Released: September 1
On the back of the 35th anniversary celebrations of their debut album, ‘Raintown’ (1987), Deacon Blue revisit a lifetime of hits with their brand new best-of LP and comprehensive box set.
The Scottish group, fronted by Ricky Ross and Lorraine McIntosh, made waves with their first release and soared to new heights with its UK chart-topping follow-up, ‘When the World Knows Your Name’ (1988), paving the way for a career spanning decades.
Now they’re diving back into the past, bringing together a lifetime of work including all the classics and their five albums since 2012, which marked their return to the Top 20 after two decades.
“We’ve added so many songs, albums and EPs which have become a strong part of Deacon Blue and our live repertoire,” beams Ross. “It feels like the right time to celebrate that; to release something that’s a true compilation of our music so far.”
Offering their most comprehensive musical biography to date, the double-disc set, ‘All The Old 45s’, journeys chronologically through the group’s biggest successes, boasting their highest-charting singles like Real Gone Kid, I’ll Never Fall In Love Again and Twist And Shout, along with classics including Dignity, Chocolate Girl and Wages Day, and more recent tunes The Hipsters and City Of Love.
Meanwhile, the expansive ‘You Can Have It All’ collects the band’s complete studio catalogue, along with two B-sides and rarities compilations and a stripped-back compendium of hits, live favourites and cover versions, ‘Peace Will Come’.
“We really enjoyed playing our campfire sets on the last tour, when we deconstructed and rearranged songs to fit an acoustic format,” adds Ross. “Essentially, ‘Peace Will Come’ is an extension of that concept. It’s rough around the edges, but it captures the core of what we do. There are no overdubs or drops – we all just sang and played together and took the best take.
“It ended up being a vital artistic exercise for us. After we’d finished, I did think – ‘Why have we never done this before?’”
Breathing new life into their best-loved recordings while offering cover versions such as Bob Dylan’s Forever Young and Bruce Springsteen’s Dancing In The Dark, it presents another side to a band that’s become as successful on stage as they have in the charts.
Packaged with rare photos from over the years and extensive liner notes with new insights from all current members of Deacon Blue, it makes for an exemplary greatest hits package and a carefully-curated ‘thank you’ to fans from one of Scotland’s greatest musical exports.
