Michael Scott (born 14 December 1958) is a Scottish singer, songwriter and musician. He is the founding member,

lead singer The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of the ...

, guitarist and

songwriter A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music ...

of rock band

The Waterboys The Waterboys are a folk rock band formed in Edinburgh in 1983 by Scottish musician Mike Scott. The band's membership, past and present, has been composed mainly of musicians from Scotland, Ireland, Wales and England. Mike Scott has remained ...

. He has also produced two solo albums, '' Bring 'em All In'' and ''

Still Burning ''Still Burning'' is the second solo studio album by Mike Scott, released by Chrysalis in 1997. It followed Scott's 1995 solo debut, '' Bring 'em All In'', and was the last of Scott's solo albums before re-forming The Waterboys in 2000. Photogr ...

''. Scott is a

vocalist Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

guitarist A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themsel ...

and

pianist A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, ja ...

, and has played a large range of other instruments, including the

bouzouki The bouzouki (, also ; el, μπουζούκι ; alt. pl. ''bouzoukia'', from Greek ), also spelled buzuki or buzuci, is a musical instrument popular in Greece. It is a member of the long-necked lute family, with a round body with a flat top and ...

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair of matching drumsticks ...

, and

Hammond organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert and first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, Hammond organs generated ...

on his albums. Scott is also a published writer, having released his autobiography, ''Adventures of a Waterboy'', in 2012. Having begun a musical career in the 1970s, Scott has been making music professionally since the 1980s and is well known for his radical changes in

music genre A music genre is a conventional category that identifies some pieces of music as belonging to a shared tradition or set of conventions. It is to be distinguished from '' musical form'' and musical style, although in practice these terms are som ...

s throughout what he refers to as his "allegedly unorthodox" career.Scott, Mike.
The day I downloaded myself
. ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...

''. 23 March 2007. Scott currently lives in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...

, Ireland.

Early life and education

Scott was born and raised in Edinburgh, the son of Allan and Anne Scott. His father left the family when Mike was ten years old, but the two were reunited in 2007. Scott's mother was an English teacher, exposing him to the greats of English literature from a young age. Scott was interested in music from an early age. At age 12, after the family had moved to

Ayr Ayr (; sco, Ayr; gd, Inbhir Àir, "Mouth of the River Ayr") is a town situated on the southwest coast of Scotland. It is the administrative centre of the South Ayrshire council area and the historic county town of Ayrshire. With a population ...

, he began a serious interest in learning

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected string ...

. Scott remembers that, "from the minute ebought" ''Last Night in Soho'' by

Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich were an English rock band active during the 1960s. Formed in Salisbury in 1964, the band consisted of David John Harman (Dave Dee), Trevor Leonard Ward-Davies (Dozy), John Dymond (Beaky), Michael Wilson (Mick ...

in 1968 "knew ehad to be in music", and mentions listening to

Hank Williams Hank Williams (born Hiram Williams; September 17, 1923 – January 1, 1953) was an American singer, songwriter, and musician. Regarded as one of the most significant and influential American singers and songwriters of the 20th century, he reco ...

as a "life-changing" experience. The next year, Scott was playing in school bands and formed the band Karma, named after the tenet in Hinduism, with a friend named John Caldwell. Karma's sound was inspired by

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

and

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

. In 1977 Scott entered the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 1 ...

, studying

English literature English literature is literature written in the English language from United Kingdom, its crown dependencies, the Republic of Ireland, the United States, and the countries of the former British Empire. ''The Encyclopaedia Britannica'' defines E ...

and

philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. ...

. Scott would later arrange

poetry Poetry (derived from the Greek '' poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meani ...

from

William Butler Yeats William Butler Yeats (13 June 186528 January 1939) was an Irish poet, dramatist, writer and one of the foremost figures of 20th-century literature. He was a driving force behind the Irish Literary Revival and became a pillar of the Irish liter ...

Robert Burns Robert Burns (25 January 175921 July 1796), also known familiarly as Rabbie Burns, was a Scottish poet and lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland and is celebrated worldwide. He is the best known of the poets who hav ...

, and

George MacDonald George MacDonald (10 December 1824 – 18 September 1905) was a Scottish author, poet and Christian Congregational minister. He was a pioneering figure in the field of modern fantasy literature and the mentor of fellow writer Lewis Carroll ...

for The Waterboys recordings. Other literary influences on Scott's career include

C. S. Lewis Clive Staples Lewis (29 November 1898 – 22 November 1963) was a British writer and Anglican lay theologian. He held academic positions in English literature at both Oxford University (Magdalen College, 1925–1954) and Cambridge Univer ...

and ''The Diary of Vikenty Angorov''. Scott left the University of Edinburgh after his first year. Scott became interested in the British punk music scene, and began writing for

fanzine A fanzine (blend of '' fan'' and ''magazine'' or ''-zine'') is a non-professional and non-official publication produced by enthusiasts of a particular cultural phenomenon (such as a literary or musical genre) for the pleasure of others who share ...

s, eventually starting his own, ''Jungleland''. Scott was especially interested in the music of

The Clash The Clash were an English rock band formed in London in 1976 who were key players in the original wave of British punk rock. Billed as "The Only Band That Matters", they also contributed to the and new wave movements that emerged in the w ...

and

Patti Smith Patricia Lee Smith (born December 30, 1946) is an American singer, songwriter, poet, painter and author who became an influential component of the New York City punk rock movement with her 1975 debut album ''Horses''. Called the "punk poet ...

, a tribute to whom, " A Girl Called Johnny", would become the first Waterboys single.

Pre-Waterboys musical career

Scott and a guitarist named Allan McConnell formed a band, The Bootlegs, which gave way to Another Pretty Face in 1978 when Caldwell and two other friends joined. The friends created their own

record label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the pr ...

, named New Pleasures, "obtained financial backing from the enigmatically named Z" and began releasing Another Pretty Face's singles. The band achieved remarkable success with their first single "All the Boys Love Carrie"/"That's Not Enough" when ''

New Musical Express ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

'' named it "Single of the Week". The band signed a contract with

Virgin Records Virgin Records is a record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman. It grew to be a world ...

, was featured on the cover of ''Sounds'' magazine, and toured with

Stiff Little Fingers Stiff Little Fingers are a punk rock band from Belfast, Northern Ireland. They formed in 1977 at the height of the Troubles, which informed much of their songwriting. They started out as a schoolboy band called Highway Star (named after the De ...

. Virgin, after receiving a demo tape from Another Pretty Face, released the band four months after the signing. Nikki Sudden, who had interviewed Another Pretty Face in Edinburgh for ''ZigZag'' magazine, asserts that "the APF stuff is still some of Mike Scott’s best work". In 1980 through 1982 Scott, amongst other projects, worked occasionally with Sudden. Another Pretty Face continued to release music and recorded a

Peel Session John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey (DJ) and radio presenter. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly fr ...

on 18 February 1981. The band eventually came to the attention of Nigel Grainge, founder of Ensign Records. Grainge signed Another Pretty Face to the label, and the band moved to London, changing its name to Funhouse (taken from the name of

The Stooges The Stooges, originally billed as the Psychedelic Stooges, also known as Iggy and the Stooges, was an American rock band formed in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in 1967 by singer Iggy Pop, guitarist Ron Asheton, drummer Scott Asheton, and bassist Da ...

' album '' Fun House''). Scott had become dissatisfied with the band. He later described Funhouse's sound as "similar to a jumbo jet flying on one engine". Scott began working on solo songs and recordings, a decision that led to the creation of The Waterboys. A December 1981 session at Redshop Studios formed the beginnings of The Waterboys' first album, ''

''.

The Waterboys

The Waterboys' membership has changed a great deal throughout the group's existence. Anthony Thistlethwaite, Karl Wallinger,

Kevin Wilkinson Kevin Michael Wilkinson (11 June 1958 – 17 July 1999) was an English drummer, who was based in Baydon, Wiltshire, England. Career Born Kevin Michael Wilkinson in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, he is credited as a former official member of s ...

and

Steve Wickham Steve Wickham is an Irish musician. Originally from Marino, Dublin, but calling Sligo home, me there's no difference between Mike Scott and the Waterboys; they both mean the same thing. They mean myself and whoever are my current travelling musical companions." The Waterboys' first release was a single of "A Girl Called Johnny" in March 1983. The first album came out that June. Along with ''The Waterboys'', the next two albums, '' A Pagan Place'' and ''

This Is the Sea ''This Is the Sea'' is the third The Waterboys album, and the last of their "Big Music" albums. Considered by critics to be the finest album of their early rock-oriented sound, described as "epic" and "a defining moment", it was the first Waterb ...

'', released in 1984 and 1985, contained songs mostly written by Scott, and together formed the band's "Big Music" period. After the official addition of fiddler

Steve Wickham Steve Wickham is an Irish musician. Originally from Marino, Dublin, but calling Sligo home,Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...

, the next two albums '' Fisherman's Blues'' (1988) and '' Room to Roam'' (1990) were instead

Celtic music Celtic music is a broad grouping of music genres that evolved out of the folk music traditions of the Celtic people of Northwestern Europe. It refers to both orally-transmitted traditional music and recorded music and the styles vary considera ...

-inspired

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has ...

,Scott, Mike (2006)
Fisherman's Blues, Roots and the Celtic Soul
" D liner notesLondon: EMI a sound similar to that of We Free Kings, a band that Scott and Wickham performed with in 1986. Scott's musical style changed again to a more guitar based sound when he, under the name The Waterboys but without any other members, recorded '' Dream Harder'', in 1993. It was a return to the "Big Music" sound but the last album to come out under the band's name until 2000. The band had dissolved over personnel issues and Wickham's desire to remain with a folk-rock, or purely

, sound. After two Mike Scott solo albums, ''

A Rock in the Weary Land ''A Rock in the Weary Land'' is the seventh studio album by the Waterboys, released in 2000 by BMG International. It was their first album after a seven-year break, but mostly continues the hard rock vein of the previous album ''Dream Harder'' ...

'' was released under The Waterboys name, demonstrating yet another musical style, which Scott called "Sonic rock". 2002's ''

Universal Hall ''Universal Hall'' is the eighth studio album by The Waterboys, released in 2003. It is named after the theatre and performance hall at the Findhorn Foundation, which is pictured on the album cover. The album shows much more influence from folk ...

'' was a return to a folk-rock sound. It was followed by ''

Karma to Burn Karma to Burn, commonly abbreviated as K2B, is a desert rock/ stoner rock band from Morgantown, West Virginia. The band are noted for their uncompromising, mostly instrumental sound. Their name comes from a sleevenote on Bob Dylan's 1976 albu ...

'', released in 2005, which was the group's first official live album, '' Book of Lightning'', released in 2007, and ''

An Appointment With Mr Yeats ''An Appointment with Mr. Yeats'' is the tenth studio album by The Waterboys, released on 19 September 2011 through W14/Proper Records. The album contains 14 tracks, all of which are based upon the poetry of W.B. Yeats, a long term influence on ...

'', released in 2011.

Solo albums

In addition to the albums he released with The Waterboys, Scott released two solo albums in the 1990s. The first ''Bring 'Em All In'' (1995), was recorded at the

Findhorn Foundation The Findhorn Foundation is a Scottish charitable trust registered in 1972, formed by the spiritual community at the Findhorn Ecovillage, one of the largest intentional communities in Britain.''The Dictionary of Alternatives: Utopianism and Org ...

in north Scotland, with Mike Scott playing all instruments himself. Musician and author

Daniel Levitin Daniel Joseph Levitin, FRSC (born December 27, 1957) is an American-Canadian cognitive psychologist, neuroscientist, writer, musician, and record producer. He is the author of four ''New York Times'' best-selling books, including '' This Is Y ...

ends his 2009 book ''The World in Six Songs'' with an extended discussion of the song " Bring 'Em All In", calling it "one of the greatest love songs ever written." For his second solo album, ''

'' (1997), Scott assembled a group of session musicians including

Pino Palladino Giuseppe Henry "Pino" Palladino (born 17 October 1957) is a Welsh musician, songwriter, and record producer. A prolific session bassist, he has played bass for acts such as The Who, the John Mayer Trio, Nine Inch Nails, Gary Numan, Jeff Beck ...

and

Jim Keltner James Lee Keltner (born April 27, 1942) is an American drummer and percussionist known primarily for his session work. He was characterized by Bob Dylan biographer Howard Sounes as "the leading session drummer in America". Howard Sounes. ''Dow ...

. Guesting on the album was former

Icicle Works The Icicle Works (also known as Icicle Works in the United States) are an English alternative rock band and were named after the 1960 short story "The Day the Icicle Works Closed" by science fiction author Frederik Pohl. They had a top 20 UK hi ...

frontman Ian McNabb. Songs from the two albums appeared on 1998's

compilation album A compilation album comprises tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one or several performers. If by one artist, then generally the tracks were not originally intended for rel ...

''The Whole of the Moon: The Music of Mike Scott and the Waterboys'' along with songs from The Waterboys. Scott's solo albums were positively received by critics but sales were significantly down from Waterboys releases. Following the commercial failure of ''Still Burning'' in 1997 Scott was dropped by

Chrysalis Records Chrysalis Records () is a British record label that was founded in 1968. The name is both a reference to the pupal stage of a butterfly and a combination of its founders' names, Chris Wright and Terry Ellis. It started as the Ellis-Wright A ...

and decided to revive the Waterboys name to achieve wider marketplace exposure, a process described in detail in his autobiography. Scott created his own record label in 2003, Puck Records, which released The Waterboys' ''

''. In 2005, ''

'' was released, also by Puck Records, and included tracks from Scott's solo career played by the current The Waterboys line-up. After years in the making, Scott produced his show ''An Appointment with Mr. Yeats'', which debuted in Dublin, in Yeats' own

Abbey Theatre The Abbey Theatre ( ga, Amharclann na Mainistreach), also known as the National Theatre of Ireland ( ga, Amharclann Náisiúnta na hÉireann), in Dublin, Ireland, is one of the country's leading cultural institutions. First opening to the p ...

. In the show, Scott is accompanied by Steve Wickham and other musicians, and the poetry of

W. B. Yeats William Butler Yeats (13 June 186528 January 1939) was an Irish poet, dramatist, writer and one of the foremost figures of 20th-century literature. He was a driving force behind the Irish Literary Revival and became a pillar of the Irish liter ...

is put to music by Scott. The show ran from 15 to 20 March 2010.

Discography

Solo

Albums * '' Bring 'Em All In'' (1995) * ''Lion of Love'' (fan club only release.) * ''Sunflowers'' (fan club only release.) * ''

'' (1997) * '' The Whole of the Moon: The Music of Mike Scott and the Waterboys'' (1998) (best-of collection) Singles * " Bring 'Em All In" (1995) * " Building the City of Light" (1995) * " Love Anyway" (1997) * " Rare, Precious and Gone" (1998)

Other contributions

*''107.1 KGSR Radio Austin - Broadcasts Vol.10'' (2002) - "Bring 'Em All In"

Another Pretty Face

Albums *''I'm Sorry That I Beat You, I'm Sorry That I Screamed, But for a Moment There I Really Lost Control'' (1981) (cassette) Singles *''All the Boys Love Carrie'' b/w ''That's Not Enough'' (1979) (7"; the first run of 1,000 copies with green printing, the second run of 5,000 copies with red printing) *''Whatever Happened to the West?'' b/w ''Goodbye 1970s'' (1980) (7") *''Heaven Gets Closer Everyday'' b/w ''Only Heroes Live Forever'' (1980) (7") *''Soul to Soul'' (1981) b/w ''A Woman's Place'' and ''God on the Screen'' (7")

DNV

*''Death in Venice'' b/w ''Mafia'' and the intro to ''Goodbye 1970s'' (1979) (7")

Funhouse

*''Out of Control'' (1981) b/w ''This Could Be Hell'' (12"; rarer 7")

The Waterboys

Personal life

Mike wrote into American Top 40 in 1984 and dedicated the song Beth by Kiss to his, then wife, Carol. As of 2020 Scott lived in Dublin. From at least 2008 to 2013 Scott was the partner of singer/actress Camille O'Sullivan, with whom he has a daughter. In October 2016, Scott married controversial Japanese artist

Megumi Igarashi , who uses the pseudonym , is a Japanese sculptor and manga artist who creates works that feature female genitalia and are often modeled after her own vulva. Rokudenashiko considers it her mission to reclaim female genitalia as part of women's b ...

, who calls herself Rokudenashiko. Their first child, a son, was born on 2 February 2017.

References

External links

Mike Scott Waterboys Official Site
* The Waterboys Fan Site - http://waterboys.org.uk/ {{DEFAULTSORT:Scott, Mike 1958 births Living people The Waterboys members Scottish singer-songwriters 20th-century Scottish male singers Musicians from Edinburgh Ivor Novello Award winners People educated at Belmont Academy Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Scottish songwriters 21st-century Scottish male singers