Michael Slaven (born 4 December 1961) is a session guitarist and record producer from Glasgow, Scotland.
A former gardener at the University of Glasgow, Slaven became the guitarist for Bourgie Bourgie in the 1980s, and was briefly a member of Del Amitri. [1] He has worked with Ricky Ross of Deacon Blue, Eighteenth after Trinity and Pearlfishers, and wrote the music for the Traverse Theatre Edinburgh's production of Stephen Greenhorn's play, Passing Places, which he played live. Slaven later composed the guitar score for Gregory Burke's play, Gagarin Way , also for The Traverse. [2]
Slaven also fronts his own band, The Leopards, who released the album They Tried Staying Calm. [3] The Leopards did two sessions for John Peel in 1997 and 1998.
The Leopards have appeared as live backing band for ex Josef K guitarist Malcolm Ross, and in August 2008, guested for an Edinburgh show with former Josef K vocalist Paul Haig.
Slaven produced James Kirk's 2003 album You Can Make It If You Boogie, with the Leopards providing the musical backing.
Hue and Cry is a Scottish pop duo formed in 1983 in Coatbridge, Scotland by the brothers Pat Kane and Greg Kane. The duo are best known for their 1987 single "Labour of Love".
Deacon Blue are a Scottish pop rock band formed in Glasgow during 1985. The line-up of the band consists of vocalists Ricky Ross and Lorraine McIntosh, keyboard player James Prime and drummer Dougie Vipond. The band released their debut album, Raintown, on 1 May 1987 in the United Kingdom and in the United States in February 1988. Their second album, When the World Knows Your Name (1989), topped the UK Albums Chart for two weeks, and included "Real Gone Kid" which became their first top ten single in the UK Singles Chart and reached number one in Spain.
Patricia Margaret Bell professionally known as Paddie Bell, was a Scottish folk singer and musician, born in Northern Ireland.
Paul Haig is a Scottish indie musician, singer and songwriter. He was originally a member of post-punk band Josef K, active between 1979 and 1982.
Francis Macdonald drums with Teenage Fanclub. He makes music for filmmakers and TV and manages Camera Obscura and The Vaselines.
Nick Keir was a Scottish musician from Edinburgh, Scotland, who is best known for his work with The McCalmans. More recently Keir emerged as a singer-songwriter, producing three solo albums and performing as a soloist with The Tolkien Ensemble. Keir regularly played in both Scotland and Denmark at folk festivals and on tours, both with The McCalmans and also at solo gigs.
Paul Walter Quinn is a Scottish musician who was the lead singer of cult 1980s band Bourgie Bourgie, and also released records with Jazzateers, Vince Clarke and Edwyn Collins and sang on an early track by the French Impressionists.
Astrid Williamson is a Scottish musician, composer, and songwriter.
Brian McNeill is a Scottish folk multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, record producer and musical director. He was a founding member of Battlefield Band which combined traditional Celtic melodies and new material.
Sputniks Down are a Scottish band. Signed to Edinburgh's Human Condition Records, Sputniks Down were a three piece from Bishopbriggs on the outskirts of Glasgow. They produced instrumental electronica with 'Eno-esque gorgeousness'. 'The Young Marble Giants stepping out with a prozac-ed up Godspeed You! Black Emperor while the Mary Chain bite their ankles'. Influences also included such bands as Tortoise and Mogwai.
Douglas Veitch, better known as Champion Doug Veitch is a Scottish musician and songwriter.
Back of the Moon was a Scottish musical group from the Isle of Arran which played both new and Scottish traditional tunes and songs cast in modern sounding arrangements. Since forming in 2000, the band had toured annually throughout the UK, Canada, United States and eight different European Countries. Back of the Moon created an acoustic sound through a front line of Scottish border pipes and fiddle, a pairing of low whistle and flute, and their guitar/piano rhythm combo. They were at times augmented by bodhran and Cape Breton Stepdancing, and three-part vocal harmonies in their Scottish songs in which each singer took the lead.
Mercat Press is an imprint of the Edinburgh, Scotland-based publishing company Birlinn Limited. It was established in 1970 as a subsidiary of the bookseller James Thin, and published facsimile editions of out-of-print Scottish works, such as the five-volume The Castellated and Domestic Architecture of Scotland by MacGibbon and Ross. Mercat was bought out by its management after James Thin went into administration in 2002, becoming an independent publisher. In 2007 Mercat Press was taken over by Birlinn Limited, another Edinburgh-based publishing house, who now publish outdoor books, such as walking, climbing and cycling guides, under the Mercat imprint.
The Fuse were an indie rock band from Edinburgh, Scotland that were active between 1998 and 2005.
Martin Charles Strong is a Scottish music historian known for compiling discographies of popular music including The Great Rock Discography. Strong has been described in broadsheet newspaper profiles as a "compiler of acclaimed mammoth discographies" and "a man who knows more about rock music than is healthy for one individual".
Jazzateers were a Scottish underground pop/post-punk group, active for the first half of the 1980s. They recorded for Postcard Records and Rough Trade Records. They have also recently had their original material released by Marina Records, Cherry Red Records and Creeping Bent. The group was formed by members Ian Burgoyne and Keith Band.
Shrapnel was a punk rock band formed in 1981 in Briton Ferry, Wales. Among other accomplishments, the band toured Ireland with the British band Subhumans in 1984. In 1988 Shrapnel split an LP with Scottish band Toxik Ephex for the new Welsh label Words of Warning.
The Rollercoaster Tour was a 1992 co-headlining concert tour by the Scottish noise pop band the Jesus and Mary Chain, the Irish-English alternative rock band My Bloody Valentine, the English Britpop band Blur and the American indie rock band Dinosaur Jr. A two-leg 34-date tour of the United Kingdom and North America, the U.K. tour was in support of all four bands' current releases: Blur's first album Leisure (1991), Dinosaur Jr.'s fourth album Green Mind (1991), My Bloody Valentine's second album Loveless (1991) and The Jesus and Mary Chain's fourth album Honey's Dead (1992).
"C'mon! C'mon!" is a 1986 song by Bronski Beat from their album, Truthdare Doubledare. In its review of the album upon its release, Billboard identified "C'mon C'mon" as one of the stronger tracks that "should find mainstream and alternative fans." A music video for the song was directed by Peter Care. Despite being recognized as one of the stronger tracks on the album, the single only reached No. 20 in the UK singles chart, indicating Bronski Beat's popularity was beginning to wane.
Radge Weekend Starts Here is the fifteenth studio album by King Creosote, released in 2001.