High Land, Hard Rain was the debut album by jangle pop

Jangle pop

Jangle pop is a genre of alternative rock from the mid-1980s that "marked a return to the chiming or jangly guitars and pop melodies of the '60s" bands such as The Byrds, with their electric twelve-string guitars and power pop song structures. Mid-1980s jangle pop was a non-mainstream "pop-based...

, alternative rock

Alternative rock

Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...

, new wave

New Wave music

New Wave is a subgenre of :rock music that emerged in the mid to late 1970s alongside punk rock. The term at first generally was synonymous with punk rock before being considered a genre in its own right that incorporated aspects of electronic and experimental music, mod subculture, disco and 1960s...

 band Aztec Camera

Aztec Camera

Aztec Camera were a Scottish New Wave band from the Glasgow suburb of East Kilbride, formed in 1980 and centered around teenage singer-songwriter, Roddy Frame. Their album Love was among the nominations for Best British Album at the 1989 BRIT Awards....

, released in 1983. Three tracks from the album originally appeared on the Oblivious

Oblivious (Aztec Camera song)

"Oblivious" is the fourth single by Scottish New Wave band Aztec Camera. It was released as the second single from their 1983 studio album High Land, Hard Rain. The song managed a moderate charting of #47 on the UK Singles Chart, but a re-release of the song later that same year proved even more...

EP

Extended play

An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...

 which reached number 18 on the UK Singles Chart

UK Singles Chart

The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...

 in November 1983. The album itself reached number 22 on the UK Albums Chart

UK Albums Chart

The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart...

.. The majority of the album was recorded at the ICC Studios in Eastbourne

Eastbourne

Eastbourne is a large town and borough in East Sussex, on the south coast of England between Brighton and Hastings. The town is situated at the eastern end of the chalk South Downs alongside the high cliff at Beachy Head...

.
"Down the Dip" was inspired by a local East Kilbride

East Kilbride

East Kilbride is a large suburban town in the South Lanarkshire council area, in the West Central Lowlands of Scotland. Designated as Scotland's first new town in 1947, it forms part of the Greater Glasgow conurbation...

 pub

Public house

A public house, informally known as a pub, is a drinking establishment fundamental to the culture of Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. There are approximately 53,500 public houses in the United Kingdom. This number has been declining every year, so that nearly half of the smaller...

 located close to Duncanrig Secondary School, Roddy Frame's high school

High school

High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....

. Originally called "The Diplomat" ("The Dip" for short), it is now called Gardenhall Inn.

Track listing

1. "Oblivious" 3:05
2. "The Boy Wonders" 3:10
3. "Walk Out to Winter" 3:20
4. "The Bugle Sounds Again" 2:50
5. "We Could Send Letters" 5:40
6. "Pillar to Post" 3:55
7. "Release" 3:38
8. "Lost Outside the Tunnel" 3:35
9. "Back on Board" 4:50
10. "Down the Dip" 2:10
11. "Haywire" [Bonus Track]
12. "Orchid Girl" [Bonus Track]
13. "Queen's Tattoos" [Bonus Track]

Personnel

• Roddy Frame
  Roddy Frame
  Roddy Frame is a Scottish singer-songwriter and musician, who was the founder of the 1980s indie band, Aztec Camera, and more recently is a solo performer.-Career:...
  
   – vocals
  Singing
  Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
  
  , guitar
  Guitar
  The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
  
  , harmonica
  Harmonica
  The harmonica, also called harp, French harp, blues harp, and mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used primarily in blues and American folk music, jazz, country, and rock and roll. It is played by blowing air into it or drawing air out by placing lips over individual holes or multiple holes...
  
  
• Bernie Clark – piano
  Piano
  The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
  
  , organ
  Organ (music)
  The organ , is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet. The organ is a relatively old musical instrument in the Western musical tradition, dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria who is credited with...
  
  
• Campbell Owens – bass
  Bass guitar
  The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
  
  
• Dave Ruffy – drums
  Drum kit
  A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
  
  , percussion
  Percussion instrument
  A percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...