THERE is a 33-year gap between two of the most memorable gigs of Goodbye Mr Mackenzie’s illustrious career.

The first in 1986 was an abject disaster that almost killed the band stone dead. I’ll get to it later.

But the second, just two years ago was a total triumph.

Martin Metcalfe, the band’s singer, has vivid memories of both.

In 2019, he reformed the Mackenzies, who hadn’t played together since the release of their fourth and final album, The Glory Hole.

A key gig on their comeback tour was at The Garage in Glasgow.

The venue was the location for the Bathgate band’s farewell show before they’d split 23 years previously.

“The idea to get back together evolved from playing the songs from Good Deeds And Dirty Rags during a solo gig,” recalled Martin.

“It was a nod to the fact that it was an important record in all of our lives. I thought if I’m celebrating our debut again maybe I should ask my fellow band members Derek Kelly, Fin Wilson and Rona Scobie if they were up for it.

“It would have been nice if Shirley Manson had also been involved. But she was busy with Garbage in the US.”

Metcalfe could never have predicted just how emotional their Glasgow gig would be.

He’d also approached guitarist Big John Duncan – who suffers from MS - and extended an invitation to take part in the reunion.

Duncan, who is now a Dutch citizen and lives in The Netherlands, quit playing live because of his illness.

“I knew John was debilitated by MS. He didn’t play guitar any more. One of his hands is pretty bad,” revealed Martin.

“But I thought I’d ask if there was any way he could join us, even if it was just on the encore.

“He said: ‘F*** off … I’m not just gonna do three songs at the end of the show. I STILL play guitar, but not as you know it’.

“He got his head down and started learning the tracks again.”

The audience reaction was overwhelming and convinced Metcalfe he’d made the right decision. It paved the way for a show at Barrowland – voted Gig of the Year – which was recorded for the album, A Night In The Windy City.

“I wondered if I’d pushed Big John into something he wasn’t coping with, and felt guilty about that,” he admitted.

“Was I being a bit cruel? I’m actually welling up just thinking about it. But he got on stage and pulled it off in his usual way.

“His balance is severely affected by MS. He couldn’t stand during the show. So he worked out a system when he could lean on a bar stool and still strike his guitar hero pose. He was amazing.”

Metcalfe formed the band in 1984, taking their name from the 1931 Jean Rhys novel After Leaving Mr Mackenzie.

Their first big break came when their song, Death Of A Salesman, was chosen as the debut single on Youth Training Scheme, a record label run by students on a music industry course at Bathgate College.

It was released as a split 7-inch with another local artist, Lindy Bergman, on the flipside. All 1000 copies sold out and have become collectors’ items.

“I don’t think a label run by college students had ever been done in Britain before. It was the first one,” recalled Martin.

“We thought they’d be looking for a real pop band, but they went for our demo.

“The class were very hands on. The real problem was they released the single at the end of term. “When a record comes out that’s just the start of the hard work. You have to put a lot of effort into taking in on somewhere else.

“But it was played by Janice Long and was a good thing to be part of.”

The band caught the attention of Elliot Davies, who’d launched The Precious Organisation with three local bands, Wet Wet Wet, Moroccan Coco and The Floor.

The Mackenzies’ next single was The Rattler, which was released on the Precious label. It hit No. 8 on the Indie Chart.

“Elliot was a real energy force and put a lot of effort into the band. He believed in us,” recalled Martin.

“He got us on Radio 1 with no promotional budget whatsoever. The Tube played a promo video for the song. It was great exposure for a band who’d had none before. So that was the real start of Goodbye Mr Mackenzie.”

Their TV debut coincided with the aforementioned disastrous gig in 1986.

The band played a showcase at Fury Murrys in Glasgow for a string of major labels.

“We had 29 A & R men come to see us. Apart from them, there was nobody else in the venue. No actual punters turned up,” said Martin.

“We played to an empty dance floor as the record company guys stood at the bar. So naturally they thought we weren’t a very happening band.

“The next night, we played the Hoochie Coochie Club in Edinburgh and it was bouncing. The video for The Rattler had been screened a few hours earlier. But all the A & R men had gone back to London by then.

“We thought, we’ve blown it. It was our first taste of real disaster.”

The Mackenzies spent the next 12 months gigging in a bid to turn things around.

“We’d almost given up hope. Chrysalis had expressed interest but in the end didn’t go for it,” Martin recalled.

“Then Capitol turned up to see us play Dingwall’s in London. By that time we were thinking, nobody is gonna sign us.

“Shirley and I had gone out the night before and got absolutely hammered. We started drinking again to try to get through our hangover.

“By the time we got on stage we were pie-eyed and falling into each other.

“Simon Potts of Capitol said later he’d signed us because he thought there was real empathy between me and Shirley, a bit of a double-act going on. But we were just pissed together.”

Capitol paired the band with German producer Reinhold Mack, who’d worked with The Rolling Stones, Queen and ELO.

“Initially, we couldn’t find the right producer. We’d tried to get a guy who’d recorded The Cure but it hadn’t worked out,” revealed Martin.

“Mack was this cool, long haired, classically German guy. He’d produced all of Queen’s big hits and made huge commercial Eighties music. So he wouldn’t have been our choice.

“But he was a great engineer and was completely willing to make a record in the way that we wanted. He was a dream to work with.”

The album was recorded at Musicland Studios in Munich.

“In a way, even before we started making the album, we knew it would be good,” said Martin.

“One thing we did have in regards to writing and demo-ing was a strong work ethic. We already had three singles – Open Your Arms, Goodbye Mr Mackenzie and The Rattler – ready to go. All Mack had to do was remix the latter.

“So all we needed was to do the other tracks in a similar manner. There were two people driving the band, Derek and myself. We were the main songwriters.

“We’d stay in the studio all night. The others would come in for a couple of weeks, do their bit and then were happy to leave.

“Shirley had a bit of an issue with Germany. She didn’t really understand it.”

The album was released on April 10, 1989, and peaked at No. 26. A new version of The Rattler cracked the Top 40.

“As a first album it was a great start. With the chart positions achieved I suppose it was a case of … job done,” he said.

“I last listened to the record in its entirety before our reunion in 2019. I thought the lyrics were great, particularly on Goodwill City, Candlestick Park and His Masters Voice.

“But I don’t know if an artist’s own music ever really has a profound effect on them.

“When I’m creating something I work very hard to make it as good as it can be. But if you ask any artist, they’re never really satisfied. Otherwise they wouldn’t carry on and do more. They’d probably stop.

“But it still feels like a good piece of work. It’s a record I’m very proud of.”

THE Rattler was the result of “a bizarre stretch of influences” including David Bowie, Woody Guthrie and the notoriously bad Scottish poet, William McGonagall.

Martin Metcalfe co-wrote the track with drummer Derek Kelly. It became the band’s signature song.

“We were completely taken aback when it took on a life of its own,” he said.

“I look at Bowie and wonder why his work was such genius. I think he just sucked in information from so many different sources. In the art world you’d call it research.

“I love Iggy Pop, New Order, The Cocteau Twins and Talking Heads. All had direct input into what we were doing.

“I’d also seen a documentary about Woody Guthrie where he travelled from town-to-town on trains spreading a socialist message, and got up to no good while he was doing it.

“So that had an effect on the song too. It could have been about a rattlesnake but it could also have been a Freudian symbol for sex … a train going into a tunnel.

“McGonagall wrote a poem called The Rattling Boy From Dublin – which is absolutely hysterical – so it’s in there too.”

The success of Good Deeds And Dirty Rags took the band back to Germany for their second album, Hammer And Tongs in 1991.

“We thought we’d keep ascending, but the next record didn’t do quite as well which was a real shame,” he admitted.

It was recorded at Hansa Studios in Berlin where Bowie and Iggy had made Heroes and Lust For Life.

During one session, Metcalfe received news that the Berlin Wall was being torn down.

“Our manager phoned and said … the wall is coming down. I thought, what a lying b*****,” said Martin.

“I went to Checkpoint Charlie to see what was going on. I watched thousands of people flood through the gates from the East.

“People were taking photographs and some later ended up on these massive billboards.

“Derek was on holiday in Berlin years later and saw one picture. He thought, is that Metcalfe?

“And it was. My picture was splattered across a billboard in a shot of people finally getting their freedom.”

* GOODBYE Mr Mackenzie play Stirling Tolbooth on December 2, Elgin Town Hall (3), Dunfermline PJ Malloys (10), Dundee The Church (11) and Glasgow Barrowland (17).

* THE Billy Sloan Show is on BBC Radio Scotland every Saturday at 10pm.

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