All thanks to a girl and her pineapples

HIPSWAY fans still raise a glass to the song that shot the group to stardom. Their debut single, The Honeythief, was a smash hit in the UK and US charts. But across the Atlantic, it took an inspired bit of record plugging before the single cracked the Billboard Hot 100.

“When The Honeythief was released in America, the record company were 100% behind it,” recalled singer Grahame Skinner.

“But trying to get radio play there was difficult for an unknown band from Glasgow. We’d heard all the stories about payola scandals, where money or drugs changed hands, before DJs would play records.”

When Phonogram targeted an influential radio DJ in New York, its promo plan was ingenious.

“They sent a really hot-looking girl, wearing a hula skirt, into the station. She was carrying a fresh pineapple – don’t ask me why,” said Skinner. “The DJ said he thought the single was ‘okay’, but wasn’t prepared to play it.

“So the next day she went back, only carrying two pineapples. She did that every day, doubling the number, until she arrived with 64 pineapples a week later. He gave in and played the single.”

And 35 years on, the success of The Honeythief has resulted in what must be the ultimate accolade. The band have two brands of beer named in their honour.

“Williams Brothers produced Hipsway and The Honeythief beers because they were big fans,” he said. “You can buy it in Waitrose and Sainsbury’s. When I was manager of the Rio Café in Glasgow we had Hipsway beer on tap. It felt great when somebody walked up to the bar and said ‘two pints of Hipsway’.”

Tinder, another song on the album, was also used as the theme for a successful TV ad for McEwan’s Lager. The band’s success also got them support slots with two of Scotland’s biggest stars. They played two gigs with Simple Minds at Ibrox Stadium in 1986.

“They were two of the best days of my life,” Skinner said. “Everybody wanted to see Simple Minds, including us. But there were lots of people in the crowd wearing Hipsway T-shirts, so they were coming to see us as well. That felt fantastic.”

The band also did a European tour with Eurythmics. He said: “It was a great apprenticeship. Annie Lennox really knew how to hold a big crowd. So I hope I maybe picked up something from watching her.”