Where We Were Meant To Be?

During the mid to late 80's it seemed that they were putting something in the water in Glasgow and the West of Scotland. Loads of great bands were coming out of the city and the surrounding area. Along with alternative bands like the Pastels, The BMX Bandits, The Vaselines etc were a load of more mainstream acts were getting airtime not only in Scotland but also in the rest of the UK and beyond. Bands such as Texas, del Amitri, Deacon Blue and countless others seemed to be all over the charts.

One band for some reason who didn't seem to get the recognition they deserved was The Kevin McDermott Orchestra. To this day, I still don't understand why completely as their songs are as good, if not better than any of the rest of the bands that came to prominence from this neck of the woods. My theory is that it was timing, they were just too late, by the time that their first album was released the public had moved on and were more interested in electronic music and indie dance. Which was to the masses misfortune as I think that many people missed out on an excellent band.

Kevin McDermott started in a band called the Suede Crocodiles. When this band decided to call it a day, McDermott embarked upon a solo career. He released a mini album entitled Suffocation Blues which due to an error at the pressing plant, saw him playing a track that was omitted from some copies to people live in their front rooms. A stunt that gained publicity as one of the people who bought a copy of the defective disc lived in Florida.

He formed the Kevin McDermott Orchestra in 1986 who were signed to Island and released their debut album Mother Nature's Kitchen in 1989 where both tracks posted come from. During the recording of their subsequent album they were dropped by Island but undeterred they completed the album in Glasgow and released it on the independent label 13 Records. The album was a critical and commercial success. The band released 4 more albums.

2008 saw McDermott play sold out gigs in his native Glasgow and the release of another solo album Wise To The Fade. He has been kind of quiet since then but a muso friend of mine's met him recently at a gig and said that he was working on new material. He is playing a couple of gigs down the Clyde coast in Greenock and Irvine on the 17th & 19th of this month respectively. If you are in the area I would thoroughly recommend going along as he is excellent live.

You can buy KMO cds here. I recommend starting with Mother Nature's Kitchen after which you will want to buy the rest anyway. Check Out his Myspace page here

Kevin McDermott Orchestra - Where We Were Meant To Be

Kevin McDermott Orchestra - Mother Nature's Kitchen