Fraochie's Story
Kenny "Fraochie"
Stewart, hard
rockin' Bacach
dude, occasional
Uncle Ethan
guitarist,
Gaelic media
tycoon at
Moja TV, and the
cove who
salvaged the
rediscovered "Subterraneans
Show" cine
footage onto
DVD, recalls the
early 80s
Leodhasach Rock
scene through a
bit of a haze...
Woaaargh.
Fraochie rawks
out, not
yesterday
" Now, rock
around the 80's
Sty. My
experiences are
limited as I
left in 1979 and
to be honest
never really saw
much in the way
of live music in
Stornoway, only
returning for
the "Trades
Fortnight" and
the odd
"September
Week".
Rough Justice I
do remember and
have a single of
theirs (signed
by Fudge!!!!) .
It does sound
ghastly, "Black
Knight (A Gothic
Legend) c/w
White Dove
(Misprinted as
ALSO being a
Gothic Legend -
maybe it is?) on
the b side.
Rough Justice
featured the
Wallace twins
and Fudge. Fudge
lives in
Edinburgh and is
an
Accountant/Solicitor
or something
like that as far
as I know. I saw
them a few times
but as I was in
school the
memories are
hazy, Fudge had
a "Real" Les
Paul, to which
he added a third
pickup, Spinal
Tap was only a
dream then....
He also had a
Marshall amp. I
can remember
asking for a
song by "Foghat"
and being
surprised that
they knew one,
but the drummer
saying that if i
liked Foghat I
wouldnt like
their version,
or something
like that.
I saw Oasis once
in the Caber
lounge(!)
Remembering that
James was a
great lead
player, still
is. Island
Express played
at a school
dance once, my
sole memory
being that they
were nearly
finished a
Status Quo song
before I
recognised it as
being such, and
I was a HUGE (of
Quo, not
Express) fan at
the time, sad.
And this brings
me to my last
memory of a gig
in Stornoway,
The Royal Hotel
as featured on
the website, a
few bands,
possibly
yourselves.
Someone said to
A J Kennedy, the
lead breaks
looked great,
pity we couldnt
hear them. Also
had a pint in
the Lounge, Davy
Maclennan and
Wilbur Macleod
were there.
Wilbur packing a
harmonica belt.
Not much to go
on there, I
misspent my
teenage years in
the Odeon and
Playhouse
Theatres
watching the
real thing (not
the soul/disco
band) and going
to the "Nite
Club" (above the
playhouse) to
the weekly heavy
metal disco,
which had bands
regularly also,
including
incredibly "Bad
Rep" all the way
from
Stornoway!!. I
didnt know about
them being there
and never saw
them play at
home either ".
Editor's note -
Not remembering
any of it didn't
stop Fraochie
from making the
definitive
Sad Day We Left
the Croft
Documentary
anyway...