Was charmed to see this thread - I just joined the forum today and hey, someone is interested in my specialism!
I've just published a large format book on the UK punk movement (No More Heroes, through Cherry Red) which included some 200 interviews with musicians etc. I've covered a number of Scottish bands from that period. As previously mentioned, the Rezillos and the Skids are probably the two best known, but there were dozens more, including the fantastic Scars, the Prats, the Valves, Fire Exit, etc, before the 'second/third wave' bands like the Exploited, who are not really very interesting. My friend also contributed a chapter to the book concerning the Blair Street punk scene in Edinburgh of that time, which is fairly amusing (probably more amusing than my own work anyway).
I also wrote a piece specifically about 'Scottish punk' for a new book on the history of Scottish music by Martin Kielty, which is also now out. I've printed it out below as it might provide some useful pointers -
QUOTE
Looking from the outside, Scotland’s punk revolution by and large mirrored the key elements of its southern incarnation. Records by the Pistols and Damned were snapped up in eager teenage hands, which immediately embraced its DIY, anti-authority ethic. And just as in London and elsewhere, there were working bands who saw the opportunity to break out from the confines of the pub scene. Examples of the latter include the Zones, Zips and Exile in Glasgow, while the Edinburgh scene was split between more arty bands (Scars, Freeze) and the prole punk threat based around Blair Street’s squat scene, from whence came the Axidents, Badweeks and, eventually, and tragically for all concerned, the Exploited.
The mythological construct that musical ability was no barrier to participation was certainly taken to heart, as was the importance of tackling regional issues (as in Exile’s ferocious assault on local ‘Fascist DJ’ Tom Perrie for his refusal to play punk or new wave records). Many, notably the Prats, Scotland’s take on Eater, were schoolkids having a go. Some Scottish artists headed south to London (Midge Ure almost became a Sex Pistol. Alex Fergusson joined ATV, and John McGeoch, arguably the most innovative guitarist of the period, are three such examples). Others never got out of the bedroom. But, being Scotland, there was a natural resistance to swallowing this new London phenomenon wholesale. So when the Valves sang ‘Ain’t No Surf In Portobello’, they weren’t talking about West London, but rather their local sewage treatment works.
Undoubtedly the real jewels of Scotland’s punk scene, both in terms of record sales and critical reverence, were Dunfermline’s Skids, fired by Stuart Adamson’s layered harmonics and Ricky Jobson’s thesaurus, and Edinburgh’s art school mavericks the Rezillos. The Rezillos burned out way too soon though they did leave one of punk’s greatest, most satisfying albums and a clutch of fizzing retro-pop singles, while the Skids grew in stature as a mainstream pop band as the 70s progressed.
But arguably the most interesting aspect of Scotland’s immersion in punk was the way in which it allowed so many subsequently acclaimed artists to take their baby steps. Jobson is now a filmmaker, the troubled Adamson found global success with Big Country, and the Rezillos are now back as a going concern. But there were many others who were either once part of punk’s cause or adept at seizing the opportunities it offered. Novelist Ian Rankin once performed with long-forgotten punk band the Dancing Pigs. The Reid brothers played guitar and drums in Blak Flag before becoming the Proclaimers. Jim Kerr was a founder of Johnny And The Self Abusers who, unlike his later band Simple Minds, never did sell out any arenas. And Mike Scott was involved in various permutations of bands who embraced the punk credo (with liberal helpings of Patti Smith art damage) before alighting on the Waterboys.
And as for the celebrated Postcard scene and its offshoots, Edwyn Collins was a Nu-Sonic prior to Orange Juice, Roddy Frame laboured in a band entitled Neutral Blue and Davey Henderson was a member of Marxist art punks the Dirty Reds (who also included actor Tam Dean). And Alan McGee, the Creation Records founder, also had a bedroom punk band and continues to talk up the impact of the Pistols et al to this day.
Several of these bands never recorded or played outside their hometowns. But what was important was that punk gave an entry point to a whole generation of Scottish artists and musicians. Many of these would doubtless have prospered anyway on the back of pure talent, but others would have remained of the view that the music industry was something separate, both ideologically and regionally, to their own backgrounds. So for list compilers coming up with the greatest works of Scottish musical history, there may only be a couple of legitimate contenders from the punk canon. But without its influences, several of the landmark records of the 80s and 90s may never have gotten off the block.
