A trawl through the music and artwork of the singles released by The Skids

 Having recently blogged about the singles of one of my favourite bands, XTC, I was wondering what I could blog about next which perhaps had a similar theme of singles released in different formats, limited editions, etc. One band which sprang to mind was The Skids who released numerous singles on coloured vinyl, picture disc, double singles, etc.

To make the discography complete however, I need to start with their first single, which was released in a conventional picture sleeve and on black vinyl. Having formed in the summer of 1977, The Skids first single, Charles, also referred to simply as The Skids EP, was released on No Bad records in 1978. The other 2 tracks were Reasons and Test-Tube Babies, all written by lead guitarist Stuart Adamson. Being released on a small, Scottish independent record label, this release is now quite hard to track down 'out in the wild'. Ebay does have a few copies but they will set you back £15 and upwards.

The Skids - Charles, No Bad records, c.1978

After their first release The Skids signed to Richard Branson's Virgin records in 1978 and released a handful of albums and singles. The first of these was Sweet Suburbia, which was released as a limited run on white vinyl. At the time of writing, Ebay has a few copies on both black vinyl and white vinyl, for reasonable prices, although the white vinyl version will cost you more.

The Skids, Sweet Suburbia, Virgin records, c.1978

The next single by The Skids was a 4 track E.P. called Wide Open, released in 1978. This came in both 7" and 12" formats, with the 12" format being pressed on red vinyl. The E.P. charted at number 48 in the UK charts, with The Saints Are Coming regarded as the lead track. The other 3 tracks were: Of One Skin, Night and Day, and Contusion, all of which appeared on their first John Peel session.

The Skids - Wide Open EP, Virgin records, c.1978

Moving on to 1979, which was probably The Skids most commercially successful year, they released 4 singles and 2 albums. Their first single release of 1979 was the track they are probably most remembered for, Into The Valley, taken from their first album, Scared To Dance. Limited copies were pressed on white vinyl. The b-side was TV Stars, featuring a role call of soap actors (Ena Sharples, Stanley Ogden, Albert Tatlock and Annie Walker from Coronation Street, and Sandy Richardson, David Hunter and Meg Mortimer from Crossroads), and also John Peel and Kenny Dalglish. Into the Valley reached number 10 in the UK charts and also featured in John Peel's Festive 50 of 1979 at number 37. Black vinyl versions of the single are fairly easy to come by on Ebay and discogs, the white vinyl version less so.

The Skids - Into the Valley, Virgin records, c.1979

Their next single, Masquerade, featured Bill Nelson on keyboards, and he also has production credits. The track did not appear on their Scared To Dance album. Initial copies of the single were released as a limited edition doublepack in a gatefold sleeve. The other tracks were Out of Town, Another Emotion, and Aftermath Dub. This single charted at number 16 in the UK charts.

The Skids - Masquerade, Virgin records, c.1979

Later the same year, The Skids released their second album, Days In Europa, from which 3 singles were released. The first of these was Charade, with Grey Parade on the b-side. No coloured vinyl or free single with this release, which charted at number 31 in the UK charts. Again Bill Nelson is credited as the producer and also has a writing credit on the b-side.

The Skids - Charade, Virgin records, c.1979

The Skids last single release of 1979 was Working For The Yankee Dollar. This was released as a limited edition double single in a gatefold sleeve. The other tracks were Vanguard's Crusade, All The Young Dudes (the David Bowie song where Richard Jobson swaps out the lyric "who needs TV when I've got T-Rex" with "who needs TV when I've got Subway Sect", and Hymns From a Haunted Ballroom, which was taken from a John Peel session. The single made number 20 in the UK charts.

The Skids - Working For The Yankee Dollar, Virgin records, c.1979

As we move into 1980, the final single to be taken from the Days in Europa album was Animation, with Pros and Cons on the b-side. This reached number 56 in the UK charts.

The Skids - Animation, Virgin records, c.1980

1980 saw a change of personnel for The Skids with William Simpson leaving and being replaced by Russell Webb in time to start work on their 3rd album, The Absolute Game. I won't cover this in any detail here as this post is just about the singles, but early pressings of The Absolute Game album came with an extra album, Strength Through Joy.

The first of 3 singles to be taken from The Absolute Game was Circus Games which was released with a free colour poster of the band. The single peaked at number 32 in the UK charts.

The Skids - Circus Games, Virgin records, c.1980

The 2nd single to be released from The Absolute Game was Goodbye Civilian. This was released as a limited edition picture disc, as well as in a conventional picture sleeve. The b-side was the curiously titled Monkey McGuire Meets Specky Potter Behind the Lochore Institute.

The Skids - Goodbye Civilian, Virgin records, c.1979

The final single to be released from The Absolute Game was A Woman in Winter. The b-side featured a live version of Working For The Yankee Dollar. The single was issued in a gatefold sleeve (stating 'Comic Book') including an 8 page comic booklet titled "Skids Pirate Gold".

The Skids - A Woman in Winter, Virgin records, c.1980

Shortly after this release, both Mike Baille and Stuart Adamson left the band, the latter to form Big Country. The Skids continued with Richard Jobson and Russell Web, creating their fourth album, Joy, in 1981. Two singles were released from the album, but neither troubled the UK charts and The Skids dissolved in 1982.

Fields was the first single to be taken from Joy. It was released in 2 different 7" single sleeves, one with Richard on the cover, the other with Russell. It was also released on 12" where the covered featured both members. The b-side on all releases was Brave Man.

The Skids - Fields, Virgin records, c.1981

The Skids final single, also taken from the Joy album, was Iona, with Blood and Soil on the b-side.

The Skids - Iona, Virgin records, c.1981

So , we come to the end of The Skids single releases. Once again, many thanks for reading, and if you're interested why not check out some of my other blog posts.