Wattie's
Story
Lewis Street
Avante Gaelic
Obscurist Folk
Rock
pioneer Iain "Wattie"
Watson (left)
was co-founder
of seminal early
80s outfit
Zing-Pop
and, later, the
Dun Ringles.
Now an
ageing council
bureaucrat
residing in
Knock, Wattie
remembers as
follows:
"What do I
remember of the
late 70’s, early
80’s music
scene?
Well, going back
to the late
70’s, probably
78 or 79, I
remember my mate
Nixon
(Angus Nicolson-
Chartered
Accountant and
Councillor)
announcing that
he was ‘now in a
punk band’.
‘Eh?’ says I.
‘Oh yus, rhythm
guitarist in the
Rong, no less!’
Being on the
Deep
Purple/Tull/hard
rock side of the
music divide and
not being into
punk at all, at
all, at all, I
didn’t really
pay much
attention to
this, although
at that time I
remember the
line up of the
Rong consisting
of Iain
"Wee
Bomber" Morrison
– Drums, Malcy
Smith -Vocals,
Kenzie - Bass? ,
Nixon - Rhythm
Guitar.
Never went to
see them
rehearse but I
heard plenty
about them in
school. Nixon
left after a few
weeks/months and
thereafter I
think several
others came and
went. I saw them
at the
Feis in the
Castle Grounds
in either 80 or
81 (This was
"Ceol
airson Sith"
which may even
have been as
late as 82? -
Ed) when
Malcy made his
infamous
statement about
the Royal Family
(I thought
it was something
about a man and
a dog ... Ed).
Malcy
Smith, Duncan
the Rubhach and
Iain "Wee
Bomber" Morrison
from The Rong
Can’t remember
who was in the
line up apart
from Bomber and
Malcy. I
remember my
brother Robin
was there with a
mate and his
mate's mother
(they must only
have been 10 or
11) and the
mate's mother
was so shocked
at Malcy’s
outburst she had
to drag the
protesting boys
home. (‘But mum,
I want to see
the punk
rocker……)
Around this time
there seemed to
be lots of punk
bands appearing
out of nowhere,
most of them
being very short
lived, although
the majority of
bands still
seemed to be
rock bands, such
as Black
Widow
(who also played
at the Feis) (Swaddie
on drums,
Eric
MacDonald
on bass and some
other cove on
lead who had a
flying v guitar
which was very
metal!!
Whilst on 6th
Year,
Kenzie
and
Honkas
decided to
brighten up the
6th
Year Hut by
spray painting
lots of punk
slogans on the
walls, (‘Ian
Curtis- This Man
Died For You!’)
and other
pretentious New
Wave/NME type
things, but
saved their best
work for lots of
huge Rong’s in
several
strategic
places. I also
remember Kenzie
talking at great
length about ‘Sad
Day We Left The
Croft’
and how well
sales were going
in Eastern
Europe around
Xmas time 1981.
Have better
recollection of
Swedish TV
from around this
time. I remember
going to see STV
(or it must have
been Dark Waters
as David Heaton
was there)
rehearsing in
Matheson Hall on
a few occasions.
They asked CJ
Mitchell (fellow
Avante Gaelic
Obscurist Folk
Rock Pioneer)
and me to do a
wee booklet for
A Lump Of Rock
(on Tape Books!)
but I remember
all my
contributions
being binned by
CJ as being too
crap. I still
got a mention in
the book though.
This was 82/83,
possibly? I
remember being
very impressed
that
Pluckan
could play the
drums and the
bass.
Also in the
early 80’s I
remember some
cove organising
a major
Country and
Western festival
in Stornoway,
with loads of
big name stars.
Unfortunately he
seemed to
overestimate the
love of Country
in Lewis
(how'd he manage
that - Ed?)and
hardly anyone
bought tickets,
leaving him
massively out of
pocket. I
remember us lot
having huge
laughs about
this, as Country
was perceived as
being the lowest
of the low.
In 82 I remember
interviewing
Uist rockers ‘Last
Orders’
up at Radio Nan
Eilean for some
show or other.
The Venture
Scouts used to
help out/get in
the way up there
cos our leader
Rev Emslie Nimmo
was romantically
involved with
Neen at the
time. We’d do
stuff to do with
music cos we
were all so
young and
trendy. Last
Orders had come
up from Uist to
do a gig, which
at that time was
unheard of. This
was around the
time of a
drummer leaving
them at short
notice and prior
to
Kenny Stewart
joining- I
think. They were
playing in the
Crown that night
and told us
they’d put our
names on the
Guest List. I
think we went
off to get
pissed with a
carry out
instead.
Echo and
The Bunnymen
in the
Cabarfeidh
(Summer of
1983) was
another major
early 80’s
event. Everyone
who was anyone
was there, even
those who didn’t
like the
Bunnymen/New
Wave eg me. I
went wearing a
Tull sweatshirt
and brown flared
cords as a
protest. The
Bunnymen were
actually pretty
good, though.
80s Fashion
Victims (and
some left over
70s ones) at the
Bunnymen, 1983.
(Courtesy of
Donalda)
There might have
been a local
band supporting
them but I can’t
remember. Lots
of strange
mainlanders
followed the Bunnymen up,
scaring many’s
an old dear with
their funny
clothes and
haircuts.
I also vaguely
remember the
genesis of
Room 101
around
83 or 84..
Sandy
Mackinnon,
Malcolm "Bessie"
Macleod, some
other cove and a
wee Hearach girl
singer who was
really good,
whose name I
can’t remember.
John Horne was
their manager
and he convinced
us to book them
for one of our
Scout Hall
discos. They
played there a
couple of times
before becoming
too big and
moving on to the
Clachan.
Wattie's band
Zing-Pop in
1982, displaying
their extensive
state of the art
tour inventory
We also had
Bad
Reputation
playing
at a few of our
Disco/Bar-B-Ques
at Cuddy Point
in 84 and 85."
