Capital records Book is a high note for Edinburgh
From The Beatles to David Bowie to homegrown stars, a wonderful new book celebrates Edinburgh’s musical history
THE Beatles responded to the plea from two schoolgirls to perform there, David Bowie once made it his home – and it’s the birthplace of folk legend Joan Baez’s mother.
It is also the only city in Scotland to stage the Eurovision Song Contest and where a teenage Celine Dion, now a mega star, hopped on a bus for a music video shoot.
In an intriguing, trivia-crammed book due out next month – titled Edinburgh’s Greatest Hits – the city is lauded for being steeped in musical history that tends be overlooked while its festivals gather recognition far and wide, stacking up awards and praise. The four authors involved, trying to redress this, say they have compiled “intriguing tales, curious facts and landmark moments”.
The book’s wide-ranging content gleefully highlights how Edinburgh pioneered, for example, the live music scene in Scotland for a long period during the 1970s, 80s and 90s before Glasgow developed its well-deserved reputation.
“Edinburgh has a wonderful, worldwide reputation for culture and the arts with its major festivals but its music heritage is not always recognised and we wanted the city’s musical history story to be told,” said Jim Byers, one of the writers behind the book, which has a foreword by leading Scottish author, Ian Rankin.
In its pages there is information on better-known acts such as The Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, Queen, U2, Iggy Pop, Bruce Springsteen, and Sir Elton John – who appeared at Easter Road, home of Hibs.
But some of the quirkier tales relate to lesser-known acts and their part in putting Edinburgh on the music map.
Capital’s choirboy
THOUGH the Bay City Rollers were the most famous tartan-clad, teenybop superstars to emerge from Edinburgh, Jackie Dennis was its first homegrown pop star, pictured right.
Only 4 feet 10 inches tall and known as ‘The Kilted Choirboy,’ he had a 1958 top 10 hit with La Dee Dah, one place ahead of Elvis’ Jailhouse Rock at number four – so, for a week at least, Leith-born Jackie genuinely was bigger than Elvis.
Girl group The McKinleys – sisters Sheila and Jeanette, born in Little France – cut their teeth on the same Hamburg scene as The Beatles (who joined their fan club) and went on to perform with The Stones, Donovan and The Hollies. The Beatles’ two appearances at the ABC in 1964 at the height of Beatlemania only came out about because local schoolgirls, Eileen Oliver and Pat Connor, miffed that their heroes were bypassing the city on a tour, raised an 8,000-signature petition to plead for the Fab Four to visit the capital.
The girls’ mums were far from impressed and barred them from queuing overnight for tickets – but John, Paul, George and Ringo arranged for Eileen and Pat to meet them at the venue, where the group were pelted with their favourite sweets, Jelly Babies, and where 250 police formed a cordon to keep fans at bay. The book records George Harrison as saying: “We love doing live shows, but, boy, those Jelly Babies.”
Many unusual gigs are also mentioned such as Nirvana playing The Southern Bar on Clerk Street in December 1991, for a children’s hospital charity only three months after releasing their second album Nevermind, which turned the Seattle band into global stars.
Earlier that day, lead single Smells Like Teen Spirit had entered the UK Top 40.
The pub was heaving at 7pm, the crowd thinned out about 9pm, and at 10.30pm when Kurt Cobain and Dave Grohl showed up, there were only 20 folk there to catch a six-song, acoustic set.
MTV milestone
GREEK-BORN Hamburg resident Vicky Leandros won the Eurovision Song Contest for Luxembourg in the Usher Hall in March 1972 and the MTV Europe Music Awards landed in Leith in November 2003 with Beyoncé, Missy Elliott and Justin Timberlake performing to an estimated TV audience of one billion people in 28 countries.
Record shops, the club scene, movers and shakers, and many of the city’s venues get a mention such as Sneaky Pete’s in the Cowgate, a sweatbox with one of the best jukeboxes in the city.
However, a jukebox installed at Sandy Bell’s, one of Edinburgh’s best-loved folk
Venues, artists, the record shops – all are here to be feasted on
music pubs, failed to impress regulars who resisted modernisation by hauling a fruit machine, TV and jukebox onto the street, prompting long-time manager, Jimmy Cairney to say: “Sandy Bell’s is full of revolutionaries who want nothing to change.
“We all have our own musical tastes and interests so happily we pooled our stories,” said Jim, who also pointed out that the book is a collaboration between Edinburgh Music Lovers and Edinburgh Music Tours – two organisations that promote the past, present and future of music in the Scottish capital.
Ian Rankin, in his foreward, noted: “The venues, the artists, the record shops – all are here to be feasted on.
“I would class it as a celebration of the city and its enduring love affair with music and musicians, venues and shops, one which will spark the remembrance of unique, high-octane experiences for all of us.”
Edinburgh’s Greatest Hits by Jim Byers, Jonathan Trew, Fiona Shepherd and Alison Stroak is published by Polygon and comes out on April 7