The Skids

The Skids were a classic punk band formed in Dunfermline Scotland by Stuart Adamson (1958-2001, on guitar, vocals), Richard Jobson (1960- vocals), Tom Kellichan (drums) and Willie Simpson (bass) in 1977. They signed to Virgin and issued "Sweet Suburbia" and "The Saints Are Coming" before shooting to popularity with top ten single "Into The Valley", from their first album "Scared To Dance". Both Dunfermline FC and Charlton FC use "Into The Valley" as a theme song.

The Skids continue to enjoy popularity with two top 20 singles, "Masquerade" and "Working For The Yankee Dollar", from the album "Days in Europa". The Cover of the album, showing an "aryan", was seen by some as Nazi, and was soon replaced with a less controvesial sleeve. This sleeve, although conventional, still bore the image of the first release seen through the viwers eyes by a picture on the wall, alongside a picture of 'Scared To Dance', the sleeve portrayed a woman , bare breast showing, in the hands of a man.

The Absolute Game was The Skids' 1980 third album (not counting the two different mix versions released of their second album 1979's Days in Europa) and was produced by Mick Glossop.

The album continued the Skids' progression from a punky sound into a more mellow one - paralleled by many bands of the period. The album has a great deal in common with Days in Europa, but not much with its successor, Joy. Around this time the band were driven by internal rifts and disagreements, leading to various members coming and going. Soon after the release and live concert tour of The Absolute Game, Adamson and Baillie left the band. (Although Adamson did temporarily return to play on one more song from the album Joy, called Iona.) Adamson went on to launch the career of his new band, Big Country, and Baillie moved back to Scotland to live. A great deal of Big Country's future sound and style can be heard in this album. In particularly on Hurry On Boys, which features bagpipe simulations and real didgeridoo. Joy has a completely different sound to other Skids albums, and some fans consider The Absolute Game to be the last canonical Skids album.


Soon after the release and live concert tour of The Absolute Game, Adamson and Baillie left the band. (Although Adamson did temporarily return to play on one more song from the album Joy, called Iona.) Adamson went on to launch the career of his new band, Big Country, and Baillie moved back to Scotland to live. It left Jobson and Webb, in 1981, to write and record the band's fourth and final album Joy, which Russell Webb also produced. The pair played multiple instruments on the album, and also invited a collection of seventeen musical friends to perform on various tracks with them. The Skids dissolved in 1982, with the album Fanfare posthumously issued by Virgin. It was a mixture of greatest hits and unreleased tracks.

Jobson and Webb then went onto form a new band called The Armoury Show. The group only recorded one album called Waiting for the Floods in 1985 before splitting up. Jobson went onto pursue a solo career as a poet, songwriter, television presenter and most recently a film director. He released albums on the Belgian record label Les Disques du Crepuscule, and the UK's own Parlophone Records.

Sadly, on December 16 2001, Stuart was found dead in Best Western Plaza Hotel in Honolulu, Hawaii, having committed suicide.

In the year 2007, U2 and Greenday covered 'The Saints Are Coming' recorded originaly by the skids for the 'Scared To Dance' album. Most fans seen this as a juncture to include new fans to the old punk scene. Sadly, for this fan, the song was ruined. It fell below the standards of which Richard and Stuart set. It was a disgrace to Skids fans, and most of these never bought the track.

In 2007 Richard Jobson, William Simpson and Mike Baillie, along with Bruce Watson (guitar / vocals) of Big Country, Jamie Watson (guitar), Brian Jobson (vocals) and Jane Button (vocals), got together to play three gigs. They were to commemorate the thirtieth anniversary of the group's formation, and as a final tribute to Stuart Adamson, who died in 2001. The shows on 4 July and 5 July were at Dunfermline's Glen Pavilion - outside of which The Skids had previously played only their second gig according to Jobson - and on 7 July, at the T in the Park festival.

Ten years later, Jobson (vocals), Bruce Watson (guitar, vocals), son Jamie Watson (guitar, vocals), William Simpson (bass, vocals) and Mike Baillie (drums, percussion, vocals) re-united once again to promote fresh songs from their comeback Top 30 set, BURNING CITIES (2018). Successfully touring across the UK and Ireland they brought their songs old and new to young and old fans alike, building up to an amazing night at The Royal Albert Hall in June 2019 co-headlining with The Buzzcocks.
A 2019 release of PEACEFUL TIMES - an album of Skids classics reworked acoustically, was supported by an acoustic tour across the country