Big Country

Big Country
General information
origin	Dunfermline , Scotland
Genre (s)	Rock , folk rock
founding	1981, 2007, 2010
resolution	2000
Website	www.BigCountry.co.uk
Founding members
Vocals , rhythm guitar , keyboard	Stuart Adamson († 2001)
Lead guitar , mandolin , sitar	Bruce Watson
Bass , vocals	Tony Butler (until 2012)
Drums , percussion	Mark Brzezicki
Current occupation
Vocals, harmonica	Simon Hough (since 2013)
Lead guitar, mandolin, sitar	Bruce Watson
Rhythm guitar	Jamie Watson (since 2010)
bass	Scott Whitley
Drums, percussion	Mark Brzezicki
former members
Keyboard	Pete Wishart (1981)
bass	Alan Wishart (1981)
Drums, percussion	Clive Parker (1981)
Drums, percussion	Pat Ahern (1989-1993)
singing	Mike Peters (2010-2013)
bass	Derek Forbes (2012-2015)

Big Country is a Scottish rock band originally assigned to the New Wave . The band plays rock music with strong Scottish influences. Two of the band members grew up near Edinburgh , but none of the band members was born in Scotland.

history

Starting with singer, guitarist and main songwriter Stuart Adamson , who founded the punk band The Skids at the age of 16, the band Big Country was founded in 1981 with Bruce Watson on guitar, Mark Brzezicki on drums and Tony Butler on bass. Early singles like In a Big Country or Wonderland became chart successes, and Steve Lillywhite took over the production of the band's first album. The debut album The Crossing was nominated for sales and media success and two Grammy Awards . The single Look Away from the 1986 album The Seer , with Kate Bush singing along on the title track, became a hit. After the successes in the 1980s, things got quieter for the band.

Stuart Adamson kept making headlines for his drinking problems. After one last studio album and a final tour through Europe, the band announced their breakup in 2000. In December 2001, Stuart Adamson was found hanged in a Honolulu hotel room . The police assumed suicide. Worth mentioning is the soundtrack of the Scottish film Restless Natives , which was released on a double CD along with rare recordings, and the reappearance of Big Country music in an episode of Gilmore Girls .

In the 1990s, the group played as the opening act for some concerts by the Rolling Stones and The Who . Bruce Watson plays a. a. with Fish Guitar and is part of the band Fourgoodmen , which also includes ex-members of the Simple Minds , and plays the hits of Scottish bands, including Big Country.

Reunions

In 2007, the three still living members of the band reunited for a short time on the occasion of their 25th anniversary for a tour through England and Scotland and a concert in Cologne .

From late December 2010 to early January 2011 the band gave seven concerts in England and Scotland. The lead singer was Mike Peters ( The Alarm ), who previously played in the opening act for Big Country. Bruce Watson's son Jamie was also used as a guitarist. Another 14 concerts - including two in Ireland - took place in April 2011, as well as appearances at the Isle of Wight Festival on June 10, 2011 and on July 16, 2011 as guests at a Simple Minds concert in Inverness ( Scotland ). The success of the festivals held in summer 2011 meant that new pieces were written, including the single Another Country .

In February 2012 there was another England / Scotland tour, plus two concerts in smaller clubs in Berlin and Bochum in March 2012. This tour was to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the first album The Crossing . This was followed by appearances at various festivals (including Hard Rock Calling in Hyde Park , the Isle of Wight Festival and the Fairport's Cropredy Convention as special guests of Fairport Convention ).

On September 26, 2012 it was announced that the band had separated from their long-time manager Ian Grant and that bassist Tony Butler had withdrawn from the band. The new bassist was Derek Forbes (formerly Simple Minds), Mike Peters and Jamie Watson were now part of the regular cast. In April and May 2013 the band gave numerous concerts in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Italy as part of The Journey Tour 2013 . A concert tour of several months through the USA and Canada followed.

Since November 2013, Big Country and Mike Peters have been going separate ways again. Peter's current successor is Simon Hough (vocals, harmonica and acoustic guitar). Derek Forbes has not been there since mid-2015.

During live performances, the band releases his place on stage in memory of the late front man Stuart Adamson.

Discography

Albums

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)				Remarks
		DE	CH	UK	US
1983	The crossing	-	-	UK3 platinum (81 weeks)UK	US18th gold (42 weeks)US
1984	Steeltown	DE53 (2 weeks) DE	-	UK1 gold (21 weeks)UK	US70 (17 weeks) US
	Wonderland	-	-	-	US65 (12 weeks) US
1986	The Seer	DE16 (3 weeks) DE	CH15 (7 weeks) CH	UK2 gold (16 weeks)UK	US59 (17 weeks) US
1988	Peace In Our Time	DE40 (3 weeks) DE	-	UK9 silver (6 weeks)UK	US160 (6 weeks) US
1990	Through a Big Country - Greatest Hits	-	-	UK2 gold (17 weeks)UK	-	compilation
1991	No place like home	-	-	UK28 (2 weeks) UK	-
1993	The Buffalo Skinners	-	-	UK25 (2 weeks) UK	-
1994	Without The Aid of a Savety Net (Live)	-	-	UK35 (2 weeks) UK	-	Live album
1995	Why the Long Face	-	-	UK48 (2 weeks) UK	-
1996	Eclectic	-	-	UK41 (2 weeks) UK	-
1999	Driving to Damascus	DE96 (1 week) DE	-	UK82 (1 week) UK	-
2002	John Wayne's Dream	-	-	-	-
	The Greatest Hits	-	-	UK71 (1 week) UK	-	with The Skids compilation
2011	Fields of Fire - The Ultimate Collection	-	-	UK77 silver (1 week)UK	-	compilation
2013	The Journey	-	-	UK68 (1 week) UK	-
2020	Essential	-	-	UK23 (... weeks) UK	-

More live albums

• 1996: Eclectic
• 1997: Brighton Rock
• 1997: King Biscuit Flower Hour
• 2000: Come up Screaming
• 2001: the festival
• 2001: One in a Million (acoustic album)
• 2001: Peace Concert (live in East Berlin )
• 2002: Live in Cologne
• 2007: Twenty Five Live
• 2011: Dreams Stay With You
• 2011: Rarities IV (live compilation)

More compilations

• 1998: Restless Natives and Rarities
• 1999: The Radio Sessions
• 2001: Undercover (cover versions)
• 2001: Rarities II
• 2001: Greatest 12 "hits
• 2002: Rarities III
• 2003: Rarities IV
• 2003: Rarities V
• 2003: The Collection
• 2004: Rarities VI
• 2004: Rarities VII
• 2005: Rarities VIII
• 2013: At the BBC - The Best of the BBC Recordings
• 2014: No Place Like Home

Singles

year	Title album	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes)				Remarks
		DE	CH	UK	US
1983	Fields of Fire (400 Miles) The Crossing	-	-	UK10 (14 weeks) UK	US52 (6 weeks) US
	In a Big Country The Crossing	-	-	UK17 (7 weeks) UK	US17 (15 weeks) US
	Chance The Crossing	-	-	UK9 (9 weeks) UK	-
1984	Wonderland	-	-	UK8 (9 weeks) UK	US86 (2 weeks) US
	East of Eden Steeltown	-	-	UK17 (7 weeks) UK	-
	Where the Rose is Sown Steeltown	-	-	UK29 (7 weeks) UK	-
1985	Just a Shadow Steeltown	-	-	UK26 (4 weeks) UK	-
1986	Look Away The Seer	DE19 (14 weeks) DE	CH15 (7 weeks) CH	UK7 (8 weeks) UK	-
	The Teacher The Seer	-	-	UK28 (5 weeks) UK	-
	One Great Thing The Seer	-	-	UK19 (8 weeks) UK	-
	Hold the Heart The Seer	-	-	UK55 (2 weeks) UK	-
1988	King of Emotion Peace in Our Time	-	-	UK16 (6 weeks) UK	-
	Broken Heart Peace in Our Time	-	-	UK47 (4 weeks) UK	-
1989	Peace in Our Time Peace in Our Time	-	-	UK39 (3 weeks) UK	-
1990	Save Me Through a Big Country	-	-	UK41 (3 weeks) UK	-
	Heart of the World	-	-	UK50 (2 weeks) UK	-
1991	Republican Party Reptile No Place Like Home	-	-	UK37 (2 weeks) UK	-	EP
	Beautiful People No Place Like Home	-	-	UK72 (1 week) UK	-
1993	Alone The Buffalo Skinners	-	-	UK24 (3 weeks) UK	-
	Ships (Where Were You) The Buffalo Skinners	-	-	UK29 (3 weeks) UK	-
1995	I'm not Ashamed Why the Long Face	-	-	UK69 (2 weeks) UK	-
	You Dreamer Why the Long Face	-	-	UK68 (2 weeks) UK	-
	Non	-	-	UK77 (1 week) UK	-
1999	Fragile Thing Driving to Damacus	-	-	UK69 (1 week) UK	-	feat. Eddi Reader
	See You / Perfect World Driving to Damacus	-	-	UK77 (1 week) UK	-

More singles

• 1982: Harvest Home
• 1999: See you / Perfect World
• 2000: Somebody Else
• 2011: Another Country
• 2013: Hurt

Web links

• Official website

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original dated November 1, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
2. ↑ http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/entertainment/music/music-news/big-country-split-from-manager-over-1343566
3. ↑ http://www.bigcountry.co.uk/the-journey-tour-2013/
4. ↑ http://www.bigcountry.co.uk/ticket-information-for-german-and-austrian-dates-may-2013/
5. ↑ http://www.bigcountry.co.uk/big-country-travelogue-live-in-new-york/
6. ↑ http://www.bigcountry.co.uk/big-country-north-america-more-dates-added/
7. ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original dated February 22, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
8. ↑ http://www.bigcountry.co.uk/band/ Bandhomepage, viewed February 17, 2014
9. ↑ http://www.aberdeenperformingarts.com/events/big-country-204117
10. ↑ https://www.facebook.com/inabigcountry/posts/846537432061438
11. ↑ ^{a b} Chart sources: DE CH UK US
12. ↑ Music Sales Awards: UK US