No 37, 14th January 1984
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No 1! No 37, 14th January 1984 |
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Front Cover Features Stuart Adamson (main photo) - Big Country a Night in Wonderland. Other features - Boy George, Tracey Ullman, Limahl, Marilyn, Richard Barbieri, Shakin' Stevens, Duran Duran, Eurythmics, All in Colour. Plus: WIN Signed Duran Duran songbooks, Kool & the Gang 12-inch Singles. Cover photo by People in Pictures. |
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Page 3 (Contents) NEWS. 5 Kajagoogoo, ABC, Echo, Big Country New releases SONGS 33 The Alarm Where Were You Hiding When The Storm Broke CHARTS 47 UK Singles UK Albums COLOUR 8 Big Country Home for Hogmanay 32 Big Country Big pin-up RH panel 8 Big Country B&W head-shot of Stuart. The good folk of Scotland don't have fountains and dodgy films on New Year's Eve. No, they have Hogmanay - which is far noisier. Big Country are also pretty noisy - but then they've got a lot to shout about. |
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Page 5 BIG COUNTRY WONDER BOYS Big Country release their fifth single this week. Produced by Steve Lillywhite who has worked with U2 and Simple Minds, 'Wonderland' was written by the band. The B-side is 'Giant', and apparently the 12" version contains an "extravagantly extended version" of the A-side. On January 21 the band are interviewed by Paul Gambaccini on Channel 4's The Other Side Of The Tracks. |
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Page 6 RECORDS January 16 is the day we wave goodbye to SIMPLE MINDS, as they jet off to Australia, but they're kindly leaving behind a brand new single called 'Speed Your Love To Me' b/w 'Bass Line'. The 12" includes an extended version of the A Side with Kirsty MacColl on backing vocals. When the Minds return in mid February, they'll be off on tour to coincide with the release of their seventh album. |
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Page 8 B&W Pictures of Barrowlands (Former haunt of Glaswegian gangsters, now revived as the city's premier venue), & The home crowd THE HOMECOMING 1983 was a year of success for Big Country - topped with a triumphant New Year's gig in Glasgow. Martin Townsend saw Stuart, Bruce, Tony & Mark celebrate Hogmany in style. MATINEE IDOLS The Barrowland Ballroom is a battered old dancehall in one of the rougher parts of Glasgow. Just a bottle's throw from the Gorbals - the town's infamous former slum area - it's an unlikely venue for a glorious New Year's Eve homecoming. But this afternoon's homecomers are Big Country and the ballroom's careworn dignity is perfectly in tune with the band's favourite theme of survival against all odds. Fresh from blazing a golden trail across America, Big Country are nearing the end of a truimphant special matinee performance for the under-18s and unemployed. Onstage, the band crash into their third encore, a second helping of 'In A Big Country', amidst swirling smoke and against a panoramic backdrop of mountains and sea. The crowd, ecstatic throughout the set, find the energy for a still more enthusiastic eruption as Stuart Adamson's battlecry - "Shout!" rings out. The trickle of fans leaping onto the stage soon becomes a torrent, and though each is firmly escorted off by the band's 'minder' Rob - a sort of Russell Grant figure with muscles - Stuart makes sure everyone gets at least a hand touch. In the end he actually gets down into the crowd while bassist Tony Butler continues with the vocals. He emerges at the other end of the stage, his tartan shirt ripped to shreds. That's the price of fame... about £6.95. By now the ballroom's sprung dancefloor has begun to bounce to the extent that a row of ten roadies, stripped to the waist, are being employed backstage just to stop the towers of speakers toppling over. Photographer Gary Compton's given up snapping and gone off to look for some seasickness tablets and as the final chords echo round the dancehall, I'm left wondering how the band are going to top this at the main gig. Later I overhear a roadie: "How the hell are they gonna get 28 bagpipers on that stage tonight?" Of course he could've been joking... THE INTERVIEW After the matinee, it's back to the hotel to catch up on Big Country's latest news. Since the band flew back into Britain on Christmas Eve, bassist Tony Butler has married his fiancee Jackie and moved into a new flat in London. Stuart's been re-united with his wife Sandra and son Callum whose bedroom, after Christmas, "looked like a toy shop". And both Mark Brzezicki and Bruce Watson have been looking forward to settling in for a rest at home in Slough and Dunfermline respectively. A new single 'Wonderland' coupled with an instrumental track called 'Giant' is released this week, and a short tour of Japan has been pencilled in for April. But for the moment, Big Country's first major tour in America is still fresh in everyone's mind. IN A BIG COUNTRY How do you feel about the cliche of 'breaking' America and do you think you're close to doing that? STUART: "We have been successful in America - the album went gold and stuff like that - but that's the business criteria for success, it's not mine. "To us it's just more people to play to, really - it's more gigs. It means that the things I'm writing about and the way that I write is reaching people outside Britain. "All the songs are based on my experience in Dunfermline - the community that I live in - or on things that I've seen other people go through. So to see that connecting with people in other countries is really gratifying..." TONY: "This group couldn't function if it was just set up to 'break' places or to be big. There's too many contrived groups put together by record companies with those sort of aims." Page 9 B&W Pictures of Mark, Bruce, & Massed pipers with balloon, by Gary Compton. What were your impressions of America? MARK: "I didn't believe it existed! Well, I knew it was there 'cos I'd seen it on the telly, but it's weird to see how big it is; that really shocks you." BRUCE: "There's like different states... I enjoyed Hollywood and that but I still don't like New York. "And there's a lot of Americans who've still got that big loud attitude. It's like maybe one night you've been feeling terrible and some guy'll come up and say: 'Hey, you! "If any of us leaves Big Country, that's the end, that's it... It's not a group where we can get, say, a replacement guitarist - not because Bruce is a great guitar player but because Bruce is Bruce. "Big Country is that unique." - Tony Butler You in Big Country? How are ya!!' And you just go (whining) 'Oh, nooo-don't TALK to me... "In radio interviews me and Stuart just started going 'Nananur, nananur, nananur'. And they thought it was an accent! They'd sit there and go: 'Yeah?' What's your lasting memory of America? BRUCE: "My car crash. I was in the back of a taxi and this car just rammed into the back of it. The ligaments in my shoulder were torn and I had to be strapped up." MARK: "What impressed me the most was how different America can be. One part is snow and mountains; drive for a few hours and it's desert..." TONY: "It's just different physical attributes. It was nothing like what we were used to in good old Blighty!" THE CROSSING You've always said you're a socialist, Stuart... STUART: "Aye, I'll talk to anybody!" But some of the themes running through 'The Crossing', such as the value of traditional family ties and the community spirit, are ones which Margaret Thatcher has dwelt on. STUART: "Yeah, but she's not talking about anyone who might have some problems. And that's the difference. "Take for example a one-parent family - the subject of 'Chance'. That must be one of the worst situations possible just now especially, what with the repression of the welfare, the withdrawal of benefits and stuff like that, and where they assess benefits according to what you earned before. If you were a housewife left with kids to bring up you'd just get one set payment off the state, no matter what situation you'd been left in. "It's just sad that there's nobody there caring at all for what is basically the future of the country." A CELTIC CRUSADE? Do you think there 's a regionalism - a Scottishness - in your music? STUART: "I think we'd be silly to deny it, but I've never consciously strived to make it sound Scottish or ethnic or stuff like that. But you do grow up with a lot of that music "One of the most frightening things ever said to me was this guy who said, 'I heard one of your songs on the radio and it made me want to go to war'. And I thought, oh, nooo!" - Stuart Adamson about you in the area where I grew up... it's just come out subconsciously." But you had that same 'bagpipe' guitar sound with The Skids and no-one ever called it that then. Why did it suddenly get noticed in Big Country? STUART: "I think because music just became too reliant on style; people just thought, 'There must be a style about them, there must be a fashion. Oh, they sound Scottish! That sounds like bagpipes!" "It's a terrible thing, this labelling. But loads of groups set themselves up for it." Your gig tonight has been described as a "triumphant Hogmanay Homecoming". How do you feel about that? STUART: "Well it's nice to be home again and to have a gig in Scotland. But I think we all felt pretty shattered when we got back from the States and were quite glad of the rest. I didnae feel very triumphant walking round Heathrow at nine o'clock at night!" BRUCE. "That's just another tag, really. Like the 'British Invasion' as the Americans called it - we're not going out to invade and conquer - we're just going out to play our songs." THE HOMECOMING TONY: "It's gonna be MENTAL tonight." BRUCE: "It's gonna be crazy. |
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Page 10 B&W Pictures of Tony, Over the hills and far away..., & Stuart MARK: "We're quite popular up here, aren't we?" BALLROOM BLITZ It's 11pm and the support band has whipped the crowd up admirably with an inspired mixture of traditional Gaelic songs and hard rock rhythms. As the intro to '1000 Stars' begins, four shadowy figures move onto the stage, the big curtains slide back from the spectacular mountain backdrop, there's a dazzle of lights and the crowd surge forward. Stuart's found a new blue tartan shirt, with cut-off sleeves and matching headband, Mark and Bruce are in tartan too and Tony's stuck with his faithful Big Country T-shirt. The set is structured in an unconventional way in that the two longest tracks on the album 'The Storm' and 'Porrohman' are played one after the other. "They seem to run well together," Stuart had told me earlier, "and that's my favourite part of the Show. From 'In A Big Country' right through to 'The Storm', 'Porrohman and into 'Chance'... "The traditional rock'n'roll idea is for a show to build towards the end but I like it better if it undulates a bit." Unfortunately the floor is undulating, too. But the band are well into 'Chance' now with Stuart leading the crowd on the chorus: "O Lord, where did those feelings go/Oh Lord, I never felt so low." Gloomy lines, but 4000 voices turn them into an optimistic roar of hope. A bouncer taps me on the shoulder: "Kin ye move onto the floor, laddie - the pipers have got to get through." Sure enough, black bushy hats and white feathers begin to appear among the people crowded at the main door. Stuart stops the band and the slightly ominous chimes of Big Ben come booming over the PA, striking in the New Year. As the final toll sounds, a massive cheer goes up and four huge Prisoner style balloons bobbing out from backstage, One bursts on a speaker cabinet, drowning the front of the stage in glitter. Another bounces off Bruce's head. Then, little trap doors open all over the ceiling and silver and gold balloons cascade down into the crowd, showering them with glittering rain. From the edge of the dancehall, the first plaintive whine of the bagpipes is heard. Big Country leave the stage to make room for the pipers, who play in all about half a dozen themes. As they finally march away, the band bounce back on and into 'Fields Of Fire'. "I get more nervous about playing in Scotland than playing anywhere else in the world. "When Mark started playing the intro to '1000 Stars' this afternoon, I just thought I was going to faint..." - Bruce Watson It's one o'clock and I've lost count of the encores. Stuart's voice at last begins to crack on 'Tracks Of My Tears', but by now the crowd are doing most of the vocals anyway. It's a cover cover version. Stuart and Tony lead the crowd in 'Loch Lomond' and the final, inevitable 'Auld Lang Syne' A Scots flag and Stuart's headband are flung into the crowd and it's all over. A kid walks past me, his face and hair plastered with glitter, 1000 stars at least, and it occurs to me that if there is a big country, this is it, in a hall like this and in the hearts of the people in it. In a big country, dreams stay with you. Page 10 Full page photo of Stuart. |
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Page 32 SINGLES Reviewed by Karen Swayne BIG COUNTRY Wonderland (Phonogram) The band who put OK into rock, or just another guitar group? Vital questions for some people, meaningless to others. But however you feel about them, Stuart Adamson and co. aren't about to abandon their axes now they've made them respectable. 'Wonderland' is archetypal Big Country - broad, sweeping and majestic - and proves once again that they can make rock sound fresh. There's less of a Celtic feel too, so I promise not to mention bagpipes (oops). Big Country - Wonderland (The Tube, 17.02.1984), uploaded by Big Country. THE ALARM Where Were You Hiding When The Storm Broke? The Alarm (A & M) Snappy title of the week award, and a record which'll do nothing to stop those Clash comparisons. Unfortunately this is a bit of a re-run of '68 Guns' (a record I was fond of in spite of myself). If you sound formularised after two hit singles, it doesn't bode well for a long career... Still, it's rousing enough to make the charts, and I just can't wait to see that ridiculous spiky hair and those glassy-eyed stares on TOTP again. (Lower half page) THE ALARM WHERE WERE YOU HIDING WHEN THE STORM BROKE? Born into a war and peace Forced to choose between a right and wrong Each man kills the thing he loves or better or for worse Face to face with a ragged truth Mixed up and torn in two Turned your back on the only thing That could save you from yourself WHERE WERE YOU HIDING WHEN THE STORM BROKE WHEN THE RAIN BEGAN TO FALL WHEN THE THUNDER AND THE LIGHTNING STRUCK AND THE RAIN AND THE FOUR WINDS DID HOWL After all time building up Comes inevitable knocking down ONE BY ONE Comes receivers liars gamblers Pick pocket entourage TWO BY TWO Selling out is a cardinal sin Sinning with a safety net They say that all things come in threes THREE BY THREE Here comes the third degree WHERE WERE YOU HIDING WHEN THE STORM BROKE WHEN THE RAIN BEGAN TO FALL WHEN THE THUNDER AND THE LIGHTNING STRUCK AND THE RAIN AND THE FOUR WINDS DID HOWL All cards are marked All fates will collide The truth is the truth Or the truth is surely a lie Get back in your shelter If you can't come down off the fence And one more question Where were you? WHERE WERE YOU HIDING WHEN THE STORM BROKE WHEN THE RAIN BEGAN TO FALL WHEN THE THUNDER AND THE LIGHTN STRUCK AND THE RAIN AND THE FOUR WINDS DID HOWL Words and music Macdonald/Peters Reproduced by kind permission Illegal Music Ltd (c) 1984 On A&M Records |
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Page 39 The No1 Inquisition In the history of mankind, many cruel tortures have been devised, ranging from the gladiatorial contests of the Ancient Romans to the unspeakable horrors of the English witch-trials... but none has ever been so fiendish, so cunning and so downright nasty as The No. 1 Inquisition! What we do is, we pick on five unsuspecting pop stars, say, for the sake of argument, Bruce Foxton, Nick Heyward, Mike of Level 42, Pete Burns of Dead Or Alive and Steve Askew of Kajagoogoo. We invite them out to an all-expenses-paid slap-up lunch, which of course they accept, and then, once in our grasp, we take them to a secret chamber deep within the bowels of King's Reach Tower, and expose them to the tender mercies of No. 1 Arch-inquisitor, Horrible Huw Collingbourne. Before turning the page to find out which of them cracked first, why not try the quiz yourself. But beware, if you get less than 19 correct, we'll be sending the boys round... SINGLES 1 Name the group who had a hit with 'The Theme from Harry's Game' in November '82. 2 Name the group who had a hit with 'Is It A Dream?' in March '82. 3 Who had a hit with 'Those Were The Days' in September '68? 4 'Crazy Little Thing Called Love' was a hit for which group in October '79? (Picture of Tony Hadley) Is this Bruce Dickinson? (see Q.9) Somebody thought it was! FILMS 5 Whose music was featured in the 1976 film All This And World War III? 6 In 1970, the controversial Gimme Shelter was released. It was a film documentary of which band? 7 In 1974 a major pop group made a film about a fictional band called Flame. What was the name of the real-life group? 8 Name either of the two rock stars who appeared in Son Of Dracula in 1974. PEOPLE 9 With which group does Bruce Dickinson sing? 10 Name any members of Pink Floyd. 11 He made his debut album in 1968 with his sister Sally under the name of Sally-Angie, though his first major success came in 1973 when he had a No. 1 album. Who is he? 12 Who is the drummer with Spandau Ballet? SONGS From which songs are these lyrics taken? 13 "You consider me the young apprentice. Caught between the Scylla and Charybdis." 14 "With you in that dress, my thoughts, I confess, verge on dirty." 15 "My head is stuck on something precious, Let me know if you're coming down to land." 16 "I stumble into town just like a sacred cow, Visions of swastikas in my hand." (Picture of Morcombe and Wise with Elton John) Has one of these people had a hair transplant? And if so, where's he hiding the rounder's bat? (see Q. 17) CLAIMS TO FAME 17 Which star had a hair transplant at a cost of nearly £1,600 and was once taken to court (and acquitted) on the charge of carrying a rounders bat as an offensive weapon? 18 Who once helped to smuggle his brother Brendan out of the Foreign Legion by bundling him into a van and driving him out of the Legion's encampment in Italy and across the border? (Picture of Siouxsie Soux) Is Siouxsie coming down to land? One of our guest-victims thought she she was. (see Q. 15) 19 Who has more than 100 suits, the pride of his collection being an original suit worn by the Hollywood actor John Garfield in a 1940s gangster film called They Made Me A Criminal? 20 Which ex-hospital porter has both his nipples pierced with rings upon which he sometimes hangs little dolls made of beads? |
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Page 40 Answers to the Quiz So how did our victims fare? Well, bottom of the list came Bruce Foxton with a miserable 7 1/2; then came Pete Burns with a wretched 9, followed by Mike Lindup with 10. Nick Heyward managed to scrape 11, but this month's winner is Steve Askew who got 12 1/2 points - which, by coincidence, is precisely the number of lashes we inflicted upon him.
Page 41 Quarter page advert for The Alarm, "Where Were You Hiding When The Storm Broke?" The Alarm - Where Were You Hiding (When The Storm Broke), Top Of The Pops 19th January 1984, uploaded by The Alarm |
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CHARTS, Compiled by NME. UK Singles (This week/last week/weeks on chart/highest postition) 34, 22, 7, 9 ~ Waterfront, Simple Minds (Virgin) 75, - , - , - ~ Wonderland, Big Country (Mercury) UK Albums (This week/last week/weeks on chart/highest postition 13, 9, 6, 1 ~ Under A Blood Red Sky, U2 (Island) 35, 29, 8, 3 ~ Undercover, Rolling Stones (Rolling Stones) 40, RE, 1, 40) ~ Nocturne, Siouxsie & The Banshees (Wonderland) 57, -, -, - ~ Beatles Greatest Songs, James Last (Polydor) 60, -, -, - ~ Ziggy Stardust, David Bowie (RCA) 67, -, -, - ~ Savage Gestures For Charms Sake, Bill Nelson (Cocteau) |