Author: Connie F [ Edit | View ]
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Date Posted: 20:06:07 01/13/05 Thu (cache-mtc-ad02.proxy.aol.com/64.12.116.196)
Remember when we were talking about voting for the best Scottish Band ever. I know many of us voted and the results panned out. Our Bay City Rollers came up #8 - okay so maybe we would have liked them to be #1 but #8 is nothing to cough about when it comes to thousands and thousands of bands that could have made the list. So feel free to take your index finger ~ place it on your right bun ~ part your lips and squeal "SIZZLE."
Belles of the Scottish music scene voted best of all time
BILLY BRIGGS January 13 2005
BELLE and Sebastian were last night named as the best Scottish band of all time.
The indie band from Glasgow beat Travis and Idlewild into second and third place respectively in a poll by the List magazine which attracted 12,000 voters.
The winner of the prestigious accolade was announced at King Tuts in Glasgow in front of an invited audience of stars of the Scottish music scene past and present.
Also featured in the top 10 of the awards, sponsored by Orange, were acts including Primal Scream; 80s legends Simple Minds, and the Bay City Rollers.
Current music sensations Franz Ferdinand, winners of last year's Mercury Music Prize, came in 15th. Eddi Reader came 30th overall, with the Average White Band at number 47.
Belle and Sebastian, named indirectly from the French novel of the same name about a boy called Sebastian and a mountain dog named Belle, came on to the music scene in 1995.
Fronted by Stuart Murdoch, they emerged with wistful, nostalgia-laden indie pop that examined sexual frustration, loneliness and isolation.
Dear Catastrophe Waitress, their 2003 album, was a nominee for the Mercury Music Prize, won last year by fellow Glaswegians Franz Ferdinand.
Mark Robertson, music editor of the List, said the idea behind the project was to rediscover the very best of Scottish music.
"Everyone has strong opinions about who they believe deserves this prestigious accolade, and we wanted to open this up to the public to decide," he said.
A number of Glasgow artists made the magazine's top 50 – among them Travis, Teenage Fanclub, Blue Nile, Wet Wet Wet, Lulu, and Del Amitri.
The Sensational Alex Harvey Band, of Boston Tea Party fame, was another Glaswegian entry at number five. Harvey, formerly Glasgow's answer to Tommy Steele, died of a heart attack in 1982 but the band still tour and his contribution to the Scottish music scene is not forgotten.
Rob Adams, music critic for The Herald, said that on stage the group lived up to their name.
"They were the first band I saw and are aptly named as they really were quite sensational. People remember them because they were so good," he said.
East coast entries included Deacon Blue, the Proclaimers, Associates, Eurythmics, Skids and Big Country. Further north, Runrig and Mull Historical Society merited a place.
In recent years, Scotland's music scene has been flourishing and Glasgow – home to many top British acts including Snow Patrol – has led the way in challenging London.
According to the New York Times, Glasgow is now regarded as one of the world's "coolest cities" for music, ranked alongside New York, Tokyo and Cologne as one of the planet's four top rock cities.
The Scissor Sisters, the American group, said Glasgow was the second-best city on earth after New York and even joked about taking a bus-load of Glasgow fans with them on tour.
A number of Scottish artists mentioned in the top 50 took to the stage at the awards ceremony, including Colin MacIntyre of Mull Historical Society, Gary Lightbody and Nathan Connolly of Brit nominees Snow Patrol, and Idlewild.
Scotland's top 10
1 Belle and Sebastian
2 Travis
3 Idlewild
4 Wet Wet Wet
5 Sensational Alex Harvey Band
6 Simple Minds
7 Teenage Fanclub
8 Bay City Rollers
9 Primal Scream
10 The Proclaimers
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