ROCK and pop gigs will be held in the National Museum of Scotland (NMS) when it stages its first ever exhibition dedicated to the history of Scottish popular music in 2018.

Plans are afoot for main hall of the National Museum to become a stage for bands as the major summer exhibition, Rip It Up, dissects and presents Scottish contemporary music from the 1950s to the present day.

Stars such as Simple Minds, Midge Ure, and Shirley Manson have provided their own artefacts. NMS expects to attract a “healthy five figure audience” to the show later this year.

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The NMS has held Fringe events before but not rock gigs to accompany exhibitions.

Some of the 300 exhibits which will form the exhibition are currently being kept at the NMS’s huge store in Granton, north Edinburgh.

Rip It Up will take in many bands and musical movements, from Lonnie Donegan to Mogwai, from Lulu to Lau, from dancehall to pop, the 1960s, 70s and the New Wave of the early 1980s, and will feature influential record labels like Postcard, Fast Product and Chemikal Underground.

The show, curated by Stephen Allen, will come right up to date, and will feature the 2018 Scottish Album of the Year winner, as well as modern bands such as Young Fathers.

Items included in the show will include Midge Ure’s overcoat from his famous Vienna video, early band posters from Simple Minds, one of the late Stuart Adamson’s Fender guitars, as well as original recording tapes of The Associates, gold discs and other pop and rock paraphernalia.

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The NMS is also planning live music events to accompany the show with details to be released soon.

The story will be told in sections: the 1960s, the global reach of Scottish acts, modern times, and the Scottish diaspora.

Mr Allen said he has been contacting bands and artists for more than a year to gather material for the show, which will also focus on fandom, as well as the bands and music.

He said: “One my very favourite bands when I was growing up was [Scottish punk band] The Rezillos, and I had no idea where they were from.

“So it is a great thrill that the PVC jumpsuit that Eugene Reynolds wore on Top of the Pops is in the show, it is in our mind the kind of thing we would like to show.

“Almost without exception the bands we have contacted have been very helpful.

“Some of them have literally opened suitcases they have not for more than 30 years - and the smell of old copies of the New Musical Express is a distinctive one.

“There are some objects that are intriguing and surprising, and some that will have a wow factor for visitors.”

Artists featuring in the show will include Paisley-born Gerry Rafferty, the Sensational Alex Harvey Band, Lulu, The Rezillos, Midge Ure, Simple Minds, Garbage, Franz Ferdinand and Young Fathers.

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A three-part BBC TV series will accompany the show, as well as a book.

However Mr Allen warned fans that “it is not an encyclopedic exhibition” and the choice of bands and artists covered may stir debate.

Asked whether Scottish-born artists such as David Byrne from Talking Heads or the members of AC/DC will be included, he said the Scottish diaspora will be addressed and their choices would encourage social me “There won’t be every single Scottish band, but we will be encouraging debate on social media, in talks and events that will accompany the exhibition,” he said.

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“There is a large number of singers and artists that have Scottish roots - Johnny Cash, for example. We will be addressing the diaspora.”

Asked why the exhibition is being staged now, the curator said holding it now had been partly prompted by the landmark show in London’s V&A of David Bowie’s memorabilia. The show attracted 312,000 visitors to the museum in 2013.

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Mr Allen said: “Why now? It’s a good question. We are in the decade where there are the 40th and 50th anniversaries of many things.

“We are beginning to see that what we once regarded perhaps as throwaway, disposable culture, is now the bedrock of a lot of the culture that we grew up with.

“The gap between high and, inverted comma, ‘low art’, is narrower, these days.”

Ure said: “I never thought I’d see that day that I’d become a museum exhibit myself.

"For its size, Scotland really punches above its weight in terms of the global artists it has produced."

“With the recent interest in museum exhibitions like the ones about David Bowie and Pink Floyd, I think it’s right that Scotland should showcase its own achievements like this.

Manson, who is lending material including clothes, awards and magazines from her time as lead singer with both Garbage and Goodbye Mr Mackenzie, said she was 'honoured' to be included, adding: “While music is universal, and Garbage are an international band, being Scottish is a large part of who I am and has had a huge bearing on my work and our career."

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“I must admit that I’m actually very much looking forward to seeing the exhibition myself.”

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