Biography

Introduction

Deacon Blue are a Scottish pop band. Their name is rumoured to be taken from the title of the Steely Dan song "Deacon Blues", whose lyrics seem to reflect the group's early outlook:

They got a name for the winners in the world

I want a name when I lose

They call Alabama the Crimson Tide...

Call me Deacon Blues

Career

Formed in 1985 once Ross moved from Dundee to Glasgow, Deacon Blue were one of the top-selling UK bands of the late 1980s and early 1990s. The group's members were Ricky Ross, Lorraine McIntosh, James Prime, Dougie Vipond, Ewen Vernal and Graeme Kelling.

Ross, a former school teacher originally from Dundee, was the group's frontman, penning the vast majority of Deacon Blue's songs. He married female vocalist Lorraine McIntosh in the later years of the band's career.

In 1986, the band contributed a track ("Take the Saints Away") to a compilation cassette entitled Honey at the Core, featuring then up-and-coming Glasgow bands, including Wet Wet Wet and Hue and Cry.

The band's debut album, Raintown, produced by Jon Kelly and released in 1987, is regarded by many as the band's finest effort, spawning the singles "Dignity", "Chocolate Girl" and "Loaded". Many consider Raintown to be a concept album, since nearly all the songs contribute to the overall theme of being stuck in a dead-end life in a deprived city, longing for something better. The city that the album's title refers to is Glasgow, and the memorable cover art of the album is a photograph (by the Scottish-Italian photographer Oscar Marzaroli) of the River Clyde's docks taken from Kelvingrove Park on a miserable day.

The second album, 1989's When the World Knows Your Name, was the band's most commercially successful, generating five UK top 30 hits, including "Real Gone Kid", "Wages Day", and "Fergus Sings the Blues" (all five singles from the album were top 10 hits in Ireland). However, music critics began to criticise the band for pursuing commercial success over artistic integrity, citing the earlier achievements with Raintown.

By this time, the band had gained a reputation as one of the best live acts in the UK. Ticket sales for shows in Glasgow's SECC in both May and December 1989 would break the world record at the time for the fastest sell-out. The following year saw the band play in front of an estimated 250,000 fans at the free concert on Glasgow Green "The Big Day", which was held to celebrate Glasgow being named that year's European City of Culture. The band also played Glastonbury and the Roskilde festivals that summer, as well as released Ooh Las Vegas, a double album of B-sides, extra tracks, film tracks, and sessions. This seemed to confirm the band's eminent status by reaching No. 3 in the UK album charts.

Jon Kelly returned to the producer's chair in 1991 for the album Fellow Hoodlums. The album was met with more critical success, but by now the group's honeymoon period was over and their success had started to wane somewhat—the album peaked at No. 2 on the UK album charts.

Fellow Hoodlums was followed up by 1993's Whatever You Say, Say Nothing, a much more experimental album in the vein of U2's Achtung Baby. The album garnered critical praise, but was not as commercially successful as the previous two albums, peaking at No. 4 on the UK album charts.

The band embarked on another sold out UK tour in 1994, but not before recording new material for their greatest hits compilation Our Town. This saw the band return to No. 1 in the UK album charts and was one of the year's top sellers, while "I Was Right and You Were Wrong" and a re-release of "Dignity" saw the band reenter the Top 20 singles chart.

Breakup and Reorganization

With Vipond's decision to quit the group in favour for a career in television, Deacon Blue split up in 1994.

Five years later, the band held an unexpected reunion gig in 1999, and this led on to a new album, Walking Back Home, with the band now working on a part-time basis.

The band released another album, Homesick, in 2001.

Though Graeme Kelling died from pancreatic cancer in 2004, the band has vowed to continue in his absence.

The year 2006 saw Deacon Blue returning to the studio to record three new tracks for a Singles album - including the track "Bigger than Dynamite".

The band performed at Manchester United's Old Trafford stadium, as the pre-match entertainment for the Rugby League Super League Grand Final on the 14 October, and continued on to a full UK tour in November. They were also due to open Stirling's New Year party in 2006, but this was cancelled at the last minute due to extreme weather. They did appear at Stirling's Hogmanay in 2008.

Deacon Blue appeared at the Montrose Music Festival

Deacon Blue will be appearing at The Homecoming Live Final Fling Show, at Glasgow's SECC on November 28th 2009.

Ricky Ross' solo career

Ricky Ross, who had released a solo album before the formation of Deacon Blue, released two solo albums during the time between Deacon Blue's breakup in 1994 and reformation in 1999.

Due to Deacon Blue's part time status after reformation, Ross released additional solo albums in 2002 and 2005 and has written for and with other recording artists.

In 2009 Ricky and Lorraine McIntosh recorded an album together under the name 'McIntosh Ross'. This album, The Great Lakes, will be released on 28th September 2009.