This weekend is the massive RunRig celebration “Party on the Moor”. If I’m honest, I’m more than a little miffed that I’m going to miss it! Back at New Year I listed this in my Blog as ‘thing to look forward to number 5‘, and my plan was to write a similar blog with 40 reasons I loved RunRig, but having reached 30-something I realised it was going to make a very long blog!! So I condensed them down to 10 (rather vague!) categories.
I’m sure it is no secret to anyone who knows me that the RunRig line-up that became ‘The Classic Six’ is always my listening of choice, though I never got to see them in that formation, being only 12 when Donnie left. I’ve seen Donnie a few times - maybe a few more than a few - so that’s where we’ll start!
- Donnie Munro - OK, so he’s not with the band now, but he did sing with them for over half of their 40 years!! Let’s face it, people, whatever your views of the band (although if you’re not a fan, I’m amazed you’ve got this far into the Blog!!) this man had [and still has] one of the greatest voices of all time. He can take any notes and just make them melt together into a mesmerising melody. He’s also a great guy, happy - or at least willing - to meet his fans and on the occasions I’ve met him he always seems to remember us… Maybe because we’re the only crazy group of sisters that have ever attended his gigs.
- Calum MacDonald - One of my favourite bits from the RunRig “Going Home” book is when Donnie comments that he remembered Calum from school, but didn’t remember him as being particularly musical. Be that as it may, Calum co-created some of the most amazing tunes and there can be little doubt that he is a wordsmith to rival any of the greats. [Carol Ann Duffy is not a great, by the way, and what she calls poetry is generally what I would call drivel… not quite sure which wise spark elected her to represent our country in poetry!!!]
- Rory MacDonald - Where Donnie’s voice is so pure, Rory’s is so emotive. [Oh dear - I think the singing teacher in me is making a bid for freedom into this blog!] Some of my favourite of all RunRig’s music are those songs where the two singers interchange lines and verses like Rocket to the Moon (see point 7!). Rory MacDonald has given some of the most amazing songs of the generation, with totally heartfelt music, lyrics and performance (if I‘m wrong, then at least he‘s good at pretending!!!). Plus, I have great respect for anyone who can read and appreciate the writings of Neil Gunn!
- Malcolm Jones - What the MacDonald brothers are to song writing, Malcolm Jones is to instrumental music. It always amazes and disappoints me that he does not appear on the lists of great guitarists when he creates and plays some of the most amazing music on those six strings! He strikes me as one of those people - like Judith! - who picks up an instrument for 20 minutes and can get a tune out of it!
- Musical Snob - The truth is, I’m a Musical Snob!! I like to think that it goes with the job, but in truth I think it is just that I can’t help but appreciate the finer things in life!! I blame it for the reason that I find Simon and Garfunkel far preferable to The Beatles, and likewise why I find RunRig ultimately superior to any band that has come or gone in the last 25 years. Perhaps it is the fact that the music is created by siblings that it works so well - I know that, after a number of years working musically with my sisters, we produce much better sounds than when we work with anyone else! Maybe it is genetics, similar wavelengths or just something completely different, but whatever the reason RunRig play inspiring music with intelligent lyrics. This appeals to a musical snob like me!
- Music of the Landscape - Who would have bet on a Gaelic rock group? I’m fairly sure that, back in the 70s, I wouldn’t have done… Not that I was alive in the 70s, or even the first half of the 80s, I hasten to add!! It doesn’t matter where you are (unless you’re driving, in which case this is not advisable!) if you close your eyes and listen to the music of RunRig, you can see the place of their heritage. The landscape, the people and the history of Gaeldom have given them solid roots for their amazing music, and perhaps the most amazing thing of all is that they are able to recreate that and send Gaeldom out into the world.
- Fan Mail - OK, confession time: we send fan mail! But I like to think that our brand of fan mail is something refreshingly different! When Clemency was still at school, the only way to wake her up in the morning was to play Rocket to the Moon as loud as possible. This was duly written into a fan letter to Rory (Clemency’s hero in the band) with a request for a picture of a Rocket to the Moon… Needless to say, this is THE most treasured RunRig letter ever sent. When Judith was doing her A-Levels she wrote to the Brothers MacDonald for help with one of her pieces of work (a CD blurb for a RunRig album) and got a fantastic reply from Calum, that she was able to then quote for her work. She did get a reply from Rory, too, very late and very apologetic! But the accessibility and genuine interest of RunRig in their fans is heart-warming. Even things as seemingly trivial as replies on Twitter, they mean a lot to people - I know I always get excited to find that they’ve responded to me!
- Highlands and Islands on the Musical Map - Back in 1991 no one came to the Highlands to perform a rock concert. Growing up in Orkney, it was groundbreaking when they set up their stage in Kirkwall, and since then countless bands have flocked to Highland and Island gigs. Highlanders and Islanders owe a lot to The Big Wheel tour.
- Sticking Power - On the BBC News page today about the 40th Anniversary concert, Rory was listed as making a comment about leaving one foot in the roots and putting the other foot forward. The fact that RunRig has existed for 40 years, never taking long periods of time out, shows that they are a band open to adapting, but their unique style that has won them fans (and loyal fans, at that) over the years has never been open to compromise. I would certainly never say that they have aged, but that they are maturing!!! There is no amount of change in circumstance and musical approach that will cause them to forget their roots.
- Inspiration - Earlier on, I mentioned RunRig as an inspiration. Whenever I’m writing I try to have music going, and RunRig (especially the Gaelic songs) are amongst some of the my evocative and powerful pieces of inspiration, rubbing shoulders with some of the great composers. I’m not sure quite how the band would take that, but it is meant as a compliment. It is true that we have also written an immensely comical and highly tongue-in-cheek version of the band’s history that could be subtitled as “What if RunRig existed in a Fantasy World” but that will never see the light of day!!! At the end of the day, what all artists strive to do is inspire, to share something that will strike a chord with their audience. When you look at the fact that every single hotel room in Inverness and the area surrounding Muir of Ord is booked out, it’s a pretty sure way of knowing that this is a band who are not short on giving or receiving inspiration.
So, I’ll be missing Party on the Moor this weekend, but I will certainly be there in spirit. Thanks for 40 years of music, poetry and sheer inspiration. It’s good to be a fan when you have a group like this to be a fan of.
