Skids - Scared to Dance [2xLP RED VINYL IMPORT] - New LP

Hey, I bought this album by these Scots in 1979, think I'd heard it on dinky WIDR FM (I was lucky enough to live by the student ghetto so I could pick up their airwaves) but maybe I just liked the sleeve art and the name of the band...who knows...probably heard it on WIDR because this is the kind of punk that college stations latched on to (while they ignored most USA bands that weren't experimental or arty...but I was still so so happy to have that radio station in my life)...the guitarist from Skids would go on to big success with Big Country after this band broke up...Sometimes Skids seem like a mix of influences as different as early post-punk and the Clash...and I suppose you can hear hints of Big Country here on some cuts, but while (perhaps incorrectly) I think of Big Country as optimistic, Skids seems anything but (but without going into the bleak darkness of some of the early so-called post-punk)...and while the influences clearly pop up, Skids had their own sound. In 1979, I was insane about finding anything that didn't sound like the same bands on repeat on the so-called rock stations so returning to albums like this really bring me back to listening to WIDR and searching for bands that kids my age (and most everyone in the USA) didn't have clue even existed. If you like those bands that seemed to meet at the intersection of new wave/post-punk/art punk, this might be your thing...if you like one of the songs, you'll probably like them all. 

This import reissue expands the album to four sides, remastered version of the album + early singles, live, etc.  I think this includes the entire discography of the first version of this band.  

"Scared to Dance, the debut LP from Scotland's Skids...This record may have been recorded over 40 years ago but the songs resonate as much, if not more, today. Featuring the glorious Into The Valley, title track, and The Saints Are Coming." 

 "The Scottish art-punk unit Skids formed in Dunfermline in 1977. Comprised of the dramatic vocalist Richard Jobson, guitarist Stuart Adamson, bassist William Simpson, and drummer Tom Kellichan, the group issued the single "Reasons" on their own No Bad label before signing to Virgin. After two more singles, "Sweet Suburbia" and "The Saints Are Coming," Skids entered the U.K. Top Ten with "Into the Valley," included on their 1979 debut LP Scared to Dance, a fine document of the anthemic guitar riffs and chanted choruses which typified the first phase of the group's music.  By 1981's Joy, only Jobson remained from Skids' original lineup. Prior to recording the album, Adamson quit to form his own group, the internationally successful Big Country. After the release of the Joy, Skids officially disbanded."

Plus, check this out, I made a page on the website just for 1979!  Cool!