Deacon Blue, along with fellow Scottish bands Texas, Del Amitri and The Proclaimers gave me hope for a better future in music after the dismal end of the 80s with Acid House, Stock Aitken & Waterman, boy bands and dreadful rappers.  They had a refreshingly soulful Blues/ Folk/Pop vibe and the band were awesome live.  Energetic performances on stage with the the lovely Lorraine McIntosh harmonising brilliantly with Ricky Ross with his gruff Rock/Soul voice.  I was introduced to the band by a friend of mine Stuart, after I introduced him to Prince, it was a fruitful friendship.  We saw the band a few times at Royal Court in Liverpool and the closeness to the stage and pure sound coming from the musicians was fantastic.  After the debut album, "Raintown" pricked up people's ears containing the superb single "Dignity" the band entered the chart elite during the 90s.

This album was released in 1989 and reached number 1 in the UK chart, it contained 5 singles, although by the time the latter two were released everybody had the album! It went double platinum and the more accomplished production and "live" sound encapsulates the band's gigs.  The first single, "Real Gone Kid" gave the band their first top 10 single peaking at 8.  The song has a real Soul feel, which dives into a pulsating chorus and hit the senses as something memorable.  In similar vein to the first single, "Wages Day" was released and reached number 18 and even reached number 12 on the New Zealand chart! This song had a more uptempo beat all the way through the song and and would get your foot tapping and head bobbing!  The third single was "Fergus Sings The Blues", as with the previous releases, ironically the title suggest Blues, but this a brilliant Motown Soul record mixed with some great Rock riffs, as with all Deacon Blue singles the melodies, the hooks are all here. The track was anaother top 20 hit reaching 18.  "Love And Regret", the next release was a much slower track than the previous three singles, the music reminding me a little of Heart, it is essentially a Rock ballad, soft vocals from Ricky and soft harmonies from Lorraine make this a really lovely song.  As aforementioned, by this time most people had the album so this only reached number 28.  The last single to be plucked from the album reached 21 on the chart, the fast tempo Celtic Folk sound, starting with the drums in marching band mode and just building and building to this massive crescendo of a chorus.  A real foot stomper!