Scottish Culture - Scotland - page 935

ROCK & POP
It would take an entire book to list all the Scottish artists and bands that have made it big
in the world of rock and pop. From Glasgow-born King of Skiffle, Lonnie Donegan, in the
1950s, to the Glasgow-bred darlings of guitar-pop Franz Ferdinand today, the roll call is
long and impressive.

The '90s saw the emergence of three bands that took the top
three places in a vote for the best Scottish band of all time -
melodic indie-pop songsters Belle and Sebastian, like-Oasis-
only-better Brit-rock band Travis, and indie rockers Idlewild,
who opened for the Rolling Stones in 2003.
The bespectacled twin brothers Craig and Charlie Reid from
Auchtermuchty in Fife, better known as the Proclaimers, pro-
duced a new album in 2009 (Notes and Rhymes), which is as
passionate and invigorating as the songs that first made them
famous back in the late '80s, 'Letter From America', and 'I'm
Gonna Be (500 Miles)'.
Scottish artists who have made an impression in recent
years include award-winning Glasgow band Glasvegas, who
played the Lollapalooza festival in Chicago in 2009; Ayrshire
rockers Biffy Clyro; and the darlings of indie rock, the View.
The airwaves have been awash with female singer-song-
writers in recent years, but few are as gutsy and versatile as
Edinburgh-born, St Andrews-raised KT Tunstall. Although
she's been writing and singing since the late 1990s, it was her
2005 debut album Eye to the Telescope that introduced her to a
wider audience. And then there's Glasgow-born Amy Mac-
donald, who was only 20 years old when her first album This is the Life (2007) sold 3 mil-
lion copies; her second, A Curious Thing , was released in 2010.

Scottish Pop
Playlist
»Franz Ferdinand: 'Take Me
Out'
»KT Tunstall: 'Suddenly I
See'
»The Proclaimers: 'Letter
from America'
»The View: 'Same Jeans'
»Biffy Clyro: 'Bubbles'
»Amy Macdonald: 'This is the
Life'
»Runrig: 'Loch Lomond'
»The Rezillos: 'Top of the
Pops'
»Simple Minds: 'Don't You
(Forget About Me)'
»Texas: 'Say What You Want'

Painting

MONARCH OF THE GLEN
If asked to think of a Scottish painting, most people probably picture Monarch of the
Glen, a romanticised portrait of a magnificent Highland red deer stag by Sir Edwin Land-
seer (1802-73). Landseer was not a Scot but a Londoner, though he did spend a lot of
time in Scotland, leasing a cottage in Glen Feshie and visiting the young Queen Victoria
at Balmoral to tutor her in drawing and etching.