Singers reveal amazing stories behind unique memorabilia
The singer cobbled together the funky outfit the night before she shot the music video for Perfect – the No1 single which made Fairground Attraction a household name.
Eddi’s last-minute homemade creation is just one of 300 weird and wonderful rock and pop artefacts to be showcased at a new exhibition celebrating 50 years of Scottish pop music.
Rip It Up, which opens at Edinburgh’s National Museum of Scotland in June, charts the history of Scots popular music over more than half a century, from the dance halls of the 1950s to the stars of today.
Among the huge range of artists and bands featured in the exhibition will be Lonnie Donegan, Gerry Rafferty, Lulu, The Rezillos, Midge Ure, Simple Minds, Altered Images, Garbage, Franz Ferdinand and Young Fathers.
The museum has been given an impressive array of memorabilia including instruments, costumes, props, photos and, of course, music as well as interviews and archive footage.
From the raincoat worn by Midge Ure in the video for the 1980 hit single Vienna to Shirley Manson’s Fender guitar, the exhibits have a colourful story to tell – not least Eddi’s unique skirt.
She said: “It’s my all-time favourite piece of clothing as there are so many great memories tied up in it. It started out as a 1940s-style dress I bought in Forgotten Dreams in Glasgow’s Sauchiehall Street. I wore it right through the 80s before I ripped it apart and turned it into the outfit for the Perfect video.
“I was going for the junkyard romantica look so, after sewing a dirndl skirt, I stuck on rhinestones and plastic flowers.
“I had no idea the single was going to be such a hit and every time I look at that skirt it takes me back to the cold and foggy day we made the video on a London canal.”
She added: “I remember bouncing about on board the barge with the guys for hours getting soaked by pretend rain, while miming the words to the song. My skirt was sodden by the end of it but I dried it off and wore it to every gig in the months that followed.”
Eddi, 58, who was born in Glasgow’s Anderston, says for her the Rip It Up exhibition is a double celebration as it marks the 30th anniversary of Fairground Attraction’s first album.
She added: “Our album The First Of A Million Kisses came out in 1988 as did the hit single Perfect so the exhibition has come at a great time. I never dreamed that, three decades on, a skirt I wore for the music video would end up in a museum. It’s a crazy old world.”
Midge Ure, who has given the exhibition several of his Live Aid treasures, said: “I never thought I’d see the day that I’d become a museum exhibit myself. I was delighted to be asked to contribute.
“When you see the list of names featuring in Rip It Up, it shows how, for its size, Scotland really punches above its weight in terms of its global artists.”
The Ultravox singer, 64, has loaned the guitar he played at Live Aid.
He added: “I was saying to the National Museum’s curators that, for all I’ve got a house full of guitars, there are only two I’d be bothered about saving if it went on fire – the acoustic I learned to play on and this one, for all it signifies for me about connecting music and using its power to achieve something world-changing.”
Clare Grogan, of Altered Images fame, has lent a dress she designed for the band’s 1982 US tour, her original Gregory’s Girl script and a cassette of debut single Dead Pop Stars.
She said: “I loved the idea for the exhibition. I’ve lent my gold disc for Happy Birthday and a dress I designed for our American Tour. The strangest item is a rare limited edition cassette of our first single Dead Pop Stars – which got pulled on the day of release as it was the same day John Lennon was assassinated.”
Simple Minds have given two guitars for the show – one decorated with cigarette coupons in a tribute to Charlie Burchill’s mum.
Lead singer Jim Kerr explained: “Charlie’s mother Ellen bought a guitar for her then 10-year-old son. She did so through amassing hundreds of cigarette coupons that enabled her to trade them for a small acoustic guitar she gifted to Charlie.
“You could say Simple Minds owe our career to her act of generosity.”
Shirley Manson has lent a guitar, outfits and Garbage merchandise.
She said: “Scotland has long deserved an examination of its rich musical heritage, the effects of which can be heard all over our globe. I’m honoured to be included. I’m very much looking forward to seeing the exhibition.”
Exhibition curator Stephen Allen said: “Popular music is a shared experience and a really important one in many people’s lives. We want the exhibition to capture and reflect that in the atmosphere and experience and, crucially, to put the music and the people who made it centre-stage.”
Rip It Up runs at the National Museum of Scotland from June 22 to November 25.
Here, we look at the artefacts contributed by six of the stars.