Scars (band)
Encyclopedia
Scars were a Post-punk
band that hailed from Edinburgh, Scotland
, and were a part of that city's bustling music scene of the late 70s - early 80s.
. This aforementioned song would later be included in the band's 1981 (and sole) album Author! Author!
, but in the meantime the group maintained an ever-mounting momentum and attention via singles releases and constant touring, and soon they were noticed by John Peel
. Peel invited the band to record two of his legendary Sessions, once in February 1980 and another in May 1981.
By the time the band started recording Author! Author!, their sound had matured from being rough and aggressive to something more melodic . From that album sprang perhaps the most recognizable Scars song out there, "All About You", which was the only single launched directly from that album. Calumn Mackay left Scars the year prior to the album's release, so Steve McLaughlin took over drumming duties for the band at around this time. The band continued to receive positive attention and increase their fan base as they were first able to co-headline gigs with the Comsat Angels
, then headline gigs with Josef K
as their supporting act. Scars even managed to land a full-page spread in Smash Hits
. By that time, the band was headquartered in London
In the summer of 1982, Scars landed a supporting slot with Australia's The Church
as the headliners. This was to be the beginning of the end for the band. Having been together—and constantly playing live gigs—since they were all teenagers in 1977, the glue that held the band together started to weaken. Robert King left the band and the rest of the band members, in turn, tried to keep the band going as a cohesive unit with Paul Research taking over lead vocal duties. The band recorded a song called "Bone Orchard" for a planned second album that never materialized; at year's end, the Scars were no more. King would soon go on to modest but temporary success as a solo artist (the synthpop-ish "Paper Heart" being the most notable of his recordings), but by the mid '80s the various Scars bandmates have been content to continue being musicians and pursuing other interests beyond the glare of the limelight.
elected to use samples of "Horrorshow" at the urging of band member Fred Deakin, who was a huge Scars fan in his youth. The samples were utilized in their song "'79 aka The Shouty Track
" (or "The Shouty Track" for short), for inclusion in the album '64 - '95
. The song was also the second single released from that album. When it came time for Lemon Jelly to tour in support of 64 - '95, they invited a partially reformed version of Scars (that included original drummer Calumn Mackay) along to play live the sampled parts of "79 - The Shouty Track" in selected dates, including in the Scars' former home base of Edinburgh.
Guitarist Paul Research is the most visible former member of Scars and maintains a de facto official Scars site.
's Robert Blamire
, is now available on CD. Due to a history of stalled negotiations with reissue companies and the difficulties involved in "disentangl[ing] The Scars copyright spaghetti", the complications involved in releasing an official CD version of that album have historically been far too much for even the former band members to overcome. Nevertheless, now that they have been overcome, a new generation of fans is enjoying Scars music again.
In October 2006, small events that had been put into motion thanks to the Lemon Jelly-driven Scars renaissance began to coalesce. It was announced at that time that Author! Author! would be remastered and finally released on CD format with additional tracks added in. In December 2006, the tapes were fully restored to playable mode at Abbey Road Studios
by EMI
, the record company that currently has ownership of the album masters, with an anticipated release date of sometime before the end of 2006. However, the remastering and CD transfer processes were put on hold pending an ISRC issuance.
The tapes were remastered by Steve McLaughlin and transferred to CD format, and the original artwork was also remastered by John Mackie. The CD became available for purchase on Paul Research's Scars Moments site in early 2007. Eventually it was also released for sale on Amazon UK. All versions include bonus album tracks and remastered versions of the band's various PRE/Charisma Records singles releases.
Scars appeared on BBC2
's TOTP2
on March 3, 2007, which aired a live version of "All About You" from a 1981 episode of the "Old Grey Whistle Test
" that featured the Scars as special guests. Along with a special music blog entry from February 2007 by a music editor at the respected Guardian
UK newspaper entitled "Chasing Scars" and subtitled with, "Is the post-punk group Scars the Last Great Lost Band?", this has helped keep the band's name in the forefront of people's consciousness.
Scars performed a live session on Marc Riley
's programme on BBC Radio 6Music on 10 February 2011.
Post-punk
Post-punk is a rock music movement with its roots in the late 1970s, following on the heels of the initial punk rock explosion of the mid-1970s. The genre retains its roots in the punk movement but is more introverted, complex and experimental...
band that hailed from Edinburgh, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, and were a part of that city's bustling music scene of the late 70s - early 80s.
History
Fronted by Robert King and featuring Paul Research on lead guitar, John Mackie on bass, and Calumn Mackay on drums, the band's original sound was angular and offset with a dance-based rhythm section, as evidenced by their 1979 single for Fast Product "Horrorshow"/"Adult/ery". The band's popular set-closing song "Your Attention Please" appeared as a free gold flexi-disc in the third edition of the influential London-based style magazine i-DI-D
i-D is a British magazine dedicated to fashion, music, art and youth culture. i-D was founded by designer and former Vogue art director Terry Jones in 1980. The first issue was published in the form of a hand-stapled fanzine with text produced on a typewriter...
. This aforementioned song would later be included in the band's 1981 (and sole) album Author! Author!
Author! Author! (album)
Author! Author! is the only studio album by the Scottish post-punk band Scars. It was released in 1981.-Side A:-Side B:-2007 reissue:...
, but in the meantime the group maintained an ever-mounting momentum and attention via singles releases and constant touring, and soon they were noticed by John Peel
John Peel
John Robert Parker Ravenscroft, OBE , known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey, radio presenter, record producer and journalist. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly from 1967 until his death in 2004...
. Peel invited the band to record two of his legendary Sessions, once in February 1980 and another in May 1981.
By the time the band started recording Author! Author!, their sound had matured from being rough and aggressive to something more melodic . From that album sprang perhaps the most recognizable Scars song out there, "All About You", which was the only single launched directly from that album. Calumn Mackay left Scars the year prior to the album's release, so Steve McLaughlin took over drumming duties for the band at around this time. The band continued to receive positive attention and increase their fan base as they were first able to co-headline gigs with the Comsat Angels
Comsat Angels
The Comsat Angels were a post-punk band from Sheffield and Doncaster, England, active from 1978 to 1995. Their music has been described as "abstract pop songs with spare instrumentation, many of which were bleak and filled with some form of heartache." They have been credited as being an influence...
, then headline gigs with Josef K
Josef K (band)
Josef K were a Scottish post-punk band, active between 1979 and 1982, who released singles on the Postcard Records label. The band was named after the protagonist of Franz Kafka's novel The Trial...
as their supporting act. Scars even managed to land a full-page spread in Smash Hits
Smash Hits
Smash Hits was a pop music based magazine, aimed at teenagers and young adults and originally published in the United Kingdom by EMAP. It ran from 1978 to 2006 and was issued fortnightly for most of that time...
. By that time, the band was headquartered in London
In the summer of 1982, Scars landed a supporting slot with Australia's The Church
The Church (band)
The Church is an Australian rock band formed in Sydney in 1980. Initially associated with new wave and the neo-psychedelic sound of the mid 1980s, their music later became more reminiscent of progressive rock, featuring long instrumental jams and complex guitar interplay...
as the headliners. This was to be the beginning of the end for the band. Having been together—and constantly playing live gigs—since they were all teenagers in 1977, the glue that held the band together started to weaken. Robert King left the band and the rest of the band members, in turn, tried to keep the band going as a cohesive unit with Paul Research taking over lead vocal duties. The band recorded a song called "Bone Orchard" for a planned second album that never materialized; at year's end, the Scars were no more. King would soon go on to modest but temporary success as a solo artist (the synthpop-ish "Paper Heart" being the most notable of his recordings), but by the mid '80s the various Scars bandmates have been content to continue being musicians and pursuing other interests beyond the glare of the limelight.
Post break-up
There has been a recent resurgence of interest and attention on the Scars ever since electronica artists Lemon JellyLemon Jelly
Lemon Jelly is a British electronic music duo from London, formed in 1998. Since their inception, the band's line-up has included Fred Deakin and Nick Franglen. Lemon Jelly has been nominated for the Mercury Music Prize and BRIT Awards....
elected to use samples of "Horrorshow" at the urging of band member Fred Deakin, who was a huge Scars fan in his youth. The samples were utilized in their song "'79 aka The Shouty Track
The Shouty Track
"The Shouty Track" is a single from the Lemon Jelly album 64–'95.It samples the track "Horror Show" by post-punk/New Wave band Scars.As with the other tracks on 64–'95, "The Shouty Track" differs from their previous albums, Lemonjelly.KY and Lost Horizons, displaying a heavier, darker sound.-Music...
" (or "The Shouty Track" for short), for inclusion in the album '64 - '95
'64 - '95
64–'95 is the second studio album by Lemon Jelly. The concept album contains tracks that take samples from songs recorded between the years 1964 and 1995...
. The song was also the second single released from that album. When it came time for Lemon Jelly to tour in support of 64 - '95, they invited a partially reformed version of Scars (that included original drummer Calumn Mackay) along to play live the sampled parts of "79 - The Shouty Track" in selected dates, including in the Scars' former home base of Edinburgh.
Guitarist Paul Research is the most visible former member of Scars and maintains a de facto official Scars site.
2010 Reformation Show
In November 2010, Scars announced a one-off reunion gig in Edinburgh for December 29, their first live appearance in 25 years.Author! Author! on CD
The Author! Author! LP, produced by punk band PenetrationPenetration (band)
Penetration is a punk rock band from County Durham, England formed in 1976. They re-formed in 2001 with several new members.Their debut single, "Don’t Dictate", is now acknowledged as a classic punk rock single and their debut album, Moving Targets , is still widely admired-Biography:The lead...
's Robert Blamire
Robert Blamire
Robert Blamire is known for being bassist of punk and new wave band Penetration.He formed along singer Pauline Murray, the punk band Penetration, in 1976, after seeing The Sex Pistols live. After the band split up, Murray and him went to form a project along John Cooper Clarke's backing band The...
, is now available on CD. Due to a history of stalled negotiations with reissue companies and the difficulties involved in "disentangl[ing] The Scars copyright spaghetti", the complications involved in releasing an official CD version of that album have historically been far too much for even the former band members to overcome. Nevertheless, now that they have been overcome, a new generation of fans is enjoying Scars music again.
In October 2006, small events that had been put into motion thanks to the Lemon Jelly-driven Scars renaissance began to coalesce. It was announced at that time that Author! Author! would be remastered and finally released on CD format with additional tracks added in. In December 2006, the tapes were fully restored to playable mode at Abbey Road Studios
Abbey Road Studios
Abbey Road Studios is a recording studio located at 3 Abbey Road, St John's Wood, City of Westminster, London, England. It was established in November 1931 by the Gramophone Company, a predecessor of British music company EMI, its present owner...
by EMI
EMI
The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
, the record company that currently has ownership of the album masters, with an anticipated release date of sometime before the end of 2006. However, the remastering and CD transfer processes were put on hold pending an ISRC issuance.
The tapes were remastered by Steve McLaughlin and transferred to CD format, and the original artwork was also remastered by John Mackie. The CD became available for purchase on Paul Research's Scars Moments site in early 2007. Eventually it was also released for sale on Amazon UK. All versions include bonus album tracks and remastered versions of the band's various PRE/Charisma Records singles releases.
Scars appeared on BBC2
BBC Two
BBC Two is the second television channel operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It covers a wide range of subject matter, but tending towards more 'highbrow' programmes than the more mainstream and popular BBC One. Like the BBC's other domestic TV and radio...
's TOTP2
TOTP2
Top of the Pops 2 is a British television music show broadcast on BBC Two, showing archive footage from the long-running Top of the Pops show, some dating back to the 1960s when the programme first aired on British television....
on March 3, 2007, which aired a live version of "All About You" from a 1981 episode of the "Old Grey Whistle Test
Old Grey Whistle Test
The Old Grey Whistle Test was an influential BBC2 television music show that ran from 1971 to 1987. It took over the BBC2 late night slot from "Disco Two", which had been running since January 1970, while continuing to feature non-chart music. It was devised by BBC producer Rowan Ayers...
" that featured the Scars as special guests. Along with a special music blog entry from February 2007 by a music editor at the respected Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
UK newspaper entitled "Chasing Scars" and subtitled with, "Is the post-punk group Scars the Last Great Lost Band?", this has helped keep the band's name in the forefront of people's consciousness.
Scars performed a live session on Marc Riley
Marc Riley
Marc Riley is a British musician, alternative rock critic and radio DJ on BBC 6 Music. Formerly a member of The Fall, he had his own record label, In-Tape, and also worked as a record plugger...
's programme on BBC Radio 6Music on 10 February 2011.
Discography
- "Horrorshow"/"Adult/ery" (7", FastFast ProductFast Product was an independent record label, established in Edinburgh by Bob Last in December 1977. Its first release was also the first single by the Mekons, released on 20 January 1978....
1979) - "They Came and Took Her"/"Romance By Mail" (7", CharismaCharisma RecordsCharisma was a record label founded by former journalist Tony Stratton-Smith in 1969. Manager for The Nice, the Bonzo Dog Band and Van der Graaf Generator at the time, Stratton-Smith was unable to find a record company willing to release an album by one of his favourite groups so he founded his own...
1980) - "Love Song"/"Psychomodo" (7", CharismaCharisma RecordsCharisma was a record label founded by former journalist Tony Stratton-Smith in 1969. Manager for The Nice, the Bonzo Dog Band and Van der Graaf Generator at the time, Stratton-Smith was unable to find a record company willing to release an album by one of his favourite groups so he founded his own...
1980) - "All About You"/"Author! Author!" (7", CharismaCharisma RecordsCharisma was a record label founded by former journalist Tony Stratton-Smith in 1969. Manager for The Nice, the Bonzo Dog Band and Van der Graaf Generator at the time, Stratton-Smith was unable to find a record company willing to release an album by one of his favourite groups so he founded his own...
1981) - Author! Author!Author! Author! (album)Author! Author! is the only studio album by the Scottish post-punk band Scars. It was released in 1981.-Side A:-Side B:-2007 reissue:...
(LP, CharismaCharisma RecordsCharisma was a record label founded by former journalist Tony Stratton-Smith in 1969. Manager for The Nice, the Bonzo Dog Band and Van der Graaf Generator at the time, Stratton-Smith was unable to find a record company willing to release an album by one of his favourite groups so he founded his own...
1981) - Author! Author! (CD, PreVS 2007)
Miscellaneous information
- Steve McLaughlin, the band's second drummer, was previously in Edinburgh punk band, The Cubs, where he was known as Chic. He is currently working as a wildly successful producer and film scorer. He won a Grammy for engineering a Tom PettyTom PettyThomas Earl "Tom" Petty is an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He is the frontman of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and was a founding member of the late 1980s supergroup Traveling Wilburys and Mudcrutch. He has also performed under the pseudonyms of Charlie T...
album (1994's WildflowersWildflowers (Tom Petty album)Wildflowers is the second solo album by American musician Tom Petty, released in November 1994 . The album was the first released by Petty after signing a contract with Warner Bros...
) and has worked with such artists as Sting and Badly Drawn BoyBadly Drawn BoyDamon Gough is an English alternative music singer/songwriter. He was born on 2 October 1969, in Dunstable, Bedfordshire. He grew up in the Breightmet area of Bolton, Lancashire, England....
, the latter as a co-producer for the About A BoyAbout a Boy (film)About a Boy is a 2002 comedy-drama film directed by brothers Chris Weitz and Paul Weitz, based on the novel of the same name by Nick Hornby. The film stars Golden Globe winner Hugh Grant as Will, Nicholas Hoult as Marcus, Academy Award nominee Toni Collette as Fiona, and Academy Award winner Rachel...
soundtrack. - John Mackie, who currently owns a design company in the London area, is the younger brother of Paul Research (né Paul Mackie). John's stage name was originally John Doctor, because his and Paul's mother was a GPGeneral practitionerA general practitioner is a medical practitioner who treats acute and chronic illnesses and provides preventive care and health education for all ages and both sexes. They have particular skills in treating people with multiple health issues and comorbidities...
. - Robert King went to University, and is now a professor of ancient languages whose specialty is the languages of the ancient Near East. He is also a member of the experimental outfit Groucho Handjob, providing vocals and keyboards, as well as production duties.
- Calumn Mackay, the band's original drummer, presently lives in Grenoble, FranceFranceThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
and drums in various musical groups, including a rock group called XLFive http://xlfive.com/index.php and a blues group called the Pinetop's Boogiemen. http://www.pinetopsboogiemen.com/pages/1/index.htm He has been a member of the latter group since 1986. He is also an engineer and a member of the international engineering organization IEEE. - Mark E. SmithMark E. SmithMark Edward Smith is the lead singer, lyricist, frontman, and only constant member of the English post-punk band The Fall.-Early life:...
, leader of The Fall, once stated that the Scars were his favorite group as they were "the complete opposite of The Fall". - According to a comment Paul HaigPaul HaigPaul Haig is a Scottish indie composer, musician and singer. He was originally a member of 1980s post-punk band Josef K who were signed to the Postcard record label...
of Josef KJosef K (band)Josef K were a Scottish post-punk band, active between 1979 and 1982, who released singles on the Postcard Records label. The band was named after the protagonist of Franz Kafka's novel The Trial...
left on Paul Research's now-defunct MySpace profile on March 10, 2006, TV Art, the group that became Josef K, "were inspired by Scars". The two groups coexisted as part of the same literary art-punk scene that centered around a pub called the "Tap o' Lauriston" at 80 Lauriston Place, Edinburgh (near Edinburgh College of ArtEdinburgh College of ArtEdinburgh College of Art is an art school in Edinburgh, Scotland, providing tertiary education in art and design disciplines for over two thousand students....
), along with The Fire EnginesThe Fire EnginesThe Fire Engines are a post-punk band from Edinburgh, Scotland. The band was a part of the same literary art-punk scene as the Scars and their most famous contemporaries, Josef K. They grew out of the Dirty Reds which had actor Tam Dean Burn as singer....
and The Cubs. - The ScotsmanThe ScotsmanThe Scotsman is a British newspaper, published in Edinburgh.As of August 2011 it had an audited circulation of 38,423, down from about 100,000 in the 1980s....
ranked Author! Author! number 75 in the list of the top 100 Scottish rock and pop albums of all time. In the blurb, the newspaper states that the Scars were "one of the youngest punk bands active in Edinburgh in 1977".
- In 2008, Horrorshow was used in the soundtrack of a student theatre production of A Clockwork OrangeA Clockwork OrangeA Clockwork Orange is a 1962 dystopian novella by Anthony Burgess. The novel contains an experiment in language: the characters often use an argot called "Nadsat", derived from Russian....
. This took place at St Stephens Church, Edinburgh, and was directed by Scott Johnston for 3rd year HND students at Telford College, Edinburgh. The production featured an all female gang of Droogs. Horrorshow was used as it was written in NadsatNadsatNadsat is a fictional register or argot used by the teenagers in Anthony Burgess' novel A Clockwork Orange. In addition to being a novelist, Burgess was also a linguist and he used this background to depict his characters as speaking a form of Russian-influenced English...
, an argotArgotAn Argot is a secret language used by various groups—including, but not limited to, thieves and other criminals—to prevent outsiders from understanding their conversations. The term argot is also used to refer to the informal specialized vocabulary from a particular field of study, hobby, job,...
invented for Clockwork. A new piece was also recorded by Robert King, who watched the opening night of the production on May 15, 2008. An article on the production appeared in The Herald, May 15, 2008.
External links
- Paul Research's Scars site
- Scars at Discogs
- The Scars on the BBC's official John Peel Sessions site
- The scarsauthor Yahoo Group (run and frequented by ex-band members Robert King, Paul Research, and Calumn Mackay)