On This Day 19/10/1988 Deacon Blue

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On this day, 19 October 1988, Scottish rock band Deacon Blue played Cardiff University on their Through The Villages And Towns tour.

This predominantly Glaswegian act became one of the top-selling UK bands of the late 1980s/early 1990s. The group's members were Ricky Ross, Lorraine McIntosh, James Prime, Dougie Vipond, Ewan Vernal and Graeme Kelling.

Ross, a former school teacher originally from Dundee, was the group's frontman, penning the vast majority of Deacon Blue's songs. He married female vocalist Lorraine McIntosh in the later years of the band's career. McIntosh, born May 1964 in Glasgow joined the band in 1987 as a vocalist.

The band's first album, Raintown, produced by Jon Kelly and released in 1987, is regarded by many as the band's finest effort, spawning the singles "Dignity", "Chocolate Girl" and "Loaded". Many consider Raintown to be a concept album, since nearly all the songs contribute to the overall theme of being stuck in a dead-end life in a deprived city longing for something better. The city that the album's title refers to is Glasgow, and the memorable cover art of the album is a shot of the River Clyde's docks taken on a miserable day from Kelvingrove Park.

The second album, 1988's When The World Knows Your Name, was the band's most commercially successful, with the mega-selling singles "Real Gone Kid", "Wages Day" and "Fergus Sings The Blues". However, music critics began deriding the band at this stage for pursuing commercial success over artistic quality, citing the earlier achievements of Raintown.

Setlist

Fergus Sings the Blues

The Very Thing

Love's Great Fears

Born Again

This Changing Light

One Hundred Things

Raintown

Circus Lights

Chocolate Girl

Loaded / A Hard Rain's Gonna Fall

He Looks Like Spencer Tracy Now

Real Gone Kid

Wages Day

Dignity

Long Distance Love / When Will You Make My Telephone Ring?

Ragman

Town to Be Blamed / Tinseltown in the Rain

Suffering

Not Fade Away / Ain't That Good News

On This Day 05/08/2001 Deacon Blue

On this day, 5 August 2001, Scottish band Deacon Blue played Cardiff’s Big Weekend. Also playing that day were Nick Turner Allstars, Black Umfolosi and the Jazz Jamaica All Stars. The band had just recently released their fifth studio album, Homesick.

Formed in Glasgow during 1985. The line-up of the band consists of vocalists Ricky Ross and Lorraine McIntosh, keyboard player James Prime and drummer Dougie Vipond. The band released their debut album, Raintown, on 1 May 1987 in the United Kingdom and in the United States in February 1988.

Their second album, When the World Knows Your Name (1989), topped the UK Albums Chart for two weeks, and included "Real Gone Kid" which became their first top ten single in the UK Singles Chart and reached number one in Spain.

Deacon Blue released their fourth album, Whatever You Say, Say Nothing, in 1993. The band split in 1994, following which Vipond began a career in television. Five years later, the band held a reunion gig, and this led on to a new album, Walking Back Home, with the band now working on a part-time basis. The band released another album, Homesick, in 2001.

Setlist

This Train Will Take You Anywhere
Your Town
Raintown
Twist and Shout
Loaded
Real Gone Kid
Wages Day
When Will You...
Silverlake
Fergus Sings The Blues
Dignity
Homesick
Chocolate Girl
Queen Of The New Year