Picture This Scotland

Postcards From Scotland - Scottish Independent Music 1983-1995, by Grant McPhee.

Text from page 409 of Postcards From Scotland by Grant McPhee: There were very few opportunities for emerging acts to play in Glasgow by the late 1980s and, to remedy the then 'pay to play' infrastructure, a.c. acoustics took matters into their own hands despite having formed only recently. Paul Campion: It seemed more sensible to engineer a support with established bands, get a support and play to a big audience. Spacemen 3, a band we loved, were on a UK tour (in 1989) and we saw that they unusually had no tour support. Caz Riley (Bass, a.c. acoustics): We got the initial early gigs mostly by lying: we'd phone the agents and tell them the venue wanted us on the bill and then phone the venue and tell them...

Text from page 410 of Postcards From Scotland by Grant McPhee: ...the agent wanted us on the bill... by the time they spoke, they both thought we were on the bill. Roger and Paul were very good at that stuff. Paul Campion: I phoned [Spacemen 3's] manager in London and convinced him that we were possessed of a huge and growing following in Glasgow and he told me that if the promoter was happy he was happy. I then phoned the promoter and told him that Spacemen 3 were huge fans and we had been contacted by their manager and asked if we would support them. He told me that if they were happy he was happy. With zero following we supported them and played to the best part of a thousand people in Glasgow. One of our first gigs. That was at a time when people actually watched support bands.

Smoked a joint there many years ago, in what must be my most Julian Cope moment.

Jackie Stewart and wife Helen on practice day for the 1966 Monaco Grand Prix.

Edinburgh Princes Street railway station (1890-1965). Mainline station which stood at the west end of Princes Street, in Edinburgh.

AC Acoustics from Glasgow.

Alternative rock band formed in 1990, who released a string of singles, EPs and albums before splitting up in 2003.

Recorded five John Peel sessions.

Scottish Cuisine: Steak, Haggis & Peppercorn Sauce Pie at Musselburgh Athletic. Pic: mershdoes/X

Mural at entrance to Bell College of Technology, Hamilton by Charles Anderson, 1972.

Machrie Moor Standing Stones, Isle of Arran. Pic: IG/highlandandroidkevin

Movies of Scotland: That Sinking Feeling (1979).

Unemployed Glasgow teenagers hatch a plan to get rich by acquiring and reselling a large quantity of stainless steel sinks.

Singles of Scotland: Louise Quinn & Kid Loco - Oh Jackie. Released on Tromolo Records in 2012.

The Seaforth Highlanders in a trench on the Western Front during WW1.

Right to Work demonstration in Glasgow, 21st February 1981.

Channel 4 comedy sketch show, 'Absolutely'. 1989-1993, 28 episodes.

Introduced the public to characters including Frank Hovis, Calum Gilhooley and Denzil & Gwynedd.

Cocteau Twins promotion for their 1986 collaboration album, The Moon and the Melodies.

The Maid of the Forth ferry passes under the Forth Bridge taking theatre-goers to Inchcolm island in the Firth of Forth for a special production of Macbeth during the Edinburgh Festival in 1989.

Pic: Alan Macdonald

1969 artist's impression of Bible John.

Glasgow Police facial composite, created with the assistance of Jean McLachlan (then O'Donnell), the only known individual to see Bible John.

Movies of Scotland: My Name Is Joe (1998).

Peter Mullan, Louise Goodall and Ken Loach at the Cannes Film Festival, where Mullan won the Best Actor award for his role as a recovering alcoholic Joe Kavanagh.

Pic: Patrick Hertzog

Members of The Who with an unidentified busker on Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow, June 1979. Pic: Ronnie Anderson

The Ramones at QMU, Glasgow in October 1978. Pic: Harry Papadopoulos

Paisley-born actor Phyllis Logan.

Known for roles in Lovejoy, Downton Abbey (pictured), Soft Top Hard Shoulder and Shooting Fish.

Pic: Joss Barratt

Tramway on the Isle of Bute. Running from Rothesay to Port Bannatyne. (1882-1936)

Construction of the Forth Bridge (1882-1890). The longest single cantilever bridge span in the world, until 1919.

Edinburgh beat/garage quartet, The Kaisers.

Formed in 1992, the band recorded several albums and singles before disbanding in 2002.

Recorded a John Peel session in 1994.

Thomas Donohoe statue in Rio, Brazil.

A new sculpture honouring the contribution of Thomas Donohoe, originally from Busby, East Renfrewshire, credited with first introducing football to Brazil in 1894, is officially unveiled by Provost Mary Montague in 2022.

The sculpture can be found on Busby's Main Street.

Jimmy Dewar, Alex Harvey, Jimmy Reid, Frankie Miller, Billy Connolly and Hamish Stuart at the Dorchester Hotel in London, 1975.

Pic: Ronnie Anderson

Rattray Head Lighthouse, Aberdeenshire.

Pic: IG/scojackson

Movies of Scotland: Gary McCormack, Tommy McKee and Martin Compston in Sweet Sixteen. (2002)

First Priority in action at the Heathery Bar in Wishaw, 1970s.

The band supported the Clash at the Glasgow Apollo in 1980.

Pic: Jim Barr

The North Star, Harbour Street, Lerwick. Formerly a cinema, and subsequently a nightclub and music venue.

Artists who performed at the venue included Idlewild, Peter Hook, Mani, The Delgados, Durutti Column and Ocean Colour Scene. The North Star closed in 2007.

Pic: Mike Pennington