Deacon Blue and Lightning Seeds

Normally, if one was to hear about a band fronted by an ex-school teacher and named after a Steely Dan song, the understandable reactions would be to instinctively write off that band as utterly insufferable before one has ever heard any of their music. However, to write off Deacon Blue would be a grave error indeed, no matter what the circumstances of their formation might be. Said ex-school teacher is the band's singer and Dundee, Scotland native Ricky Ross, who put the band together after moving from to Glasgow to pursue a solo career in music. After his debut album “So Long Ago” failed to make the earth move, he put the band together in 1985, and by 1987 the band had released their debut album “Raintown” on Columbia Records.

The next seven years of the band's career were incredibly kind to them, with several hit singles on both the UK and Ireland's singles charts, along with four critically and commercially successful albums to their name. Their second effort, 1989's “When The World Knows Your Name” was especially huge, topping the album charts and sending five of its singles into the top 30 of the singles chart, including a top ten hit in the form of its lead single “Real Gone Kid”. The band capped off the campaign for that album by headlining “The Big Day”, a free concert at Glasgow Green where the band played to an estimated quarter of a million people.

The band were on top of the world, and gaining momentum at an astonishing rate until 1994, when the band's drummer Dougie Vipond left the band to pursue a career in television. The band split amicably soon afterwards, but would reform five years later for a reunion concert in 1999, and then release a new album in the form of the same year's “Walking Back Home”. The band remain active to this day, releasing hugely acclaimed albums to a devoted following of fans both old and new. For staying relevant and exciting thirty years after forming, Deacon Blue come highly recommended.