The Skids

The Skids

The Skids were a punk band from Dunfermline in Scotland, founded in 1977 by Stuart Adamson (1958-2001, on guitar, vocals), Richard Jobson (1960- vocals), Tom Kellichan (drums) and Willie Simpson (bass). Their biggest success was the single "Into The Valley" in 1978.

After issuing "Reasons" on Dunfermline music shop owner, and then manager, Sandy Muir's No Bad label, the band was signed by Virgin Records. "Sweet Suburbia" (below right) and "The Saints Are Coming" both made commercial inroads, before "Into The Valley" reached the UK Top 10 in early 1979. Following the release of the band's debut album Scared to Dance, Kellichan was replaced by Rusty Egan (ex-Rich Kids). Of uneven quality, the album showcases Stuart Adamson's unique guitar style which was to come to prominence in Big Country.

Despite criticism of Jobson's lyrics as pretentious, the Skids enjoyed a further year of chart success as "Masquerade" and "Working For The Yankee Dollar" reached the Top 20. Both came from the second album, Days in Europa, which was produced by Bill Nelson of Be-Bop Deluxe. The album cover created a great deal of controversy, since it showed an 'Olympian' being crowned with laurels, by an 'Aryan' looking woman, and the lettering was in Gothic script. Some felt that this had Nazi undertones, and so the cover was replaced with a more sedate one. The album was also remixed on re-release, and the two editions are quite different.

The picture cover of The Skids' 1979 Masquerade single

Further change ensued when Simpson and Egan were replaced by Russell Webb and Mike Baillie respectively. More crucially, the Skids’ songwriting team was split when Adamson left after the release of the third album, The Absolute Game, which proved to be the band's most commercial, reaching the Top 10 and containing the minor hit "Circus Games". Initial copies of The Absolute Game came with a free second album entitled Strength Through Joy, echoing the band's previous controversial themes. Adamson went on to launch the career of his new band, Big Country, leaving Jobson and Webb to record the band's final set Joy, which was virtually a folk music album, and which alienated some sections of fans. The Skids dissolved in 1982, with Fanfare issued by Virgin as a mixture of greatest hits and unreleased tracks. Richard Jobson recorded one album with a new band, The Armoury Show before pursuing a solo career as a poet, songwriter and broadcaster. He released albums on the Belgian record label Les Disques du Crepuscule, and the UK's own Parlophone Records.

Some of its members would go on to form Big Country; and lead singer Richard Jobson went to work in television and in a brief and unsuccessful solo career. "Into The Valley" is now used as a theme song for fans of Charlton Athletic FC in the English premiership, and Dunfermline F.C. in the Scottish premiership.

[The Skids - Working For The Yankee Dollar excerpt] ([file info])
*
* Problems listening to the file? See [Media helpmedia help].

Singles

The picture cover of The Skids' 1978 Sweet Suburbia single

Charles (1978)
Sweet Suburbia (1978) UK #70
The Saints Are Coming (1978) UK #48
Into The Valley (1979) UK #10
Masquerade (1979) UK #14
Charade (1979) UK #31
Working For The Yankee Dollar (1979) UK #20
Animation (1980) UK #56
Circus Games (1980) UK #32
Goodbye Civilian (1980) UK #52
Women In Winter (1980) UK #49

Albums

Scared to Dance (1979)
Days in Europa (1979 - issued twice)
The Absolute Game (1981)
Joy (1981)
BBC Radio 1 Live in Concert (1991)

Various compilations have been released. Some songs are included on Big Country compilations.

References

Guinness Book of British Hit Singles 7th Edition - 1988

From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.