Music For The Modern Misfit #3 - Author! author!
SCARS - Edinburgh’s own “Unsung Post-Punk Heroes” released one album - AUTHOR! AUTHOR!, alongside a slew of singles under Fast Product, while later being featured in compilation albums of the time.
Scars are generally remembered more for their Fast Product releases, Horrorshow & Adultery, two fantastic songs that demand your pricked up listening ears!!
October 1977 – The Sex pistols released never mind the bollocks, Punk was out there, and London was the centre of the music world. A festering boredom up and down the country produced the most innovative and exciting wave of noise in modern history. In Scotland, things were no different, and in Edinburgh, the Heretical Positive Post-Punk Heroes, Scars, were just about to burst into focus.
An early sign to Tollcross’ legendary Fast Product record label, Scars were integral to the burgeoning art punk scene in Edinburgh, alongside contemporaries like The Rezillos and The Skids, in 1979. They released their seminal album, “Author! Author!”, in 1981. Author! Author! is legendary; there is not a groovy soul beyond the frigid red-white border to the south who hasn’t got fond memories of this album. Every track perfectly bleeds into the next, AUTHOR! AUTHOR! invokes a sort of magical realism in their lyrics that predates a lot of the mid 80s goth-scene’s fascination with such. Over Robert King’s beastly screeches and alluring male-siren-esque voice is an infusion of brilliant instrumentalists combining various influences from far afield into a truly unique listening experience. Steve Mclaughlin plays tribal & tomb heavy on the drums with a fantastic tempo throughout, John Mackie’s bass is beautiful and commanding and finally, Paul Research makes heavy declarations with high tones & fast thrash’s on lead guitar.
The pure passion and energy that they put into these tracks is displayed fantastically live at The Nashville in London 2 years before the album’s release in 1979, where they performed a rendtion of Peter Porter’s ironic nuclear poem“Your Attention Please” that would later find itself as the semifinal - (and best) track in Author! Author!
Author! Author! Enthusiasts may see fit to listen to -
Oingo Boingo - Nothing to Fear
Adam & The Ants - Kings of the Wild Frontier
The History of Scars - alongside other Art-Punk contemporaries around Edinburgh & The Fast Product scene is heavily documented in “Big Gold Dream” - a must-watch that perfectly documents Edinburgh’s underappreciated efforts in the proliferation of the new-wave in the late 70s & early 80s. As with all heroes and pariahs, though, Scars weren’t built to last. In a tragic twist of fate, Scars were martyred by personal feuds, a whirlwind affair with Nico in Stockbridge and Scotland’s Heroin rampage, which were all enough to irreparably tear them apart, with all venturing separately into equally interesting and diverse musical projects of varying success.
While Scars have reformed multiple times over the years - even with the original lineup in tow - it again wasn’t built to last. Now, John Mackie performs under Scoorieboy, a sort of neo-psychedelic post-rock outfit that released their third studio album, On Scald Law, earlier this year. Alongside that, Paul Research now bides his time with Port Sulphur and on his own with a fantastic Electric Violin (Which you can hear at the Leith Depot this year on the 29th of Novemeber) Robert King went on to produce various demos of varying genres - most famously “Temporary Love Thing” - and still does so from time to time on his youtube channel. Steve Mclaughlin remains an enigma - if you’re reading this, get in touch and tell me what you’re up to and i’ll get it on here !!
Now, with the Future of Scars in question, their music remains a necessity of many a post-punk/new wave club night in Edinburgh and beyond. If you’ve managed to get along to a Just Like Honey, Betamax or Pinups night recently in Edinburgh, you’ll have certainly heard Horrorshow - it’s become a staple, and the pivotal sounds of Author! Author! remain lodged in the brainwaves of the coolest and grooviest around the city, and the globe to this day.
