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Tuesday 26 April 2016

Sophisti - Pop


We are off to Dundee today to catch up with Danny Wilson - no not the dodgy Rangers centre half but the sophisti- pop (no, me neither) trio of Ged Grimes and brothers Gary and Kit Clark.

According to the usual font of all knowledge the loosely affiliated sophisti-pop movement was big in the late 80's and included such acts as Deacon Blue and Swing out Sister. So there you go.
Danny Wilson had a big hit with Mary's Prayer and then a couple of years later a reasonable hit with The Second Summer of Love
Gary Clark went on to make a name for himself as a songwriter and producer, Kit Clark went on to play with the Swiss Family Orbison and Ged Grimes got a gig as bassist for Simple Minds.

There have of course been the obligatory reunions

Danny Wilson - Mary's Prayer

Danny Wilson - A Girl I Used to Know

6 comments:

  1. Gary Clark knows his way around a pop song. I saw his next band, the atrociously monikered King L, several times and their 1995 'Great Day For Gravity' album is well worth looking out for on your travels.

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  2. You HAVE to check out Gary Clark's spine-tingling live cover of The Blue Nile's love song "Saturday Night". Check out Gary's line to the audience at the 2 minute 7 second mark, followed by the encouraging cries of "Gaun yersel!"(only in Scotland!) Why this bloke isn't a superstar is beyond me.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHf5uGr2mmM

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  3. Gary Clark is a master at writing pop songs. Why he isn't filling the charts with songs for other artists is a mystery to me. Have to agree with Swede - Great Day For Gravity is pretty amazing. That Saturday Night cover is really special.

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  4. Mary's Prayer was pretty big over here but that was about it. More like a cult following. Curious, how is the band perceived in your neck of the woods?

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    1. I would say probably seen as just another pop band as opposed to a band with a cult following

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