Skids

Formed in 1977 in the Scottish town of Dunfermline, the art-punk outfit Skids centered on theatrical frontman Richard Jobson together with guitarist Stuart Adamson, bassist William Simpson, and drummer Tom Kellichan. They launched their recording career with the single "Reasons" on the independent No Bad label before moving to Virgin. Follow-up releases "Sweet Suburbia" and "The Saints Are Coming" led to their first major success when "Into the Valley" reached the U.K. Top Ten and surfaced on the 1979 debut album Scared to Dance, which preserved the soaring guitar riffs and communal choruses that defined their initial sound.

The more experimental second album, 1979's Days in Europa, produced by Be Bop Deluxe's Bill Nelson, delivered two further Top 20 entries in "Masquerade" and "Working for the Yankee Dollar." Creative friction surfaced as Jobson's increasingly ambitious artistic direction estranged both listeners and the rhythm section, so Simpson and Kellichan had already departed by the time of 1980's The Absolute Game, recorded with bassist Russell Webb and drummer Mike Baillie. By 1981's Joy only Jobson remained from the founding quartet; Adamson had left beforehand to launch his own internationally successful band Big Country. After the folk-tinged Joy appeared, Skids disbanded, prompting Jobson to begin a solo career, later co-found the Armoury Show, and eventually work as a broadcaster.

In 2007 Jobson, Simpson, Baillie, Big Country's Bruce Watson, and Watson's son Jamie reunited for a performance at T in the Park plus two hometown shows in Dunfermline. The concerts marked the 30th anniversary of the band's formation and paid tribute to Stuart Adamson, who had died in 2001. Over the following years the same lineup played occasional dates across Scotland, including a 2010 appearance at the Fifer Festival honoring Jobson's work.

The original members reconvened in 2017 for a full U.K. tour celebrating the group's 40th anniversary. Inspired by the response, they returned to the studio and completed Burning Cities, their fifth album, which was released at the start of 2018.