Gig Poster for
The Dark Visit
(Coll 1981/82)
Before the
Subterraneans
got going for
real in early
1983, there was
a couple of
years of
learning to
play, changing
lineups, splitting
up, pausing,
reforming
and name
changing etc to
get through.
This page covers
that early
period, starting
with the obscure
meeting of a
couple of
musically inept
Doors fans in
1981.
Anyway, the
story… By August
of 81, things
were looking bad
on the music
scene in Lewis
unless you liked
Fleetwood Mac
and Dr Hook. The
wave of local
post-punk bands
who had made a
bit of a buzz
from '78 to '80
had pretty much
died out (See
Early 80s SY
Rock n Roll
Scene). The
new generation
of town trendies
were too cool
to mess up their
Robert Smith
overcoats
carrying amps
around, so the
usual soft rock
outfits were
back playing all
the gigs. In
terms of live
music, things
were reverting
to how they’d
probably been
pre-77.
One night in the
Nicolson
Institute Assembly Hall,
the kids at the
“back to school”
dance were being
entertained with
a tepid
selection of
Eagles covers
from one of the
many bands
peddling that
kind of laid
back mellow West
Coast Adult
Oriented stuff.
It might have
been Mission,
but I can’t
quite recall.
New fifth year
brats
William “Wilbur”
Macleod (yet
to become Bill)
and
Iain “Dead Olac”
Livingstone stood about, not
getting any
blones to dance
with them and
blaming it,
naturally, on
the uninspired
material and
delivery of the
medallion men
onstage.
As the band
limped into a
version
of “Peaceful
Easy Feeling”
(or something)
even more
soporific than
the original,
Wilbur and Dead
became convinced
that anybody
could do better
than this.
Despite their
lack of any
musical ability,
they decided to
start their own
group there and
then.
Wilbur was a Dylan
freak with
dubious leanings
towards
yippieism and
beat poets,
whereas Dead
suffered from a
fixation with
rockabilly and
60s garage
music, and a
miniscule record
collection
supplemented by
Darts
and
Matchbox
cassettes. The
points at which
they met were
blues and,
crucially,
The Doors.
It's hard to
believe these
days, but back
in 81 the Doors
were pretty much
forgotten, and
Wilbur and Dead
thought they
were the only
people in Lewis
to have a copy
of “LA Woman”.
This set them on
a mission to
bring doom-laden
60s psychedelic
rock ‘n’ roll
pretension in
wraparound
shades to the
masses. Which in
1981 was going
to be an uphill
struggle. What
they had in mind
didn’t fit any
better with the
prevailing
“alternative”
trends of the
time than with
the smooth
sounds of
the prevailing
Tequila
Sunrise-merchants.
The potential
fan base in
Lewis didn’t
extend much
wider than
themselves.
Undeterred,
Wilbur soon
discovered
catatonic
guitarist Steven
"Steeeeevun"
Macdonald,
newly arrived in
the Nicolson
from North Uist.
The laid-back
Glasgwegian
Uibhisteach
turned out to be
the third Doors
fan. Steven’s
overwhelming
musical
influence was
the Beatles, but
Dead and Wilbur
reckoned they
could keep him
from getting too
melodic. Thus
began “A Horse
Latitudes”, with
Steven on
Guitar, Wilbur
on Vocals and
Harmonica and
Dead on bass.
Steven’s musical
experience was
probably
extremely
limited, despite
his laconic
assurances that
he was a veteran
of the North
Uist rock
‘n’roll scene;
Wilbur and
Dead’s was even
more so. Wilbur
possessed a
single harmonica
and didn’t
realise that you
couldn’t use it
for playing in
every key.
Dead’s “bass”
was a Polish
kids’ acoustic
guitar (£4 from
a Lewmar
catalogue in
1975) with the
top 2 strings
broken.
Nevertheless,
practice
sessions were
held over the
next few months
at Wilbur’s in
Tolsta or Dead’s
in Sandwick. The
main criterion
for choosing
songs was that
they should be
easy, so most of
the Doors’
catalogue had to
be ruled out
straight away.
Standards at the
early sessions
were Bob Dylan’s
“All
Along the
Watchtower”,
the band
composition “Nail
Me To The Floor”
(which made
liberal use of
the riff from
the Stones’ “Get
Off My Cloud”),
another original
“I Was
Murdered by the
CIA”,
and a miminalist
attempt at the
Doors’ “Hello
I Love You”.
At some point
the band decided
to change their
name from “A
Horse Latitudes”
to the equally
portentous “The
Dark Visit”.
(Not quite sure
when or why, but
around the time
of the 1981
higher prelim
exams I remember
wasting time
sitting in
school writing a
lyric (never
used) that
rhymed “What the
hell is it?”
with “The Dark
Visit”.)
Towards the end
of 81, Wilbur
was able to
secure a gig for
the band,
supporting
The Meantime
at a Saturday
night dance in
the Coll Centre
on 19 December.
David Maclennan
and
Robbie Dawson
from the
Meantime had
been in Back
school with
Wilbur and he is
believed to have
had a hand in
the composition
of the lyrics
for their TSB
Rock School
finalist song “World’s
End”.
Grimsay
minister-to-be
Kenny Stewart,
the Mean Time’s
drummer, was a
pal of Steven’s
and agreed to
fill in on drums
for the support
slot (See
Gigs)
The gig couldn’t
have been that
bad, because
this lineup went
on practising
for the first
few months of
1982, supporting
the Mean Time
again at Coll at
another Saturday
gig in
March. This time
Steven’s fellow
Uibhisteach and
erstwhile
Meantime
vocalist
Iain Macaskill
sat in on
drums. A couple
more songs were
rehearsed during
this period:
Willie Dixon’s “Back
Door Man”
(after the
Doors’ version)
and The Doors’
own “Light
My Fire”.
Dead and Steven
individually put
forward a couple
more originals
for rehearsal
but they were
rejected
derisively for
being crap and
never even
attempted.
Tapes of the
December 81 and
March 82 support
slots were made,
but if they
still survive
then Steven’s
got them, and
nobody knows
where he is. A
practice tape
was recorded at
Dead’s house
during this
period but is
now lost.
All this
borrowing of
drummers was
becoming a bit
difficult, so
when aspiring
Springfield Road
boy muso
Alan Dick
appeared one day
volunteering
himself as a
permanent
drummer, with a
drum kit and a
place to
practice, it
seemed too good
to be true. It
was. Thus began
a grim period in
the band’s
development,
with rehearsals
based in the Sea
Cadet hut on
Inaclete Road.