Deacon Blue

To every action there is a reaction. The flipside to the gaudy flash of 1980s pop came in the shape of some increasingly earnest pop bands; a great deal of which emanated from Scotland. Witty, poignant and well-constructed songs were sung by groups such as Hue & Cry, Love & Money, Danny Wilson; but few captured the public imagination as perfectly as Deacon Blue. The band enjoyed three Top 10 singles, two No. 1 albums and spent over 300 weeks in the singles and albums charts.

Their success was far from overnight and was testament to the belief held by group leader, vocalist and pianist Ricky Ross. Ross came to Glasgow from Dundee in the early 80s, supplementing his teaching by playing keyboards in local band Woza. Deciding that he wanted to make a career as a songwriter, he got together an 11-track demo and a band to play the material if needed, who became Deacon Blue. Assembled by 1986, Ross and drummer Dougie Vipond were joined by keyboard player James Prime, guitarist Graeme Kelling and bassist Ewan Vernal. Ross enlisted his girlfriend Loraine MacIntosh to sing backing vocals and the Deacon Blue sound was created - soulful, bluesy, Celtic. Their name attracted a lot of attention, being taken from Steely Dan's 1977 song, Deacon Blues. There was a natural assumption that Ross must be an avid Dan fan. "I've made up a load of bullshit about this," he said in 1989. "The song 'Deacon Blues' is very aspirational - the guy wants to play sax and be James Dean, exactly the same feelings as when you form a band... It wasn't like that at all. I was going down Tottenham Court Road in London and looked over at the Dominion and was very aware that Van The Man used to play there, and all of a sudden the name Deacon Blue came into my head - I don't know why. But it had a ring to it and I thought, I can live with that - even though it was from a Steely Dan song. They're not a big influence."

A three-song demo of Just Like Boys, Dignity and The Very Thing led to a record deal with CBS in August 1986. Their first single, Dignity was released in March 87. Their album, Raintown, a marvellously evocative work, was initially issued in May of that year. It was re-released in Feb 88 and finally in a much-sought after double pack with rarities album, Riches, that August. Initially it struggled to No 31, but eventually felt much bigger as the record's other singles Chocolate Girl and When Will You (Make My Telephone Ring) hit the lower reaches of the charts. As the group continued to gather momentum, Raintown ended up spending 77 weeks on the charts, reaching No. 14.

Their second long-player, When The World Knows Your Name broke the band properly. Released in April 1989, it went to No. 1, lead by the buoyant single Real Gone Kid, written about Lone Justice singer Maria McKee, whom the group had recently supported on tour. The band went on to gain a formidable live reputation; they played to 250,000 fans on Glasgow Green in 1990 to celebrate the city's nomination as European City Of Culture that year; they also played Glastonbury and Roskilde.

Deacon Blue's popularity was sealed with the release of their Four Bacharach and David Songs EP in August 1990. The lead track, I'll Never Fall In Love Again, sung as a duet between Ross and McIntosh captured the public imagination, racing to No. 2, kept from No. 1 only by Bombalurina's Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Yellow Polka Dot Bikini. The single accompanied their B-side and out-take release, Ooh Las Vegas, which went to No.3. The group returned with third album proper, Fellow Hoodlums in June 1991, with its huge-hitting folk-inspired lead single, Twist And Shout.

U2's Achtung Baby had a profound affect on early 90s pop, changing its very complexion, and brought post-modernism into the charts. Its influence can be heard on Deacon Blue's fourth work, the Paul Oakenfold co-produced Whatever You Say Say Nothing, leading with the atmospheric and funky Your Town. The group closed their first phase with the compilation album Our Town - Greatest Hits in April 1994 and a celebratory reissue of their first hit, Dignity.

Vipond went off into television (becoming a respected BBC Scotland Sports reporter) Ross went solo, ironically recording with Steely Dan guitarist Jeff 'Skunk' Baxter, McIntosh into acting. The lure of the group proved too great, and, in 1999 the band reformed with the original line up releasing the album Walking Back Home, followed by their 2001 work, Homesick. Guitarist Kelling died in 2004 from pancreatic cancer, and the band vowed to continue in his memory.

Deacon Blue operates now on a part time basis alongside Ross' solo career as a writer and performer. However, the love for the group remains strong - their 2006 Singles collection was another Top 20 hit. At the end of 2008, they supported Simple Minds on their European arena tour, showing that none of their high-period magic had worn off.

This collection represents a fantastic overview of Deacon Blue's passion and commitment.

© 2009 Lexington Miller

Read about Deacon Blue on Wikipedia