The Proclaimers - Sunshine On Leith

  

" Sunshine on Leith" was the second album from unfashionable Scottish twin brothers Craig and Charlie Reid, who with their NHS glasses and dress sense made you feel comfortable with your choice of fashion.

I saw them play "I'm Gonna Be ( 500 miles )" on Pebble Mill At One when I should have been studying, and thought it was really good. I had previously only heard "Letter From America" but I had read somewhere that they had acquired a rockier edge, playing with a full band sound, adding guitar, drums and keyboards. 

I really didn't know what to expect when I purchased the album but I was pleasantly surprised to find it was excellent, with a mix of love, drinking and protest songs, in particular in favour of Scottish Independence. There were plenty of catchy, sing along song, a few tender ballads, and the lyrics mixed insight with humour. The brothers were capable of strong harmonies, as well as frequent counter-point vocals. 

Many people don't sing with an accent, but that is something the Proclaimers could never be accused off, being unmistakably Scottish. They were labelled by some as a Scottish Billy Bragg.

Five songs on this album were used in the Dexter Fletcher directed "Sunshine on Leith" film/musical, which I found pleasantly entertaining when I saw it on TV a few years ago as a late night Christmas offering, as long as you didn't apply too much critical thinking to the plot, especially near the end when hundreds of people in Edinburgh spontaneously break into a choreographed dance routine to I'm Gonna Be ( 500 miles ), as we all do !

I could remember all twelve songs on the album and whilst just about everyone knows "I'm Gonna Be ( 500 miles", "I'm On My Way", "Cap In Head", "It's Saturday Night" and "Sunshine On Leith" were also very strong songs. 

Side One begins with "I'm Gonna Be ( 500 Miles )", and I was surprised to learn it only got as high as number 11 in the UK charts. It introduced the Scots word "haver" to the wide public, which apparently means to talk foolishly or to babble. The electric guitar riff and drumming immediate catch the attention, as do the "Da-da da da (Da-da da da), Da-da da da (Da-da da da). Da-da dum diddy dum diddy dum diddy da da da" in the post chorus, in what underneath it all, is a song about undying love.

"Cap In Hand" is a jaunty protest song in which the singer explains many things they understand, like telling the difference between margarine and butter, can pronunce Saskatchewan without starting to stutter, and why Stranraer lie so lowly, they could save a lot of points by signing Hibs goalie, but can't understand why we let someone else rule our land, cap in hand.

"Then I Met You" is a sweet story of how a couple met and how pointless the singer’s life was until that moment, whilst "My Old Friend The Blues" is a cover of a US Country singer Steve Earle song. It's slow and mostly just acoustic guitar.

"Sean" makes a reference to Elvis Presley, "I’d say the best one came from Tupelo, Mississippi" and has another recurring refrain of "Irish girls are pretty". There is also a soaring pre-chorus of "uh, hi-ya, hi-ya, hi-ya".

Side One closes with the piano ballad "Sunshine On Leith", a song about their home district in Edinburgh, but which apparently is now often played at funerals, probably due to the repetition of "my heart is broken". A violin is also prominent, in both the middle break and the final chorus and outro.

The joyous "Come On Nature" opens side two but with the Scottish accents sounds like "come on Nietzsche !"

"I'm On My Way" is a sing along toe-tapper with a jazzy piano. "I'm on my way from misery to happiness today. Ah-hah (Ah-hah), ah-hah (Ah-hah)" whilst the chorus goes "And now that I don't want for anything (Ooh), I'd have Al Jonson sing I'm sitting on top of the world".

"What Do You Do" is the second protest song and has a plucked acoustic guitar intro and features a whimsical country slide guitar. "What do you do when democracy fails you","Pat votes the Scots way just like her mother, but the South takes all, just liker her brother", & "what do you do when minority means you". 

"It's Saturday Night" is one of my favourite songs on the album, with a slow pace similar to "King Of The Road" but is a drinking song, "the drink that I had three hours ago, has been joined by 14 others in a steady flow". The middle break has a whistling solo.

"Teardrops" is just the two voices and an acoustic guitar. "Teardrops, they're running down your face"

The album closes with "Oh Jean", another love song. "I'd never been lucky with girls I confess, don't know who to blame for my lack of success. Cause even with ones up the back of a bus there was always the risk of a slap in the puss. But Jean, Oh Jean, You let me get lucky with you".

Track Listing :

Side One :

1. I'm Gonna Be ( 500 Miles )
2. Cap In Hand
3. Then I Met You
4. My Old Friend The Blues
5. Sean
6. Sunshine On Leith

Side Two :

1. Come On Nature
2. I'm On My Way
3. What Do You Do
4. It's Saturday Night
5. Teardrops
6. Oh Jean

Released 1988
UK Chart Position : 10

Singles :

I'm Gonna Be ( 500 Miles ) ( No 11 - 1988 )
Sunshine On Leith  ( No 11 - 1988 )
I'm On My Way ( No 43 - 1989 )

 

  

The Police - Zenyatta Mondatta

 

I'm not really sure why I bought this album. Whilst I like their debut album, I didn't buy the follow-up "Regatta De Blanc" until several years after this album, and I wasn't overly sold on the two singles from Zenyatta Mondatta. 

Unlike "Regatta", where Stewart Copeland received writing credit on six tracks, here it is just two, as Sting compositions dominate. 

Even as a teenager, I thought the lyrics for "Don't Stand So Close To Me" were a little bit too pervy, whilst "De Do Do Do, De Do Da Da" was at best pleasant nonsense. Despite this I bought the album, but didn't think much of it, and looking at the track listing now, I had no recollection of any of the tracks apart from the two singles, and that I liked "Canary In A Coalmine", even if I couldn't remember it now.

It would be interesting to see if I remembered any of it, or thought it was better than a dud !  

Actually. on replay, it is slightly better than a dud but still a poor album. For me, the four traditional The Police reggae influenced songs work best, and whilst they try to explore new territories, the tunes on the funk/dance tracks simply aren't strong enough, and the two instrumentals are basically fillers. 

Side one opens with "Don't Stand So Close To Me", song about a teacher having sex with one of his teenage students. Sting was a teacher before joining The Police. It possesses a typical Police reggae beat and the weird synthesizer in the middle is actually quite good.  There is a Lolita reference, "It's no use, he sees her, he starts to shake and cough. Just like the old man in that book by Nabokov" and the backing vocals in the outro chorus are very similar to that which Sting sang afterwards on Dire Straits "Money For Nothing". This should have been a Covid anthem !

Now that I have had a chance to read the lyrics "De Do Do Do, De Do Da Da" makes sense and I liked it much more than I thought I would. "Poets, priests and politicians have words to thank for their positions, words that scream for your submission, and no-one's jamming their transmission" 

"Canary In A Coalmine" has a lively ska beat and a very short piano piece in middle. It's about the most fun The Police had over their first three albums !

"Man In A Suitcase", a song about life on the road, also has a toe-tapping reggae beat. "Another key for my collection, for security I race for my connection. Bird in a flying cage you never get to know me well. The world's my oyster, my hotel room a prison cell, must I be man in a suitcase ?" 

Apart from these there isn't a great deal to recommend. "Driven To Tears" is funky, there is some nice high-hat drumming, but the manic guitar solo doesn't really fitting with the rest of the song. and the lyrics sometimes don't fit the tune. The "Driven To Tears" refrain is quite catchy, but overall the song is pretty dull. 

The Police moved into Disco/Night Club territory, not my favourite genre, with "When The World Is Running Down", and I found it boring. Likewise "Voices Inside My Head", with a long funky instrumental before chanted vocals come in.

"Bombs Away" is a Copeland written song and is pretty ordinary, with a self-indulgent guitar solo that  wouldn't be out of place from a dire progressive rock band, whilst the 5 minutes long "Shadows In The Rain" has a funky bass and piano intro, but overall it's awful.

Of the two instrumentals, Andy Summers' "Behind My Camel" is OK and could be a James Bond theme or something from a low budget horror movie. Sting apparently hated it and refused to play the bass. I've already forgotten Copeland's "The Other Way Of Stopping", apart from there was some nice guitar at the end.

 

Track Listing : 

Side One

1. Don't Stand So Close Me
2. Driven To Tears
3. When The World Is Running Down......
4. Canary In A Coalmine
5. Voices Inside My Head
6. Bombs Away

Side Two

1. De Do Do Do, De Do Da Da 
2. Behind My Camel
3. Man In A Suitcase
4. Shadows In The Rain
5. The Other Way Of Stopping

Released 1980
UK Chart Position : 1

Singles :

Don't Stand So Close To Me ( No 1 - 1980 )
De Do Do Do, De Do Da Da ( No 5 - 1980 )