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The Big Dish are a Scottish pop band formed in Airdrie,
Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...
in 1983. The band initially comprised Steven Lindsay (vocals/guitar), David Brownlie (drums), Stuart Hall (saxophone), Mark Ryce (guitar), and John Harper (keyboards). The band was subsequently augmented on stage by Paul Albertis (bass) and John Hendry (drums). As well as releasing three studio albums, the band performed live as support to
Lloyd Cole Lloyd Cole (born 31 January 1961) is an English singer and songwriter. He was lead singer of Lloyd Cole and the Commotions from 1984 to 1989 and subsequently worked solo. Early life Cole was born in Buxton, Derbyshire, England. He grew up in ne ...
and
Big Country Big Country are a Scottish rock band formed in Dunfermline, Fife, in 1981. The height of the band's popularity was in the early to mid 1980s, although it has retained a cult following for many years since. The band's music incorporated Scott ...
and Del Amitri.


Career

By the time their debut
album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records co ...
'' Swimmer'' was released on
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 (musician), Tom Newman. It ...
in 1986 the line-up had undergone notable changes. Lindsay and Raymond Docherty were joined by new guitarist Brian McFie, keyboardist/saxophonist Ian Ritchie (album recordings only), Allan Dumbreck (live performances) on keyboards and Dave Cantwell (live performances) replacing John Hendry on drums. Tracks on ''Swimmer'' were significantly polished versions of the tracks that had been played live up until then. Lindsay, McFie and Docherty then completed the follow-up album '' Creeping Up on Jesus'' in 1988 with session musicians — including drummer Blair Cunningham and horn men
Gary Barnacle Gary Barnacle (born 1959 in Dover, England) is an English saxophonist, flautist, brass instrument arranger, composer, and producer. Barnacle is primarily noted for his session work and live work, including various Prince's Trust concerts a ...
&
John Thirkell John Thirkell is a British trumpet and flugelhorn player, who has appeared on hundreds of pop, rock, and jazz recordings. Through the 1980s and early 1990s he was on at least one album in the UK Charts continuously, without a break, for over ...
, Craig Armstrong and
Paul Wickens Paul Wickens (born 27 March 1956) is an English musician, composer, and record producer, professionally known as Wix. In a career spanning more than 40 years, Wickens has worked with artists including Nik Kershaw, Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Bon J ...
(keyboards). Despite Bruce Lampcov's muscular
production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stati ...
, this second effort proved commercially unsuccessful and the band was dropped from
Virgin Virginity is the state of a person who has never engaged in sexual intercourse. The term ''virgin'' originally only referred to sexually inexperienced women, but has evolved to encompass a range of definitions, as found in traditional, modern ...
, when Lindsay refused to countenance recording a
cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...
. Lindsay and McFie recorded the band's last album '' Satellites'' for the American East West
label A label (as distinct from signage) is a piece of paper, plastic film, cloth, metal, or other material affixed to a container or product, on which is written or printed information or symbols about the product or item. Information printed ...
(a subsidiary of
Warner Bros. Records Warner Records Inc. (formerly Warner Bros. Records Inc.) is an American record label. A subsidiary of the Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division of the ...
) in 1991. They had assistance from Armstrong, Docherty,
record producer A record producer is a recording project's creative and technical leader, commanding studio time and coaching artists, and in popular genres typically creates the song's very sound and structure. Virgil Moorefield"Introduction" ''The Producer as ...
Warne Livesey and a number of session musicians, including bassist
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 drummer
Manu Katché Manu Katché (born 27 October 1958) is a French drummer and songwriter of Ivorian descent. He has worked extensively as a session musician, notably with Sting and Peter Gabriel, and his solo albums as a bandleader are largely in the jazz fusion ...
. They also put together a new touring line-up featuring bassist Tracey Gilbert, drummer Skip Reid and Colin Berwick on keyboards. However, despite critical acclaim for the new record and a hit single (" Miss America" reached No. 37 in the
UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
), the group disbanded shortly afterwards. A compilation of the group's work entitled '' Rich Man's Wardrobe'' was released by Virgin Records in 1994, featuring cuts from the band's two albums with the label, and the inclusion of rare track "Voodoo Baby".


Post-Big Dish

Not long after the split, Lindsay resumed his partnership with Armstrong. Lindsay provided vocals on Armstrong's 2002 album ''As If to Nothing''. To promote this release, Lindsay returned to the live arena, performing throughout Europe with a thirty-piece orchestra. Lindsay returned to the fold in late 2004 on his own Seminal label with the piano-driven ''
Exit Music ''Exit Music'' is the seventeenth crime novel in the internationally bestselling Inspector Rebus series, written by Ian Rankin. It was published on 6 September 2007. The book is named after the Radiohead song " Exit Music (For a Film)". Plo ...
'' featuring string arrangements by the Scottish Ensemble. Lindsay plays and programmes all other instruments. The Australian edition of the album contains two additional tracks. Lindsay was then signed to Chrysalis Records, and in 2007 the second solo CD ''Kite'' was released, including a cover of "
Monkey Gone to Heaven "Monkey Gone to Heaven" is a song by the American alternative rock band Pixies. Recorded in November 1988 during the sessions for the band's 1989 album '' Doolittle'', it was released as a single in March, and included as the seventh track on the ...
", originally by
Pixies A pixie (also pisky, pixy, pixi, pizkie, and piskie in Cornwall and Devon, and pigsie or puggsy in the New Forest) is a mythical creature of British folklore. Pixies are considered to be particularly concentrated in the high moorland areas aro ...
.


Reunion

The band reunited to play a sold-out show at Glasgow ABC on 21 January 2012 as part of the Celtic Connections festival, and the Darvel Music Festival in May 2012. The lineup for the reunion was Lindsay, McFie, Docherty, Dumbreck and Ross McFarlane (drums). One new song 'Cherry Blossom Falls' was included in the set. In 2014 Big Dish supported Del Amitri at the Hydro.


Discography


Albums


Singles


References


External links


Fan site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Big Dish, The Scottish pop music groups Musical groups established in 1983 Musical groups disestablished in 1991