574 Hello The Proclaimers - Letter From America

Chart  entered  : 14  October  1987

Chart  peak  : 3

Number  of  hits : 11

This  one's  a  little  landmark  as  the  last  single  I  first  heard  on  nighttime  radio  that  went  on  to  be  a  big  hit. That  was  in  the  last  days  of  Janice  Long   on  Radio  One. She  was  irritating  but  generally  her  tastes  were  sound. She  was  replaced  by  Nicky  Campbell  who  went  for  a  completely  different  audience  with  his  pre-punk  tastes  and  my  days  of  listening  to  the  radio  in  an  evening  were  over.

The  Proclaimers  are  twins  Craig  and   Charlie  Reid  from  Leith. They  moved  around  a  bit  as  children,   including  time  in  Cornwall, before  settling  in  Auchtermuchty. They  were  in  school  punk  bands  before  forming  The  Proclaimers  in  1983  when  they  were  20. To  tell  them  apart  Charlie  is  the  one  who  plays  guitar, Craig  is  the  one  who  doesn't. They  were  unknown  outside  Fife  until  1986  when  a  fan  sent  a  tape  to  The  Housemartins  who  liked  it  enough  to  engage  them  as  support  for  their  UK  tour  that  year. That  led  to  an  appearance  on  The  Tube  at  the  beginning  of  1987  and  in  turn  a  deal  with  Chrysalis  Records.

Their  first  single  "Throw  The  R' Away", a  protest  against  the  mockery  of  thick  Scottish  accents  was  released  in  May  1987.  It's  basically  a  raw  and  ragged  skiffle  tune  with  only  the  boys'  smooth  harmonies  doing  anything  to  soften  the  attack. The  lads  have  famously  refused  to  disguise  their  accents  when  singing  but  most  of  it's  intelligible. I  think  Chrysalis  were  a  bit  optimistic  if  they  thought  it  was  going  to  be  a  hit  though.

The  debut  album  "This  Is  The  Story"  came  out  a  month  later  and  the  single  proved  a  good  indicator  of  what  was  on  it. With  only  basic  percussion  to  augment  the  guitar  and  vocals  it's  basically  a  folk  record  with  the  themes  alternating  between  romance  and  anger  at  the  depressed  state  of  their  homeland.

For  their  next  single,  Chrysalis  persuaded  them   to  do  a  full  band  version  of  the  track "Letter  From  America",  a  lament  for  the  mass  emigration  of  Scots  over  the  centuries  with  a  smart  reference  to  the  revered  Radio  Four  staple  of  the same  name . Gerry  Rafferty  produced  it  and  there  are  hints  of  his  own  Night  Owl  in  the  arrangement. The  Reids  stay  just  the  right  side  of  overdoing  the  passion  in  their  delivery  and  it's  got  a  cracking  Celtic  tune. The  final  section  with  the  list  of  place  names  followed  by  the  words  "no  more"  brings  a  lump  to  the  throat. I  loved  it  on  first  listen  and  predicted  to  my  new  college  friend  Mark  that  it  would  be  a  hit  but  he  couldn't  see  it . I  was  therefore  well  chuffed  when  it  got  to  number  3.