FEATURE:
A Buyer’s Guide
Part Seventy: Deacon Blue
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FOR this A Buyer’s Guide…
I am featuring one of my favourite bands. Deacon Blue are a group that formed in Glasgow in 1985. I have been a fan of their since I was a child. As their album, 1991’s Fellow Hoodlums, celebrated a big anniversary recently, I wanted to include them here. There are so many great Deacon Blue albums – so drilling down to the essentials will be hard! Before that, here is some biography from AllMusic:
“Taking their name from a Steely Dan song, Scotland's multi-platinum pop/rockers Deacon Blue emerged from the aftermath of the post-punk era to hit the mainstream during the mid-'80s, and after five years away during the '90s, they returned in the 21st century. Their clean, euphoric sound winds the lead vocals of husband-and-wife team Ricky Ross and Lorraine McIntosh across infectious hooks and sweeping melodies in a sophisticated meld of rock, pop, jazz, blues, Celtic soul, and folk music. Their debut album, 1987's Raintown, attained platinum status and spent a year-and-a-half on the charts. Their second, When the World Knows Your Name, topped the U.K. album charts and went multi-platinum inside of a month. Subsequent outings, including 1991's Fellow Hoodlums, and 1993's Whatever You Say, Say Nothing were also certified best-sellers and registered longstanding Top Five chart entries. The group split in 1994 but returned to touring in 1999. 2001's Homesick marked their part-time return to recording, and the band continued to exist for a few years on a part-time basis as Ross cut solo outings and wrote for other artists. In 2012 Deacon Blue issued The Hipsters. It rocketed to number two and signaled their full-time return to recording and touring. While 2014's A New House and 2016's Believers both went Top Five, 2020's City of Love topped the charts. In November of that year, Deacon Blue's 1987 single "Dignity" was voted "Scotland's Greatest Song" by a landslide.
Deacon Blue formed in 1985 after former educator, songwriter, and lead vocalist Ricky Ross relocated from Dundee to Glasgow. The band's original lineup consisted of Lorraine McIntosh (backing and lead vocals), James Prime (piano and keyboards), Dougie Vipond (drums), Ewen Vernal (bass), and Graeme Kelling (guitar). They performed their first concert opening for the Waterboys' premier show in England. With the expressive baritone vocals of singer/songwriter Ricky Ross and McIntosh's resonant alto, fronting pop-jazz and soul-inspired melodies, Deacon Blue's debut single, 1987's "Dignity," entered the U.K. Top Ten. Their Jon Kelly-produced full-length Raintown peaked at 14 on the charts and stayed inside the Top 100 for more than 18 months, going on to sell over a million copies. After a year of touring the U.K. and Europe, Deacon Blue re-entered the studio and emerged with When the World Knows Your Name. It went straight to number one in Scotland and the U.K., thanks to five Top 30 singles, including "Real Gone Kid," "Wages Day," and "Fergus Sings the Blues." The set was certified multi-platinum and remains their best-selling album to date.
The following year, Deacon Blue played to 250,000 fans at The Big Day, a free concert held to celebrate Glasgow being named that year's European City of Culture. The same year, "Real Gone Kid" was nominated for British Single of the Year. While on tour in 1989, the band issued the compilation Ooh Las Vegas which collected B-sides, demos, and soundtrack selections. It peaked at three on the U.K. albums chart. In 1990, McIntosh and Ross married.
In 1991, Deacon Blue released Fellow Hoodlums. Again enlisting Kelly as producer, the set peaked at number two on the U.K. albums chart and was certified platinum. They toured Europe and the States that year. While Deacon Blue became one of the biggest pop bands in the U.K., they made only a small industry impression in the U.S., but they couldn't have cared less.
With 1993's Whatever You Say, Say Nothing, the band changed producers and musical direction. They enlisted the team of Steve Osborne and Paul Oakenfold and deliberately moved toward a guitar-heavy alternative rock sound. Certified gold, the album peaked at number four on the U.K. album charts. After a pair of sold-out tours, the band returned to the studio to cut new songs for their greatest-hits compilation, Our Town. The chart-topping set contained three new tracks. First single "I Was Right and You Were Wrong" entered the Top 20 of the U.K. singles charts, as did a re-release of "Dignity." The other new songs were "Bound to Love" and "Still in the Mood," and the album was certified double-platinum. In 1994, drummer Dougie Vipond announced he was leaving the band to pursue a career in television. After some discussion, the band decided to split.
Ross, who had recorded a solo album before joining Deacon Blue, resumed his solo career. He issued What You Are in 1996. A radical departure from his former band's music, this set's session players included a who's-who of American studio aces including Jeff "Skunk" Baxter, Patrick Warren, and Joey Waronker. Ross shifted gears for 1997's New Album and pulled the plug on the edgy electric guitars of his previous outing. Produced by Love and Money keyboardist Paul McGeechan, the record wove acoustic guitars and pianos through 11 ambient soundscapes with vocals.
In 1999, Deacon Blue re-formed for a sold-out reunion gig with Vipond back in the fold. The gig went so well, they performed others and hit the studio to record Walking Back Home. It collected nine hits alongside eight new songs and a couple of covers. It sold quite respectably and landed inside the Top 40. Deacon Blue toured behind it and decided to re-form part-time. They returned to proper studio recording with 2001's Homesick on Chrysalis' short-lived Papillon label. It peaked at 13 on the U.K.'s Indie albums chart and at 59 on the U.K. albums list.
Ross signed a publishing deal with Warner Chappell in 2001, the same year that guitarist Graeme Kelling was diagnosed with the pancreatic cancer that would claim his life three years later. Ross issued the solo This Is the Life in 2002, and in 2005 followed with Pale Rider. As part of his publishing deal, Ross has penned a wealth of material for other artists including James Blunt, KT Tunstall, and Jamie Cullum.
In 2009, Ross and McIntosh released the co-billed Americana album The Great Lake on Cooking Vinyl. It was inspired, in part by the Roman Catholic couple making a faith retreat of the SpiritualExercises of St. Ignatius. That same year, Ross began a broadcast career with the BBC Scotland; his program, Another Country with Ricky Ross, continues to showcase modern and vintage country and Americana.
Deacon Blue continued to make intermittent festival appearances and release compilations. They played Manchester United's Old Trafford stadium as the pre-match entertainment for the Rugby league Super League Grand Final in October 2006, and did a full U.K. tour in November. They toured again in November 2007 and provided support for a Simple Minds tour in 2008. In 2009 they appeared at The Homecoming Live Final Fling Show at Glasgow's SECC, and headlined Glasgow's Hogmanay on New Year's Eve. After playing the Glastonbury Festival and Liverpool Echo, they re-entered the recording studio.
In 2012, they celebrated their 25th anniversary and released the Paul Savage-produced The Hipsters in September with Del Amtiri's Mick Slaven guesting on guitar. It peaked at 19 on the U.K. albums chart. They toured the U.K. and Europe. As part of the band's anniversary, their previous studio albums were remastered and reissued in deluxe editions by Edsel, along with the compilation The Rest.
In 2013, Ross released the solo outing Trouble Came Looking, and undertook an acoustic tour. Deacon Blue hit the studio almost immediately after he returned. Their seventh studio album, A New House, arrived in 2014. Produced by Savage, the album reached 19 on the U.K. albums chart and peaked at two on the indie albums list. It was the band's first album to feature guitarist Gregor Phillip.
The band re-teamed with Savage for the politically charged Believers. Issued in September 2016, it received universal critical acclaim and peaked at four on Scotland's album charts while hitting 13 on the U.K. albums survey. A European promotional tour culminated in a triumphant return to the Glasgow Barrowlands, the venue where they had played in 1994. The event was filmed and recorded for 2017's Live at the Glasgow Barrowlands. Ross followed with the solo Short Stories, Vol. 1 later that year. Among its new songs were covers of Deacon Blue's "Raintown" and "Wages Day."
The band issued City of Love in 2020. The anthemic collection was produced by Ross and mixed by Savage. Greeted with glowing reviews on both sides of the Atlantic, it topped Scotland's albums list and went to number four on the U.K. album charts. During a promotional tour that November, the band's 1987 debut single "Dignity" was voted "Scotland's Greatest Song."
With more touring planned for early 2021, the global COVID-19 pandemic put Deacon Blue's plans on hold. Undaunted, they took four leftover tracks from City of Love and cut four more Ross-penned songs while separated from one another in quarantine. The end result was the companion album Riding on the Tide of Love. It was released in February 2021”
If you are new to the wonders of Deacon Blue, the guide below lists their very best albums, one that is an underrated gem, plus a book about them that is useful to have. Of course, dig out as much of their great music as you can! Over thirty-five years since they formed, the Glasgow band are still…
PRODUCING such exceptional music!
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The Four Essential Albums
Raintown
Release Date: 1st May, 1987 (U.K.)/February, 1988 (U.S.)
Label: Columbia
Producer: Jon Kelly
Standout Tracks: Loaded/When Will You (Make My Telephone Ring)/Chocolate Girl
Buy: https://www.roughtrade.com/gb/deacon-blue/raintown
Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/7dN67Cy3jynzfNWROXxB7H?si=v05EePTOQS2SxaMqpjX--w&dl_branch=1
Review:
“I missed the recent 30th anniversary of Raintown probably because I was surprised it was originally released as early as 1st May 1987.
A famous ‘sleeper’ record, it eventually crawled up to #14 in the UK album charts but remained in the top 100 for 18 months off the back of some re-released singles and constant touring.
Later on in Deacon Blue’s career, singer/lead songwriter Ricky Ross name-dropped Van Morrison and Springsteen, but on Raintown the big influence is surely Prefab Sprout.
They gave the game away a few years later, naming their collection of B-sides and outtakes Ooh Las Vegas. Nothing to do with Prefab’s ‘Hey Manhattan’, then… (To be fair, the influence may have worked the other way round too – Prefab employed Raintown producer Jon Kelly for some of From Langley Park To Memphis, and that album’s slick sheen bears an occasional resemblance to Raintown.)
Raintown is pop, not rock. The album positively sparkles. James Prime’s excellent keyboard playing is prominent (they didn’t really need a guitarist at this point) with his ‘mystery’ chord very recognisable (later also heard on ‘Real Gone Kid’ and ‘Love And Regret’).
Vocalist Lorraine McIntosh emerges as a kind of ‘bluesier’ version of Prefab’s Wendy Smith though she certainly divides opinion – she nearly ruins the title track and otherwise superb ‘Love’s Great Fears’ but is very effective when reining it in on ‘Loaded’ and ‘Dignity’.
There aren’t many more evocative ’80s album openers than the brief ‘Born In A Storm’, a gorgeous mood piece which sounds a bit like The Blue Nile with a few more chords.
‘Loaded’ is a classic song ‘about some of the people we’d met in the record business’, in Ross’s words. His gritty vocals really work on this – he sounds positively distraught by the last few choruses – and the modulation at 2:48 is one of the great moments of late-’80s pop.
‘When Will You Make My Phone Ring’ is also memorable, even if Ross struggles a little with the lead vocal and the whole thing is a little similar to the soul standard ‘If You Don’t Know Me By Now’.
The excellent ‘Chocolate Girl’ – influenced by Prefab’s ‘Cruel’ in its portrait of a modern relationship – features some gorgeous BJ Cole pedal steel and a few classic couplets including: ‘He calls her the chocolate girl/Cos he thinks she melts when he touches her’.
Finally, Raintown is a romantic album about work, home, love and nostalgia which probably gives a lot of people (including me) a warm glow when they hear it. I couldn’t get with the band’s later rockier direction but I’ll always have a soft spot for this one” – movingtheriver.com
Choice Cut: Dignity
When the World Knows Your Name
Release Date: 6th April, 1989
Label: Columbia
Producers: Warne Livesey/Deacon Blue/David Kahne
Standout Tracks: Queen of the New Year/Wages Day/Fergus Sings the Blues
Buy: https://www.discogs.com/sell/release/249581
Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/2yBIZUvK09HBf6M7Tti3Wy?si=C__QMQDET9y46xk-NVLp_g&dl_branch=1
Review:
“Fergus Sings The Blues follows this, and this track was the album’s third UK single, and it reached #14. From the off, there’s a great little bass and piano line. There’s almost an echo of disco here, but thankfully they keep themselves on the 80’s rock-pop mould side of it. There’s some great brass going on here – thanks to trumpets and trombone. Again, Lorraine’s here with some perfectly placed backing vocals. Mr 80’s Obligatory Saxophone gets to do a little sultry outtro.
Next up it’s The World Is Lit By Lightning – a great title. This track is laden with synths and is less rocky than some of their songs. Again, there’s plenty of piano, and some brass moments. Ricky is briefly joined by Lorraine for some vocal parts, but the vocals are a little quiet in comparison to the music. The use of contemporary keyboard sounds seems to dominate, leaving their vocals a bit buried.
Silhouette is quite a simple little track, seeing the return of the double bass, ‘woo hoo’ vocals, and a light sprinkling beat and guitar section for the chorus. This song really helps to show off Ricky’s vocals, but thankfully lets Lorraine take a lead at about 2mins.
This is followed by One Hundred Things, which really is quite a nice up-beat track. Vocally, musically and even lyrically (that ‘case of old photographs‘ is back again) feels like a companion track for Real Gone Kid. The track has a great musical and vocal pace to it – leaving it feel catchy and as if it should have been a single.
Up next is penultimate track Your Constant Heart, which brings the pace down again. This is definitely well in the 80’s stadium pop-rock genre. Musically it feels a bit busy with a lot of background layers going on, which includes guitar and harmonica. Ricky’s vocals vary from sounding like he’s singing on stage to singing in a cupboard.
The album closes with the brooding drums and piano of Orphans. This is almost lullaby-esque. Ricky’s vocals feel raw here, aided perfectly by the softer backing vocals of Lorraine and a swelling synth. I could easily imagine this being sung by Sinéad O’Connor instead. This is a wonderfully gentle ending to an album” – POP RESCUE
Choice Cut: Real Gone Kid
Fellow Hoodlums
Release Date: 3rd June, 1991 (U.S.)/10th June, 1991 (U.K.)
Label: Columbia
Producer: Jon Kelly
Standout Tracks: James Joyce Soles/Your Swaying Arms/Cover from the Sky
Buy: https://www.roughtrade.com/gb/deacon-blue/fellow-hoodlums
Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/7ueq3u8C3OXdkeUGfj8EHF?si=OOooIW2PTcm1KmxbERtxbA&dl_branch=1
Review:
“Peaking at No.2 in the UK, Fellow Hoodlums is a more organic collection of songs than its predecessor, embodied by its second single (and Deacon Blue’s second Top 10 hit), Twist And Shout. Not to be confused with the song made famous by The Top Notes, The Isley Brothers and, of course, The Beatles, it fuses pop with Cajun zydeco. Ross and McIntosh are in sparkling form once again, particularly on One Day I’ll Go Walking, while McIntosh also gets a solo spot on the sublime Cover From The Sky.
Elsewhere, there’s much to admire in the weirdly wonderful title track, James Joyce Soles and The Day That Jackie Jumped The Jail.
Your Swaying Arms made No.6 in Ireland, the band’s seventh consecutive Top 10 single there” – CLASSIC POP
Choice Cut: Twist and Shout
The Hipsters
Release Date: 24th September, 2012
Labels: Demon/Edsel
Producer: Paul Savage
Standout Tracks: Stars/The Outsiders/Laura from Memory
Buy: https://www.discogs.com/sell/list?master_id=703449&ev=mb
Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/5emVP9CzoLDdoKbVfrzTbu?si=ZpmK3kJOR1u0C_UnOetKlw&dl_branch=1
Review:
“Eleven years since their last original release, with between-album pursuits ranging from actor to TV presenter to university lecturer, staple highlight-of-a-decade Deacon Blue have never fully gone off the radar. Members have sporadically dipped back into the band via best ofs, reunion tours and one-off events.
And the parallel careers are on hold once again, this time for a full studio album. But with The Hipsters, there’s a real feeling of commitment to the cause.
The lead single and title track provides the promise of optimistic, sunlit, indie-flecked arrangements, which does follow through for the most part. The rhythmic thump of The Rest and That’s What We Can Do prove to be perfect examples.
Beyond that, The Hipsters does sway briefly into gentler terrain, the sinuous balladry of She’ll Understand complementing the more upbeat numbers effectually. The back-and-forth vocal play between Ricky Ross and Lorraine McIntosh is as congruent as ever – no huge surprise given they’re a married couple – acting as an unpremeditated reminder of the magic of their 1988 benchmark Real Gone Kid.
The Hipsters proves that Deacon Blue are showing their age, in the most positive way – their tightly-defined chemistry, accomplished storytelling and knack for melodies have been finely honed over the past 25 years. And while the title lends itself to all manner of trend-conscious pretension, there are no such gimmicks present.
Instruments win out against any threat of desk over-twiddling, not a million miles from the safer moments of Snow Patrol or latter-day Take That, and something which would translate agreeably to the live stage.
This isn’t a band attempting to recapture their halcyon days – Deacon Blue are doing what they’ve always been able to do with aplomb, atop some well-considered, refined and timely production. There’s no huge statement to be made, no desperate clawing for another shot – merely a legitimate love for what they do. And on The Hipsters, that’s made very evident indeed” – BBC
Choice Cut: The Hipsters
The Underrated Gem
Whatever You Say, Say Nothing
Release Date: 1st March, 1993
Label: Columbia
Producers: Steve Osborne/Paul Oakenfold
Standout Tracks: Only Tender Love/Hang Your Head/Will We Be Lovers
Buy: https://www.discogs.com/sell/list?master_id=152364&ev=mb
Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/5J1QNo0QUyU8nxuis1sksy?si=ugxlbVY0SaidvronKeWG4g&dl_branch=1
Review:
“Abandoning the folkish feel of earlier records, Ricky Ross took Deacon Blue in a more rocking direction on the band's fourth new studio album, Whatever You Say, Say Nothing. It was as if, having failed at becoming the next Van Morrison, Ross decided to become the next Bono. Songs like "Bethlehem's Gate" were paced by relentless, martial drumming and rhythmic instruments that played pulse patterns rather than complete chords. Meanwhile, Ross adopted a high, breathy singing voice with lots of echo. The lyrics Ross sang had less to do with his old Glasgow neighborhood than with "Peace & Jobs & Freedom" "All Over The World." Many of Deacon Blue's British fans were willing to follow, but America still wasn't listening” – AllMusic
Choice Cut: Your Town
The Latest Album
Riding on the Tide of Love
Release Date: 5th February, 2021
Label: Earmusic
Producers: Deacon Blue
Standout Tracks: Nothing's Changed/Not Gonna Be That Girl/It’s Still Early
Buy: https://www.roughtrade.com/gb/deacon-blue/riding-on-the-tide-of-love/lp-plus
Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/6BUybrF9utRs1EMRwsEW4O?si=wRjR65zYTWugn-8BcB2t3Q&dl_branch=1
Review:
“The first single and title track draws musical inspiration from Leonard Cohen's "Democracy" with a marching beat and simple two-chord vamp. Vocalists Ricky Ross and Lorraine McIntosh offer an apocalyptic yet redemptive lyric in chant-like unison. It references growing up during the atomic age, the fears and travails of adolescence, and the ultimate redemption that comes with embracing the complexities of life and love; they even use an episode from St. John of Patmos' Revelation story as signifier and metaphor. Possibility pours from McIntosh's full-throated delivery in the refrain amid a stinging single-note lead guitar line, swelling keyboards, and soaring strings to become one of Deacon Blue's signature pop anthems. "She Loved the Snow" is more pastoral, with Ross and McIntosh singing in glorious harmonic unison; it could easily have found its way onto 2009's duo project The Great Lakes. The shimmering organ in "Look Up" slyly references Curtis Mayfield's "People Get Ready" in homage. It's a moving, gospel- and soul-tinged exhortation to transcend fear amid the fleeting nature of life. The notion is underscored with the magisterial rock of "Time," which is fueled by thrumming tom-tom loops that affectionately recall Kate Bush's "Running Up That Hill." The gorgeous "Send a Note Out" uses a Steve Cropper-esque guitar vamp, B-3 organ, rubbery bass, and clapping drumsticks to surround Ross and McIntosh in Celtic soul as they testify to the power of responding to adversity with creativity and resolve. "Not Gonna Be That Girl" is a story of unconditional, romantic, redemptive love. It commences as a ballad but ends a swaying anthem complete with processional brass. Riding on the Tide of Love almost whispers to a close with the jazzy, romantic pop ballad "It's Still Early." These eight songs are a stellar thematic follow-up to The City of Love. That said, they stand on their own as a single, musically sophisticated, emotionally direct, remarkably cohesive document that desires to provide safe haven in a dark age -- especially given the piecemeal origins of these sessions” – AllMusic
Choice Cut: Riding on the Tide of Love
The Deacon Blue Book
Deacon Blue: To Be Here Someday
Author: Paul English
Publication Date: 14th October, 2021
Synopsis:
“To Be Here Someday’ is Deacon Blue’s first official book and will feature extensive interviews with Deacon Blue as well as key members of their crew over the past 35 years along with fans’ memories of gigs, singles and albums.
The highly-collectable limited edition comes with a specially-curated hoard of previously-unreleased vinyl, with artwork, posters, replica tickets, a signed set list and a VIP laminate all selected by the band. It includes a new vinyl 7″ single, featuring never before released, demo recording of ‘Dignity’ that got the band signed, backed with one of the best live versions of ‘Dignity’, recorded in 2006 at the Hammersmith Apollo, released on vinyl for the first time.
Deacon Blue want fans to tell them your story of your connection to the band. We want this definitive book in the band’s history to include your recollection about what the band have meant to you. Tell us your memories of first gigs, singles and albums, the memorable moments and people tethered to songs, about the place the band have in your life, and the reason why.
Email your story to deaconbluebook@gmail.com
Authored and edited by journalist Paul English, ‘To Be Here Someday’ will be published in two editions: a standard hardback version, priced at £39.99; and a special edition box – limited to just 1,000 copies, each featuring an individually hand-numbered certificate – priced at £75.00.
The boxed set will also feature a poignant signed setlist from the band’s emotional swansong on 20 May 1994, with each member of the original lineup, including the late Graeme Kelling, dedicating a message to Ricky after what everyone thought would be the last-ever show.
It’ll also feature a special A3 poster, presented to the band on selling out their ‘To Be Here Someday’ 2018 UK tour, plus another from their ‘Extended Play’ tour of Spain in 1990” – Deacon Blue & Ricky Ross: The Official Site
Pre-Order: https://thisdayinmusicbooks.com/product/deacon-blue-to-be-here-someday/