Mull Historical Society
The Final Arrears

The piano starts up. Then a voice echoes. It reminds me of Supertramp. Or Chicago. Or any of those late seventies MOR supergroups your parents tend to play at wedding anniversaries. Oh No…

First things first.

I do have a lot of time for the Mull Historical Society. ‘Watching Xanadu’ was one of the most under-rated singles of last year, pure pop in a plastic case that doesn’t cry for Davina’s help when it gets lost (and it did, somewhere in the lower reaches of the Top 40).

After all, there is something quite sweet about most of their ditties that provides a genuine insight into Colin MacIntyre’s mind without any of the nauseating pomposity that shrouds the personas of too many of his contemporaries.

Unfortunately, ‘The Final Arrears’ makes a beeline for Travisland without stopping for a quick refuel on the M8 to its inevitable Radio 2 daytime slot - and before you know it, the soundtrack to a million Easter dinner parties is born.

Not that I begrudge Colin MacIntyre a single penny of the impending royalties he’s gonna get his mitts on from this single. In fairness, there are far less respectable ways to earn a living.

The sad thing is that the Mull Historical Society appears to have become just that – another day job.