First ever recording from Fife punks Skids to be be released

Shortly after their first ever gig on August 18,1977 at the Belleville Hotel in Dunfermline, and before they went on to have success in the UK singles and album charts, the band found themselves in the studio making their first ever demo recordings.

The results are set to be released nearly 50 years later on September 18 as ‘Skids 1977’ on Awrite Records.

The band’s front man Richard Jobson remembers the band’s early days well.

He said: “We were only kids, full of ideas, and brought together through a love of music. We had different tastes but Punk pulled us into the same room. From Alex Harvey to Iggy Pop, and Be-Bop Deluxe to Patti Smith – somehow it all made sense.

“We rehearsed in a leaky garage that had the jumped up name of The Stables. It was Scottish-cold and damp, on the outskirts of Dunfermline, yet we loved the place. It was our den. Our space to create and make music.

“In the beginning all of the songs were written by Stuart. He was a tall, gangly, Sid Vicious look-a-like who could actually, really play his guitar. From the start he was more accomplished than any of the other new, start-up bands.

“The music made us friends. We looked out for one another. Going together to see bands play live was dangerous, but at the same time, joyous. We met like-minded people in Edinburgh, Stirling and Dundee and of course, Glasgow. It was an explosion of youth culture that you can feel at the heart of these recordings.

“I don’t remember much about the recording session – I’ve always hated studios – but I do recall the exhilaration of playing them live. Pano, our biker manager, standing at the side of the stage with our main man, Clive Ford, waiting for the violence to start, but Clive always smiling – loving the experience.”

Clive Ford was the man who had the early demos in his possession and speaking to the podcast Scotpop, said he was happy that they were finally being heard.

“Stuart Adamson turned up to Sound Control in Dunfermline shortly before he relocated to America in the early 90s and gave me the tape,” he said.

“He said, “You'll know what to do with it”.

“I've kept the tape to myself for years but now is the right time to let Skids fans finally hear it. It brings the story full circle.”

Today the reformed Skids are busier than ever, with a string of tour dates lined up through the autumn and winter, including a homecoming date at the Glen Pavillion in Dunfermline on November 7.

Listening back to the early recordings though, Jobson said the demos are a fitting tribute to Adamson, who tragically took his own life in 2001.

“I sang in a “mockney” accent at the time, thinking it was pre-requisite, before eventually finding my own voice and words. But this is all about our band leader, Stuart Adamson, who showed us how to make a song come alive.

“The demos have a ghostly quality but the rage is there, and somehow they still connect. It was a beautiful time in all of our lives, a moment where youth and anger created friendship and hope.

“You can hear the beginning of the band’s journey in every song, and maybe the hint of riffs that in the future would become the sound of Skids.”