The minor role Pete Townshend had in forming Big Country
The 1980s was a febrile time for music, with many different genres ranging from rock to dance helping to drag us a little bit closer into the future. One area that really flourished was the “Big Music” scene, which the Mike Scott and The Waterboys hit ‘The Big Music’ typifies. Other acts in this loose-knit genre were U2 and Simple Minds, with the key signifier of the sound a fusion of anthemic choruses with expansive production. Despite the aforementioned acts’ brilliance during this period, none can claim to be as rousing as Stuart Adamson’s Big Country.
Fronted by Adamson, the ex-Skids guitarist, Big Country created a sound that was broad in scope yet comprehensive. His dynamic guitar work was fuelled by his extensive use of the E-Bow and the MXR pitch transposer, and this, in addition to his dovetailing work with guitarist Bruce Watson, created an aural palette that was scintillating and unique. His songwriting was more anthemic than anything Simple Minds were producing, the guitars more muscular than Edge’s of U2, with it rounded off by a palpable sense of belonging that even Mike Scott could not conjure.
Naturally, there were hues of his previous outfit in Big Country’s efforts, but The Skids’ punk sensibility had now been elevated and repackaged for the mid-1980s. There was a carefree abandon underpinning what they created, with Adamson and the band constructing an effective sonic means of escaping from the everyday horrors of the period.
To demonstrate the socio-political context of the era is that Big Country’s 1983 debut album, The Crossing, was wedged between two of Thatcherist Britain’s most contentious points: The Falklands War of 1982 and the polarising miners’ strike of 1984-1985. Duly, their music was what many needed to hear, as the future looked incredibly bleak under the crone from Grantham. Shortly after their debut, which boasted hits such as ‘Harvest Home’ and ‘Big Country’, Adamson and the band’s legacy was cast in stone, and they’d embark on a highly successful journey.
Whilst there are many notable points of Big Country’s career, including Noel Gallagher’s fandom, one of the most surprising is the minor role that The Who’s creative mastermind, Pete Townshend, had in them forming.
When speaking to The Guardian in January this year, Bruce Watson recalled how he and Adamson formed the idea of a band when they were playing in their pre-Big Country outfits: “I knew [singer/guitarist] Stuart Adamson when he was in Skids, and I was in the Delinquents, and all the bands in Dunfermline used to rehearse in stables next to each other. When Skids were doing their third album, he said to me: ‘Wouldn’t it be great to do a twin guitar thing?’ I thought he was just being nice. Then after Skids split, he knocked on my door and said: ‘Remember that conversation? Do you still want to do it?'”
However, things started less smoothly for Big Country than the pair would have hoped. Their first lineup made a “crazy mistake” of touring with Alice Cooper, as things weren’t gelling. Luckily though, their manager would come across future bassist Tony Butler and drummer Mark Brzezicki playing with Pete Townshend, and the rest was history.
Butler recalled: “The first Big Country lineup got on a tour with Alice Cooper, which was a crazy mistake. The crowd were throwing bottles of piss at us and all sorts, so we were pulled off the tour. Our rhythm section were really good musicians, but for some reason, it wasn’t gelling. Our manager had seen Tony Butler [bass] and Mark Brzezicki [drums] playing with Pete Townshend. They were basically a rhythm section for hire, so we got them to play on some of our demos and thought: ‘This would be a great band.’ We persuaded them to join us, and it clicked.”
