The Skids formed in Dunfermline, Scotland, in 1977.
The singles Sweet Suburbia and The Saints Are Coming both made commercial inroads before the mighty Into the Valley reached the UK Top 10 singles chart in early 1979. The band released their debut studio album, Scared to Dance, the same year.
Skids enjoyed a further year of chart success as Masquerade and Working for the Yankee Dollar reached the UK Top 20 singles chart. Both came from their second album, Days in Europa, also released in 1979.
By the time of third album, The Absolute Game (1980), things had soured. Richard Jobson had become something of a preening, posing dilettante, dabbling in poetry and theatre. And the audience no longer seemed to matter so much.
So Stuart Adamson left the band and returned to his hometown, where he set out to form a new group that would not stray from the idealistic path The Skids originally followed themselves. And lying in bed one night in 1981 Stuart made up his mind: that new band would be called Big Country.
Jobson and new bassist Russell Webb wrote and recorded the band’s fourth and final album Joy (1981).
The band finally dissolved in 1982, with the compilation Fanfare posthumously issued by Virgin.
Richard Jobson
Vocals, guitar, keyboards Stuart Adamson
Guitar, vocals, keyboards Willie Simpson
Bass, vocals Thomas ‘Tam’ Kellichan
Drums Mike Baillie
Drums Russell Webb
Bass, vocals
