Unusual inspirations for indie darlings
WHILE acts like Paolo Nutini and Franz Ferdinand have grabbed the headlines, one Scottish act have quietly become a Scottish institution.
And next week, Belle and Sebastian will make a triumphant homecoming gig at the newly refurbished bandstand in Kelvingrove Park.
They may not be as glamorous as some of their contemporaries, but the cult Glasgow indie band, fronted by Stuart Murdoch, have a devoted following.
All 2,500 tickets for the event were sold out within five minutes of going on sale last month. And it might all be thanks to ’50s puppet show Pinky and Perky!
Murdoch, whose work these days is used in cutting edge American dramas, credits an old novelty record he found when he was a boy with his initial interest in music.
“The very first LP I got was Pinky and Perky’s Greatest Hits Volume II. I got that at the Scout jumble sale, and loved that LP.
“A few months later, at another jumble sale, I picked up Bridge Over Troubled Water – and obviously that one has stayed with me longer.
“But at that age, I probably listened to both about the same amount and I listened to the Pinky and Perky LP all the way through. I took them seriously.
“But I feel very lucky that one of those early ones was Simon and Garfunkel.”
The gig, on July 23, will celebrate the beginning of the Commonwealth Games
For Murdoch, this might be why he’s taking an international approach to the band’s latest album, which they’re in the midst of recording.
He said: “One of the things I wanted to explore is the Eurovision Song Contest.
“For example, Abba won in 1974, and that’s how they got their big break. And that was really the last great song from Eurovision.
“I remember saying to the band, I want to do an album that one song feels like it could be the Cyprus entry for 1974 and then the next song would be the German entry for 1989.” THE SPECIALS’ Ghost To w n , a downbeat, ska- i nfluenced piece of social commentary, was i nspired by the flat economy and depressed mood of the country in the early ’ 80s. The song captured the mood of civil unrest, as riots erupted i n 35 locations across the UK. On a national tour, the SCOTTISH pop group Middle of the Road were originally a Latin style outfit called Los Caracas – and they found a decent amount of success, winning TV talent show Opportunity London band stopped in Glasgow, where they witnessed old l adies selling their belongings in the street to make money. That inspired keyboardist Jerry Dammers to write the band’s only No 1 hit.