptance of a less "rockist" stance. The irish list was at least inclusive of Planxty, amongst others. OK so Fishermans Blues and John Martyn slip in, but it would have been good to see some Runrig (The Big Wheel would be my choice). I could add Wolfstone, Capercaillie, Ceolbeg, Battlefield Band, Dick Gaughan and Jackie Leven.
Good call
Gaughan, Runrig and Leven should definitely be in there.
And whither the Corries..?
...whether angry or otherwise. I guess they were more of a singles band.
What, no Pearlfishers?
What, no Pearlfishers?
He came that god from the factory floor
Hurrah for Big Country!
All five of the blue nile lp should be there. and what about the shop asssitants? also weren't we always lead to believe if the charts were based on scotland runrig would number one for ever?
The Crossing...
If it was just a sales thing then I could understand The Crossing being up there... probably sold a fair few back in the 80's, likely more than anything else on the list. But it pales in comparison musically to some of the other albums on there.
On a "Where are they Now" tip, Bruce Watson from Big Country is now allegedly working as a builders labourer in Dunfermline, according to my friend.
What? No Jesse Rae?
This man co-wrote Inside Out
This man co-wrote Inside Out for Odyssey as well as being a comedy Scots singer in full battle dress. I used to live between Melrose & Galashiels and he was often spotted "doon the toon" in full regalia.
No Average White Band?
Perhaps omitted because they are not very "Scottish" sounding but they had their moments (Pick Up The Pieces etc.).
Otherwise, not a bad list, although I would have had The Associates at No. 1.
No Midge?
The list has also reminded me that Orange Juice were another of those "I thought they'd be massive but it never quite happened" bands.
I feel sorry for those fluffy River Detectives
everone always forgets about them.
Wot no...
Hue & Cry!?!?!
Incidentally, did anyone see the Caledonia Dreaming programme on BBC4 the other week?
Actually really interesting and reminded me of that rather odd time in the early 90s when many Scottish acts went all political and tried to influence devolution... and lost shedloads of sales because of it!
That was also a period which
That was also a period which saw a collective Scottish fixation with Steely Dan. The former members of that band must have been taking a lot of shortbread through customs at that time, because they all seemed to be employed producing Scottish acts.
Names Please!
Which bands do you mean? Not disagreeing with you, just not sure (and curious to know) which Scottish bands tried to influence devolution and lost sales as a consequence.
Pat Kane of Hue & Cry fanicied himself as a Socialist Renaissance Man but that's not specifically related to devolution and anyway his band's loss of sales was probably due to lack of good tunes rather than any political leanings.
I know one of the Runrig guys went into politics but not sure if that had any effect on their sales either.
Other than that, not sure who you mean - interested to know though!
Wasn't it Ricky Ross and Pat
Wasn't it Ricky Ross and Pat Kane complaining on the documentary ?
Give scotland back to the scottish?
Even less heard variant of the similar song by the erstwhile "Mull" of Kintyre.
(Gaelic for funny hair)
Aztec Camera
Much as I love High Land I'm really surprised Knife isn't in there. It is a very underrated album and I think it suffered at the time because Roddy chose Mark Knopfler as the producer.