The Skids, Big Country and the unsettling story of Stuart Adamson

Timestamps: 00:00 - Intro 05:31 - The great mystery of Stuart Adamson 06:50 - Beginnings and family 09:03 - Forming the Skids 12:57 - Relationship with fame 14:51 - Leaving the Skids 18:53 - Big Country 22:00 - Steve Lillywhite and new marketing 30:06 - The rock press attacks 33:06 - Hitting the wall 36:52 - Grunge and decline 39:45 - Final years Stuart Adamson co-founded the Skids and Big Country but was profoundly ill-suited to the spoils of his success. Author Scott Rowley unpacks his passage from Dunfermline to Nashville and Hawaii to get a sense of his demons and what drove and inspired him. He talks to us here about his compelling new memoir ‘Stay Alive: the Life and Death of Stuart Adamson’ and touches on … … hints of troubled family life in his early lyrics and the shadows of his father and grandfather … that famous three-word review: “More crusading porridge!” … the guilt of his success when he returned to his Dunfermline roots … why learning to sing is unwise! … how Big Country were saved by Steve Lillywhite and the resentment about their being sold as a pop group … Nick Drake, Sinead O’Connor … “people who should never have been given a record contract” … insurmountable friction with Richard Jobson … how Nevermind made the old rock landscape look outmoded … “guitars that sounded like bagpipes!” and other hoary old clichés … “empty, breast-beating, bombastic!”: the rigours of the rock press consensus … and how Big Country nearly played Live Aid. Order ‘Stay Alive: the Life and Death of Stuart Adamson’ here: https://www.simonandschuster.co.uk/bo... Help us to keep the conversation going:   / wordinyourear