SCOTS WHO MADE THE NME COVER
Stars’ fond memories as print edition is killed off
IN ITS heyday, it was an iconic music magazine – and plenty of Scots stars graced its cover over the decades.
This week, the NME announced the end of its print edition after 66 years.
Today, we look back on the Scots who have made the cover of the magazine.
They include Alex Harvey, Richard Jobson, Jim Kerr, Shirley Manson, Biffy Clyro and Chvrches. Who can forget covers featuring Edwyn Collins from Orange Juice and Clare Grogan from Altered Images paving the way for a Scots indie invasion in 1981?
Or Bobby Gillespie lolling in a bed in 1991, or James Allen from Glasvegas stripping off to have a quote from Blade Runner emblazoned on his chest from 2011. James said: “When I was 12, I asked someone what the magazine was they were reading. ‘The NME. It’s a magazine about music’, they said. “God, I thought, that was a boring idea and wondered why anyone would want anything to do with a magazine like that? “Some years later, I entered a newsagent and saw myself half-naked on the front cover of this magazine. I guess things changed since I was 12.” Charlie Reid from The Proclaimers, who appeared with his twin Craig on the cover in 1988, said: “We’re sad to see it go and grateful for the interest they showed in us at the start of our recording career.
“I knew I’d love The Clash before I even heard them just from reading Tony Parsons’s article in the NME.”
Charlie added: “But the paper was of its time and things move on.”
Collins, who appeared on a 1981 cover with Grogan from Altered Images under the headline “Beam us up Scottie! The new flowers of Scotland”, simply Twitted: “Sad times.”
Altered Images singer Clare revealed: “My mum an dad bought the NME. They said it was how they found out what I was up to.”