Rockers of ages
Christian band that split in 1970s reforms after LP recorded 40 years ago rides high in rarity charts
GONE are the bell-bottom trousers and floppy hairdos, replaced with sensible slacks and thinning pates.
But these four ageing Scots rockers are basking in surprise fame – thanks to a gospel rock LP their band White Light made four decades ago.
Copies of the record, Parable, have recently been changing hands among collectors for hundreds of pounds after it topped a list of the world’s rarest albums.
The Christian rockers, who are now in their sixties, have reissued their debut 1974 LP after a copy sold for just under $1,000 in the United States.
Reverend Doug McRoberts, now 66, teamed up with his brother Dave, now 62, and two friends Alex Smith, 65, and David Murdoch, 65, to make rock music with a Christian message back in the 1970s.
They enjoyed small success in their heyday, playing venues up and down Scotland.
But renewed interest in their album prompted record company
In demand: The band’s album Guerssen to reissue it. Around 1,000 copies will be produced – with possibly more to come.
The band members have not performed together or even been in the same room as each other since they played at a charity rock festival in 2005.
Yesterday they met in Pollokshields Parish Church, Glasgow, to discuss their next career move.
Lead guitarist Mr McRoberts, a minister from Inverness, said: ‘It’s bizarre to be back together. When you’ve been a rock musician it’s in your heart and it’s in your soul. We’ve gone in different directions over the years but the thing that unites us is White Light.
‘It still strikes me as bizarre that they [the LPs] have made their way around the world. We’ve found them being traded in California, Australia and even Russia.
‘We’re all retired, or close to it, and now we find ourselves on a record label’s listings right beside The Who, The Stones and Nirvana.’
Keyboard player Mr Murdoch, from West Kilbride, Ayrshire, said: ‘We were all extremely surprised when we got a telephone call to say people were looking for an album.’
Drummer Mr Smith, from Glasgow, is a retired computer programmer, while bassist Mr McRoberts, from Newton Mearns, Renfrewshire, is a retired mortgage specialist.
The band formed in 1968 when the men were in their twenties.
In 1972, they were finalists in rock magazine Melody Maker’s national rock contest.
While there were no TVs thrown out of windows, and they preferred a cup of tea to magnums of champagne, the band were banned from one club for being ‘too loud’.
White Light broke up in 1975 because of family commitments. But in recent years, Christian rock sites in America have been showing an interest in their music.
Some of their tracks were put online, with a caveat saying: ‘We don’t know if these guys are still alive but we hope they don’t mind.’
Copies of Parable, which was recorded in a garage in Paisley, Renfrewshire, and issued on the Scotia Records label, began to exchange hands for large sums.
A copy of the LP, of which only 2,000 were ever made, sold in the US for $950 (£650). In the past year, a few have changed hands in the UK for around £550.
The band aren’t sure whether or not they’ll be producing a follow-up album – four decades after the first. The Rev McRoberts said: ‘If you look at it positively, we have time available now.’
‘Extremely surprised’