Big Country

Big Country are a rock band from Dunfermline, Scotland, popular in the early to mid 1980s, but still releasing material for a cult following as recently as 2004. Canonically composed of Stuart Adamson (formerly of The Skids, vocals, guitar, piano), Mark Brzezicki (drums), Tony Butler (bass guitar), and Bruce Watson (guitar), though a variety of other musicians have been in the band during their long wanderings in post-popularity, including Pete Wishart who joined Runrig and became prominent in the SNP.

Related Topics:
Rock - Dunfermline - Scotland - 1980s - 2004 - Stuart Adamson - The Skids - Vocals - Guitar - Piano - Drums - Bass guitar - Pete Wishart - Runrig - SNP

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Their first hit was 1983's "Fields of Fire", which reached the UK's Top Ten and was rapidly followed by the album The Crossing. The album was a crossover hit in the United States, powered by the single "In a Big Country". The song featured heavily engineered guitar playing strongly reminiscent of bagpipes, and the band have spent every day of the next two decades answering the question "How did you make your guitars sound like bagpipes?" with slowly eroding patience.

Related Topics:
1983 - Bagpipes

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Their second album Steeltown appeared in 1984, and was a hit out of the gate, but soon faded as fans and critics turned away from Big Country's bombastic sound. One more hit followed with "Look Away" from 1986's The Seer, but since then Big Country have been a minor act, popping up in the lower echelons of the charts in the UK and Europe every now and then while churning out mild-selling album after album.

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Of some concern, however, was the mental health of lead singer Adamson. In 1999 he disappeared for a time before resurfacing stating that he had needed some time off. There were also reports of battles with alcohol. In November 2001 he disappeared once again; this time he did not return, and was found dead in a room at the Best Western Plaza Hotel in Honolulu, Hawaii on December 16, 2001. http://starbulletin.com/2001/12/18/news/story4.html http://news.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?tid=50&id=1700742001

Related Topics:
1999 - Hawaii - December 16 - 2001

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