"You've got great taste!"

To Newcastle with Big Country

There’s a new biography of Stuart Adamson of The Skids and Big Country. Adamson was a lovely, complex man whose death is a great loss: his work as a guitarist and a songwriter will last. And so will the stories.

I was commissioned by a longlost magazine (Tracks, the music magazine published by the equally long-gone Woolworth’s) to spend two days on tour with Big Country. I spent time with them, did an interview - Adamson was the soul of affability - and saw them play in Newcastle and Glasgow.

But this is the moment I remember:

We were in a minibus, heading to Newcastle City Hall, and the minibus was at the lights. Next to us was a small car driven by a young man, and he was playing Big Country very loudly: no doubt he’d be at the gig later.

Just before the lights changed, Stuart threw back the minibus’ sliding door, crouched down and shouted “YOU’VE GOT GREAT TASTE!” at the lad in the car, and slammed the door shut as the lights changed. The lad’s face as we drove off was more than a picture, it was a tapestry of shock and joy.

‘Stay Alive - the Life & Death of Stuart Adamson’ by Scott Rowley is available now from New Modern books.