The Proclaimers
are a Scottish band composed of two brothers, Charlie and Craig Reid. They are best known for the songs "Letter from America", "I'm On My Way", and "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)".
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THE PROCLAIMERS TICKETS
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Career
The twins were brought up in
Auchtermuchty,
Fife. After several
punk rock bands at school they formed The Proclaimers in 1983.
The pair came to public attention when an Inverness fan sent their demo to the British band
The Housemartins, who were impressed enough to invite the Proclaimers on their 1986 UK tour. The exposure of the tour won them a January 1987 appearance on UK popular music programme
The Tube
on
Channel Four;
[1] Letter from America
peaked at number 3 in the
UK singles chart, while the album
This is the Story
went gold. The follow-up album
Sunshine on Leith
featured
I'm Gonna Be...
(UK number 11) and
I'm On My Way
(UK number 43). They had a big hit with the EP/single
King of the Road
, which reached number 9 in the UK in 1990.
The brothers are famous fans of
Hibernian Football Club, and "Sunshine on Leith" has become a theme song for the club, being played at every home match. Charlie and Craig appeared at Easter Road stadium for the "Hands Off Hibs" campaign in 1990 when Wallace Mercer attempted a hostile takeover of the club but was defeated by fan pressure. They are also well-known supporters of
Scottish independence and have at various stages of their lives been activists for the
Scottish National Party, expressing such views on their promotional tour of
Britain in March 2007,
[2] although the following month, Charlie Reid announced that he had switched his allegiance to the
Scottish Socialist Party in protest at the
Scottish National Party's receipt of funding from big business
[3]. Many of their songs reflect their political views, such as
Letter from America
and
Cap in Hand
. On 16 May 2006, the twins announced their participation in a campaign to free a fellow Scot,
Kenny Richey, from his
death row sentence in
Ohio, United States, including an appearance at a charity concert.
[4]
I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)
has become a major Scottish anthem, played at Scottish national football matches, Scottish pubs, and other traditional Scottish events across the world.
As of May 2006
I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)
had remained in the
iTunes download chart since December 2004. The 1988 album
Sunshine on Leith
sold over 25,000 copies in 2005.
In March 2007 they recorded a new version of
I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)
with television comedy characters
Andy Pipkin (played by
Matt Lucas) and
Brian Potter (
Peter Kay) for the
Comic Relief charity. A long list of celebrities were featured in the
music video for this new version, including
David Bellamy,
Rod, Jane and Freddy,
Paul O'Grady,
David Tennant,
Frank Sidebottom and many more. This new version of the song reached No. 1 in the
UK singles chart.
In June 2007 their former manager Kai Davidson was killed by a fall at the age of 44 with his death being ruled a probable suicide.
[broken citation] [5]
On 31 December (
Hogmanay) 2007 they sold out a concert in
Stirling Castle to celebrate the New Year.
The band has been announced as the touring partners of
The B-52's on their
Funplex tour, which will take in
Australia and
New Zealand in November 2009 alongside
Mental as Anything.
The Proclaimers are celebrity patrons of the
Association for International Cancer Research.
Discography
EP
#
King of the Road
(1990)
#
17 (Acoustic EP)
(2009)
Studio albums
#
This Is the Story
(1987)
#
Sunshine on Leith (1988) (re-released in 2001 with
King of the Road'' appendage)
#
Hit the Highway
(1994)
#
Persevere
(2001)
#
Born Innocent
(2003)
#
Restless Soul
(2005)
#
Life With You
(2007)
#
Notes & Rhymes
(2009)
Compilation
#
The Best of The Proclaimers
(2002)
#
Finest
(2003, UK only)
Soundtracks
#
Benny and Joon (1993) (song,
I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)'')
#
Bye Bye Love (1995) (song,
Bye Bye Love)
#
Bottle Rocket (1996) (song,
Over And Done With'')
#
Dumb and Dumber (1994) (song,
Get Ready'')
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The Crossing (1990) (song,
King of the Road'')
#
Shrek (2001) (song,
I'm on My Way'')
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HIMYM (2007 - episode Arrivederci, Fiero) (song,
I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)'')
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Mama's Boy (2008) (song,
Then I Met You'')
DVD
#
The Best of the Proclaimers 1987-2002
(2002)
Singles
Year
| Title
| Chart positions
| Album
|
US
| US Modern Rock
| UK
|
1987
| "Throw the 'R' Away"
| -
| -
| -
| This is the Story
|
1987
| "Letter from America" (band version)
| -
| -
| 3
| This is the Story
|
1988
| "Make My Heart Fly" (band version)
| -
| -
| 63
| This is the Story
[6]
|
1988
| "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)"
| 3
| 21
| 11
| Sunshine on Leith
|
1988
| "Sunshine on Leith"
| -
| -
| 41
| Sunshine on Leith
|
1989
| "I'm on My Way"
| -
| -
| 43
| Sunshine on Leith
|
1990
| "King of the Road"
| -
| -
| 9
| King of the Road
(EP)
|
1994
| "Let's Get Married"
| -
| -
| 21
| Hit the Highway
|
1994
| "What Makes You Cry"
| -
| -
| 38
| Hit the Highway
|
1994
| "These Arms of Mine"
| -
| -
| 52
| Hit the Highway
|
2001
| "There's a Touch"
| -
| -
| -
| Persevere
|
2007
| "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)" feat. Brian Potter and Andy Pipkin
| -
| -
| 1
| Best of (2007 reissue)
|
2007
| "Life with You"
| -
| -
| 58
| Life with You
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2007
| "Whole Wide World"
| -
| -
| -
| Life with You
|
2008
| "New Religion" (promo only)
| -
| -
| -
| Life with You
|
2009
| "Love Can Move Mountians"
| -
| -
| -
| Notes & Rhymes
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References
- Pop idols
- The Simon Mayo Programme
- SNP NO MORE - The Sunday Mail
- Letter to America: Proclaimers join campaign to free death-row Scot
- ''The Edinburgh Evening News''.
- The band version does not actually appear on any Proclaimers album.