The Proclaimers - Sunshine On Leith POLL

I remember "cap in hand" most fondly. I dug this record, don't really have a sense of how these guys are remembered except as "the 500 miles dudes" but I remember how much they put into their Letterman appearance - they looked like they wanted to reach absolutely everybody watching, it was cool to me.

I worked in a kitchen with an ageing scots diabetic part time chef (summers chef, winters santa claus) who told me jokes and stories and sang showband and threw his teeth out in front of the waitresses (each heartbreakingly more beautiful than the last in the way waitresses of 16 are when you are 13 and have never spoken unprompted to an unrelated girl) and swore at the radio more often than not, and once when the proclaimers came on he cocked his head and malevolently eyed that device and called over to where i was mopping or sweeping or chopping or scrubbing or whatever and that call went "Da-ra! Ye ken those boys? Ah ken those boys. Pair a wee cunts"

Voted 500 miles in the absence of letter frae america.

Teardrops. It sounds closest to their first album so is less maudlin and corny as the rest and they stumbled onto some interesting lyrics. Mostly it's an okay album though. Good for car journeys.

probly the title track, darragh is right tho, none of these is "Letter from America"

The only English speaking band I ever worked with that required a translator. Literally.

haverin to you, eh?

I don't think it's close to 'This is the Story' (which is an amazing album imo, 1 of the great debuts), but still a pleasure.

Going to pick Sean because that is my name. Might go 500 Miles otherwise - with that & Letter f. America, i find it cheering that a pair of twins who seem perpendicular to pop-star-ness have written 2 modern standards.

I voted for 'Then I Met You', fwiw. Was that a single? It should have been!

Voted 500 miles in the absence of letter frae america.

start your own This Is The Story poll

I was just wondering the other day if these guys were good, I've never heard them except for that movie from last year which was fuckin waste

cap in hand. i listened to the proclaimers so much growing up, the tapes to the first three albums were constantly playing in our car. i always liked the lyrics to cap in hand, especially the Saskatchewan bit.

'Cap In Hand' of course being very timely, with all the recent talk of Scottish independence and all that.

Went for the title track over 'Cap in Hand'.

I hate how '500 Miles', which I'm sure I once liked, has become this horrible end of night Scottish party huddle-along thing, usually coupled with Runrig's 'Loch Lomond'

title track. bit cloying but cracking nonetheless. one of the more unlikely football songs too.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

I think the result is right - I like the boozy sing-a-ling-ness of it.

At the risk of guitar nerdery, the Jerry Donahue guitar part on "then I met you" is all time

At the risk of guitar nerdery, the Jerry Donahue guitar part on "then I met you" is all time

― Corpsepaint Counterpaint (jjjusten), Sunday, March 30, 2014 2:47 AM (28 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

That funky lick?