''This Is the Story'' is the debut studio album from Scottish

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

duo

The Proclaimers ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

, released in 1987. It was originally released with 12 tracks but after the success of the

Gerry Rafferty Gerald Rafferty (16 April 1947– 4 January 2011) was a Scottish singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. He was a founding member of Stealers Wheel, whose biggest hit was "Stuck in the Middle with You" in 1973. His solo hits in th ...

-produced full band version of " Letter from America", which reached number 3 in the

UK Single 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 ...

, it was re-pressed later that year with that track added. Featuring a stripped-back musical arrangement, the instrumentation on ''This Is The Story'' consisted exclusively of

hand percussion Hand percussion is a percussion instrument that is held in the hand. They can be made from wood, metal or plastic, bottles stops and are usually shaken, scraped, or tapped with fingers or a stick. It includes all instruments that are not drums o ...

, acoustic guitar and vocals. The album was re-issued in 2001. A remastered edition was released in 2011.

Background and recording

Background

After a 1986 tour with

The Housemartins The Housemartins were an English indie rock group formed in Hull who were active in the 1980s and charted three top-ten albums and six top-twenty singles in the UK. Many of their lyrics conveyed a mixture of socialist politics and Christianit ...

afforded them the opportunity, The Proclaimers performed the songs " Throw the 'R' Away" and " Letter from America" on

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...

music program '' The Tube''. Following this performance, the band were signed swiftly to Chrysalis Records and began recording ''This Is The Story'' within 5 days of signing.

Recording and production

After signing to Chrysalis, ''This is the Story'' was recorded in London at

AIR Studios Associated Independent Recording (AIR) is an independent recording company founded in London in 1965 by record producer Sir George Martin and his business partner John Burgess, after their departure from Parlophone. The studio complex was founded ...

and Strongroom Studios.The liner notes describe This Is The Story as having been recorded at AIR and Strongroom by John Williams. The record was produced by John Williams.

Content

Musical style

The arrangements of ''This is the Story'' were described as "sparse but spirited" by ''

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

s Timothy Monger, featuring as its sole instrumentation Charlie Reid on six- and

twelve-string guitar A twelve-string guitar (or 12-string guitar) is a steel-string guitar with 12 strings in six courses, which produces a thicker, more ringing tone than a standard six-string guitar. Typically, the strings of the lower four courses are tuned in o ...

, and Craig Reid on

and vocals.

Themes and lyrics

Describing ''This is the Story'' in 2012, ''

The Scotsman ''The Scotsman'' is a Scottish compact newspaper and daily news website headquartered in Edinburgh. First established as a radical political paper in 1817, it began daily publication in 1855 and remained a broadsheet until August 2004. Its pare ...

'' wrote that the record was "written against a backdrop of

unemployment Unemployment, according to the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), is people above a specified age (usually 15) not being in paid employment or self-employment but currently available for work during the refere ...

and uncertainty".

Reception

Critical reception

In 1989, Bill Wyman of '' Chicago Reader'' commented that ''This is the Story'' was "engaging and charming ..even sharp in places", but "uneven".

Accolades

''This is the Story'' was ranked No. 18 on ''

Record Mirror ''Record Mirror'' was a British weekly music newspaper between 1954 and 1991 for pop fans and record collectors. Launched two years after the '' NME'', it never attained the circulation of its rival. The first UK album chart was published in '' ...

s "End of Year List" for 1987. ''This is the Story'' was rated second best Scottish album ever by ''

'' newspaper in 2003.

Influence

''This Is The Story'' had a notable impact on Canadian

alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from mainstream or commerci ...

band Barenaked Ladies, with former member

Steven Page Steven Jay Page (born June 22, 1970) is a Canadian musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He was a founding member, lead singer, guitarist, and a primary songwriter of the music group Barenaked Ladies. Page left the band in Februar ...

calling the album as "perfect for us", elaborating that "it was exactly what we were; two guys with acoustic guitars, singing in harmony. It had all the energy of punk rock but just with acoustic guitars and voices" and Ed Robertson praising it as "the best thing" he'd ever heard.

Track listing

All songs written by Charlie Reid and Craig Reid unless otherwise noted.

Personnel

;The Proclaimers * Craig Reid –

vocals 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 ...

tambourine The tambourine is a musical instrument in the percussion family consisting of a frame, often of wood or plastic, with pairs of small metal jingles, called "zills". Classically the term tambourine denotes an instrument with a drumhead, though ...

bongos Bongos ( es, bongó) are an Afro-Cuban percussion instrument consisting of a pair of small open bottomed hand drums of different sizes. They are struck with both hands, most commonly in an eight-stroke pattern called ''martillo'' (hammer). The ...

, marracas * Charlie Reid – acoustic six-string and

acoustic bass The acoustic bass guitar (sometimes shortened to acoustic bass or initialized ABG) is a bass instrument with a hollow wooden body similar to, though usually larger than a steel-string acoustic guitar. Like the traditional electric bass guitar ...

, vocals *

Ian Maidman Jennifer Maidman (formerly Ian Maidman, born 24 January 1958) is a British musician, singer, producer, songwriter, actor and author who has collaborated extensively with many internationally well known groups and artists. Her work appears on hu ...

– bass and keyboards (band versions) ;Production * Produced by John Williams * Track 13 produced by Gerry Rafferty and Hugh Murphy * Engineered and mixed by Phil Bodger * Assistant Engineering (Strongroom Studios): Danton Supple * Assistant Engineering (Air Studios): Matt Howe * Photography by Nick Knight * Design by John Pasche

Chart

References

{{Authority control 1987 debut albums Chrysalis Records albums The Proclaimers albums