P – is for The Proclaimers

Saturday 17th September

Charlie and Craig Reid are the Proclaimers.  They are twin brothers and look quite alike too.  They are Scottish, they are Christians and they are fans of Scottish Nationalism, none of which means diddly-squat, it is their great music that I love them for.  They broke onto the music scene in 1987 when their single ‘Letter From America’ hit the charts.  What was so unusual about the song, apart from great words and music was that they were singing in broad Scottish Accents, unashamedly so.  There have been many great bands from Scotland but they all sung with English or American accents – the Proclaimers were un-apolagetically Scottish.  A year later they had even more success with ‘I’m Gonna Be (500 miles’, better known as I would walk 500 miles.

They have performed live and released quite a few albums and their songs have been included in many films, probably most famously in Shrek.  Their songs are mostly joyful, but they write and sing a few serious songs and ballads too; most notably a song called ‘If There’ a God’ which questions the very foundations of their belief.  They also famously covered Roger Miller’s classic ‘King Of The Road’.  They are one of those distinctively individual bands who are instantly recognizable and don’t appear to be at all affected by fame, or lack of it.  Every time I hear a Proclaimer’s song I have to smile.

See original image