Sir Ian Rankin interview - how Scottish punk rock inspired one of the UK's most successful writers

It can't be easy being Teenage Fanclub. One minute Nirvana's Kurt Cobain is on every radio station in the US describing you as the best band on the planet; the next your label boss is having a pop. One of the greatest myths about Teenage Fanclub – and one perpetuated by the man who signed them to Creation Records – is “they didn’t want to be big”. “It’s a Glasgow thing of wanting to be cool rather than big,” Alan McGee once told me. “There was an element of self-sabotage in the way they went about [second album Thirteen].” On this week’s podcast, Teenage Fanclub’s Norman Blake joins me to tell me the inside story of making Thirteen, the follow up to breakthrough album Bandwagonesque. “We’d spent a lot of time together in the back of vans before recoding Thirteen at CaVa in Glasgow and Revolution Studios in Cheadle Hulme,” he tells me. “There were tensions.” Norman also talks about touring with Nirvana, the departure of Gerry Love and the current mood in the band as they celebrate the release of their 13th studio album Do Not Dare to Dream. Don't forget you can sign up for the Scotpop newsletter on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Substack⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ - featuring extended shownotes, behind the scenes info, Scottish music news stories and the best new bands. For the latest news on the podcast and music updates, make sure to follow Scotpop on: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠X⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ https://www.tiktok.com/@scotpoppodcast If you have any queries about sponsorship opportunities, you can email me at [email protected].

As he prepares for the release of his highly anticipated standalone novel The Heights, Sir Ian Rankin joins me on the podcast this week to talk about the state of music in Scotland. As anyone who has read Ian's Rebus books will know, his writing is peppered with Scottish music references – from characters called Burchill to in-jokes about Mogwai, from tributes to folk heroes to homages to his own Cardenden punk band The Dancing Pigs. We also discuss the fragility behind some of Scotland’s greatest artists, from Alex Harvey to Stuart Adamson, Jackie Leven to Frankie Miller. This is the second, and concluding, part of our interview, which was recorded just after the Friends Again show at the Old Fruitmarket in Glasgow earlier this year. In the interview we talk about the impact of that show - and the surprise appearance of Lloyd Cole as support act – and the power of nostalgia on the wider Scottish music scene. Don't forget you can sign up for the Scotpop newsletter on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Substack⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ - featuring extended shownotes, behind the scenes info, Scottish music news stories and the best new bands. For the latest news on the podcast and music updates, make sure to follow Scotpop on: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠X⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠ https://www.tiktok.com/@scotpoppodcast If you have any queries about sponsorship opportunities, you can email me at [email protected].

25 years after the death of Stuart Adamson, secret recordings of his first band the Skids are emerging. They were recorded in Edinburgh in 1977 11 weeks after the band formed, with all songs written by Stuart, who died in 2001. What can they tell us about this mercurial talent? On this week’s Scotpop podcast I’m joined by Awrite Records founder and ex Skids roadie Clive Ford to talk about those early days of the Scottish punk legends. Clive also explains how he got his hands on the tape, and why it's being released now as '1977' on his Seattle-based record label. “The new album brings the story full circle,” he says on this week’s show. Don't forget you can sign up for the Scotpop newsletter on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Substack⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ - featuring extended shownotes, behind the scenes info, Scottish music news stories and the best new bands. For the latest news on the podcast and music updates, make sure to follow Scotpop on: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠X⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠ https://www.tiktok.com/@scotpoppodcast If you have any queries about sponsorship opportunities, you can email me at [email protected].

In the summer of 1981, Altered Images exploded on to the post-punk scene in the UK in a blaze of chutzpah, charm and chisseled cheekbones – and that was just the boys. That posters of the band’s frontwoman Clare Grogan were already pinned on bedroom walls following her breakthrough performance in Bill Forsyth’s classic growing-up movie Gregory’s Girl the previous year seemed to seal their fate as the nation’s favourite new band; even the London-based, hypercritical NME loved their briliantly bright pop tunes and street-urchin antics. (Well, for a bit anyway …) For many, the arrival of the Glaswegian punk upstarts on Top of the Pops looking like the ultimate gatecrashers – with Clare wearing a bamboo hat the size of a small country – signalled the moment pop switched from black and white to colour. The 80s had arrived. On this week’s episode of Scotpop, Clare relives the highs and lows of being in Altered Images, who are back on tour in the UK. She also talks about: - Travelling the world with “the boys- which was fun. Until it wasn’t.” - Recording with superstar producer Mike Chapman (Suzi Quatro/Smokie/Sweet/Blondie) in America. “Were we subservient? Nah. We were a bunch of gobby Glaswegians.” - Her blossoming friendship with [future husband and MMMBop producer] Stephen Lironi who joined Altered Images for third album Bite. - And - it’s TRUE - what it REALLY feels like when you inspire one of the biggest hits of the 80s. (Altogether now: ‘Ah, ha ha, hahhh … ha”.) - Plus, so much more. Don't forget you can sign up for the Scotpop newsletter on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Substack⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ - featuring extended shownotes, behind the scenes info, Scottish music news stories and the best new bands. For the latest news on the podcast and music updates, make sure to follow Scotpop on: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠X⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠ https://www.tiktok.com/@scotpoppodcast If you have any queries about sponsorship opportunities, you can email me at [email protected].

Everyone loves a music business survivor – and few have survived the vicissitudes of the exploitative music business quite like this week’s guest. Dumped by his friends and former Friends Again bandmates when they decamped to form Love and Money in the mid-80s, Chris Thomson thought he had had weathered that perfect storm with a new Phonogram record deal. Until it was pulled. (The more observant listener may hazard a guess at who may have been behind that particularly ruthless move.) Undeterred, he later released several albums as The Bathers - including the implausibly perfect Kelvingrove Baby; all of them signalling the revival of a rare talent; all of them failing to “do the units”. Then came the bailiffs. “They were a couple of friendly bailiffs, lovely, “ he tells me at one point in our interview. “Nevertheless, they asked if I had 30 grand in my bank account. I said, ‘I’m overdrawn by about a thousand’.” Huge thanks to Chris for this interview. It really is a tale like no other. Don't forget you can sign up for the Scotpop newsletter on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Substack⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ - featuring extended shownotes, behind the scenes info, Scottish music news stories and the best new bands. For the latest news on the podcast and music updates, make sure to follow Scotpop on: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠X⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠TikTok⁠ https://www.tiktok.com/@scotpoppodcast If you have any queries about sponsorship opportunities, you can email me at [email protected].