Arts Broadcaster & Writer. The Afternoon Show: Fridays, 2-4pm, BBC Radio Scotland. Interviews: Dolly Parton, Patti Smith, Martha Reeves, Joan Collins. (She/her)
Of all the albums in all the world - and there have been a few - this is the one I’ll never get over. It turns 35 tomorrow. Never gets old though.
💙💙💙😭😭😭
My total legend of a grandma, Sarah Meighan, rocked out of this world & into the next one early this morning. Nurse, chancer, inveterate gambler, octogenarian scuba diver, and surely the only woman to have been arrested in Falkirk, driving a transit van, dressed as a bunny girl.
Utterly, utterly heartbreaking. As a child, as an adult, as a truly extraordinary artist, Sinead O’Connor deserved to be so much more listened to: so much more loved: so much better looked after.
We’re celebrating the 40th Anniversary of Gregory's Girl on Friday’s
@BBCRadioScot
Afternoon Show (2-4pm), & I'm thrilled I'll be joined by
@claregrogan2
, Alex Norton & Bill Forsyth. We’d love to share your favourite GG memories, moments & quotes: get in touch below. Thank you!📻
I'll be joining
@VicGalloway
on
@BBCRadioScot
tonight, to celebrate the life, and music, and humour, and kindness of the brilliant - and so very, very sorely-missed - Scott Hutchison.
Dropped supplies off to my mum earlier, including a bottle of wine, so she’s having a wee solo party tonight and just sent me this pic. She’s 71 and high-risk so she’s been indoors for two weeks now, but that’s not stopped her getting dolled up every day, hair fascinators & all.
A month ago, my dad preempted the lockdown, and he hasn’t left his wee flat since. I was worried he’d miss his daily run up Balgay Hill, and his walks in the Dundee sun - especially as he doesn’t have a garden - but then he showed me his indoor sun lounger, high above Lochee...🧡
(1/2) So I’ve started a Scottish Arts & Culture podcast, it’s called A Kick Up The Arts, & it comes in 2 parts.
The first is a weekly round-table chat in local arts spaces with fab guests: episode 1 starring
@Chitgrrl
&
@HanLavery
@ByLeavesWeLive
is here!
THE LOVE CONTINUES. Huge congratulations
@mogwaiband
@plasmatron
@rockactionrecs
on this year’s Scottish Album of the Year Album Award
@SAYaward
win. Here we are hanging around the hand sanitiser by way of celebration. A joy to host this year’s ceremony with
@VicGalloway
as ever.
The BBC in Scotland turns 100 on Monday (which is also my mum’s birthday). We had a party on
@bbcradioscot
to celebrate with fab guests & live music; there’s a TV highlights show on
@BBCScotland
, March 6, 8pm. I didn’t get a pic with everyone, but I did get one with my mum 🧡📺📻
On
@BBCRadioScot
’s
#AfternoonShow
this Friday, 2-4pm, we’re celebrating 40 years of Local Hero as it returns to cinemas. I’ll be joined by cast members for a fond look back - and if you’re a fan, I’d love to know where you saw it; what you remember; what it means to you… 🧡📻
Got chatting to someone about Hercules the Bear last night. It’s hard to explain how normal it was to go on a family drive to the Sheriffmuir Inn, in order to feed an ACTUAL BEAR a bag of crisps (and maybe a pint), if you grew up in Stirling in the 70s / 80s.
It’s a tartan special here on
@BBCRadioScot
’s Afternoon Show, 2-4pm today - we’re live from
@VADundee
to celebrate their fifth birthday AND their fab new tartan exhibition - with live music, special guests, party tunes and more... join us! 🌞💃🏻💥
My pure legend of a mother is somehow 72 today. Here she is during summer’s brief lockdown reprieve; today we’ll gladly settle for fizz in the garden. And here, as is traditional, is a reminder of some of the things my mum taught me... 🧡
On tour with Nick Cave back when I worked at Mute, hanging out in a hotel, not sure where, or when. (Dublin? Copenhagen? Morning? Night?) While the rest of the company appears to be on water, I am drinking Guinness. And smoking a cigar.
#tbt
#throwbackthursday
#alwaysclassy
Delighted to have a new summer music show starting on
@BBCRadioScot
this Thurs, 9-11pm. Local & global pop favourites & rarities; all eras, all genres. I’m joined this week by
@garbage
’s Shirley Manson, playing the records that are closest to her heart 🔥📻
I had an absolutely terrible time chatting to Deacon Blue’s
@rickyaross
about his memoir
#WalkingBackHome
at Edinburgh International Book Festival, as you can see. It was filmed and so, if you so wish, you can watch it any time, any place, anywhere, here:
Ach, Sydney Devine. I introduced him onstage at the Commonwealth Games on Glasgow Green in 2014 (to the strains of Also sprach Zarathustra, of course). It was midday, and torrential rain, but the crowd went absolutely wild. I’ve never, ever seen a more adoring mob of baying fans.
Happy to announce that Elizabeth Day and I are now married.
It was such a pleasure to talk all things
#Friendaholic
with
@elizabday
, who is a goddess, at
@PortyBooks
’ event last night.
We caught up again
@BBCRadioScot
this morning; coming to a wireless near you soon...🧡💃🏻📻
Alasdair Gray should have lived to be 150 at least. I’m so here for the year of Poor Things. He illustrated our 2007 Triptych Festival brochure - this is his portrait of Cat Power; I’ll try to find others. (Including Ute Lemper, Terry Riley & Gruff Rhys, if my memory serves…) 🧡
Happy Birthday Alasdair ❤️
Today
#AlasdairGray
would have been 90 yrs old. In 2014, to mark his 80th yr, our Custodian
@GraySorcha
devised ’The Alasdair Gray Season’ across venues in Glasgow & beyond. The main retrospective exhibition ‘From The Personal to the Universal’
My dear and old friend Rab Noakes has died suddenly in hospital today. I am shocked. We had so much in common - The Everly Brothers, the Flying Burrito Brothers and an enduring love of songs, particularly traditional music. Sleep well, Rab. May you rest in peace. Bx
#rabnoakes
I went to Dundee to see
@thetwilightsad
, and all I got was a broken heart, a brilliant laugh, a cameo from The Twilight Dad, a reminder of how much I absolutely love the band, AND this (admittedly dubious quality) pic of the band’s James Graham. (And a Papa Roach hoodie.)🧡💖💛❤️
I'm being let loose on Friday nights
@BBCRadioScot
for a couple of weeks (March 23 & 30), and along with loads of post-punk, disco, indie, soul & electro tunes I'll be celebrating as many ace Scottish albums (old & new) as I can fit in - if you've any requests please let me know!
I never paid much attention at school, but every Thursday night, after my chip shop shift, I hung on this guy’s every word. Loved chatting with
@billysloanshow
about his new memoir, One Love, One Life - via Grace Jones, Bowie & Bono - for
#TheCultureScene
There’s a wealth of John Byrne-coloured wonder now available on the
@BBCiPlayer
, thanks to
@BBCScotland
’s special tribute programming last night. Tutti Frutti, Your Cheatin’ Heart, interviews and all manner of treasures. What a man he was… 🧡🧡🧡
Two weeks tonight, I’ll be in conversation with Sir Ian Rankin at the Edinburgh launch of his new Rebus novel,
#MidnightAndBlue
, at
@ARedinburgh
, via
@PortyBooks
: join us! Meanwhile, here’s
@Beathhigh
on his love of Kate Bush, The Magic Roundabout, more!
One day, I’ll tell you the story of how a teacher from Denny High (who was also my dad) came to star on David Kid Jensen’s Radio 1 show alongside Frankie Goes To Hollywood. For now, please enjoy this pic of him turning 70 today, in Camden, rocking a bread basket
#HappyBirthdayDad
Spent the morning listening to music in Edinburgh with the great Ken Loach. He discussed the songs that have soundtracked his life, including the one that he can’t help singing along with, and the one he wishes he’d written.
#ForTheRecord
special on
@BBCRadioScot
coming soon 🧡🎥
Bloody hell.
@thetwilightsad
were utterly brilliant and devastating at Bellahouston Park. They even chased the rain away. I could not love them more. I hope the sun shines on them forever.
Yesterday I had the pleasure of joining
@PeterAlanRoss
for a daunder round one of our favourite haunts. We were chatting about his heartening and sublime new book, A Tomb With A View, and you can hear all about it on this week’s Friday Afternoon Show, 2-4pm,
@BBCRadioScot
☠️📻📚
The mighty, mighty
@ArabStrapBand
are heading for the UK Top 10 with their excellent new album,
#AsDaysGetDark
. This is the very Monday we should all be at the Hug & Pint. 🧡🔥🍹
The dog got a haircut and a fierce new t-shirt and is starting a Dexy‘s Midnight Runners tribute band. If you’ve got a fiddle and / or opposable thumbs, he’d like you to join him. 💃🏻
I was going to write a tweet with some thoughts about how much I love the new
@deaconbluemusic
album, City of Love (out today), but the word count got quite out of hand, so I turned it over to
@thelistmagazine
. Many thanks to them for publishing this...
With the most CD and vinyl sales this week,
@mogwaiband
are on track for their first Number 1 album of their 25-year career.
See how they're progressing on today's sales flash:
Delighted that my On The Record series - talking to some of Scotland's best-loved artists about their well-loved songs - is being repeated on
@BBCRadioScot
's
@BBCJFShow
. Kicks off today with the brilliant
@GaryClarkMusic
of Danny Wilson on Mary's Prayer...
On today’s
@BBCRadioScot
Afternoon Show, 2-4pm, I’m in conversation with the iconic
@DollyParton
. We discuss her new book
#BehindTheSeams
, her forthcoming LP
#RockStar
, and she reflects on a life in fashion; taking musical risks; and how lipliner can be mightier than the sword 🩷
Getting weirdly emotional about this as the day goes on. Been listening to
@mogwaiband
LPs in turn: a quarter of a century’s worth of awesome music; an adult lifetime’s worth of memories. I didn’t think I was bothered about the charts these days, but there you go.
#Mogwai4Number1
This is such brilliant and righteous news for
@mogwaiband
and
@rockactionrecs
.
#AsTheLoveContinues
is stunning and will save us all. Not all superheroes wear capes etc. (That said, I’d wholeheartedly welcome the band’s Rick Wakeman phase) 🧡💃🏻💥
Easy t-shirt choice today, as we’re celebrating DOLLY PARTON on the show (
@BBCRadioScot
2-4pm). I’ll also be joined by my beloved
@BarbaraDickson
💋; we’ll hear from Richard Jobson on writing
@the_skids
’ Into The Valley; plus
@VADundee
Design Busters. Want a shout out? Lemme know!
Karine Polwart’s
@IAMKP
celebration of Scottish pop in its myriad joyous, enlightening and heartbreaking forms was wonderful
@ccfest
. Best of all was her communal spirit, turning the Fruitmarket into a Caledonian gospel dancefloor. The closest thing to heaven is to rock and roll.
Despite appearances to the contrary,
@VicGalloway
& I did not get married in a 50s tiki bar on Thursday. We did, however, have a ball hosting this year's Scottish Album of the Year Award
@SAYaward
at Paisley Town Hall. Who needs Waikiki Beach. Here's to brilliant Scottish music💘
I love Ariana Grande, but
@thetwilightsad
(via Glasgow’s
@rockactionrecs
) outselling her in the UK this week is mind-blowing and beautiful. They are the best 🧡🧡🧡
Thrilled that those absolute legends The Bluebells are coming to Stirling
@Tolbooth
17/8. The law dictates that you must too. They’re playing live & we’ll be chatting about the brilliant photography of Harry Papadopoulos. Tix here!
@R0Poem
@urbancrofter62
The Bluebells, live in concert & in conversation on 17th August at Tolbooth. Hosted by
@Nicola_Meighan
As part of the ‘What Presence: the Music Photography of Harry Papadopoulos’ Exhibition with
@StreetLevel_
, part of
@StirlingPF
.
On sale now
Last few hours of chart reporting for this beautiful baby. Grab one in store and lets squeeze as high a position as possible.
@R0Poem
@urbancrofter62
@dvdmcc
Obligatory selfie in the nation’s greatest public toilets, while viewing the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art’s
#NewArrivals
exhibition. We’re discussing it on today’s
@BBCRadioScot
show, plus:
@jonronson
on culture wars; Dundee nostalgia; Friday tunes! 💃🏻
@NatGalleriesSco
Delighted to be back on
@BBCRadioScot
Friday nights this summer, kicking off 27/7 with Martin Metcalfe On The Record talking
#GoodbyeMrMackenzie
's The Rattler; a Shop Assistants LP love-in; plus rockabilly, disco, soul, punk, Scottish thrills, and more!
A joy as ever to host the Scottish Album of the Year Award
@sayaward
with this absolute punk dreamboat,
@VicGalloway
. Huge congratulations to winner
@Auntie_Flo
, and to all the nominated artists. Here’s to everyone who makes our musical landscape so varied, and so thrilling...🧡
I regret to report that Sir Ian Rankin & I have yet to be cast as a couple of hard-boiled 70s telly cops cleaning up the mean streets of Stirling, BUT you can hear him in a 1 hour
@BBCRadioScot
#ForTheRecord
music & conversation special on today’s
#AfternoonShow
, 3-4pm
@Beathhigh
“What will people make of us?” Ahead of tonight’s
@BBCScotland
screening of the exquisite From Scotland With Love, here’s an archive
@thequietus
interview with
@kingcreosote
on life, death, history, hope, and soundtracking
@virginiaheath
’s film...
🎶 This ain’t the way I spend my mornings, baby... 🎶
Hello, I am Italian now. This is my roof terrace. I live here in Napoli. I communicate solely through the words of Paul Young and Zucchero’s ‘Senza Una Donna’.
#SchoolHolidays
Sad to hear that Vincent Friell has died. He appeared in Trainspotting, River City, Taggart, The Angels’ Share, Still Game and Rab C Nesbitt but he’ll be best remembered for the comedy Restless Natives. Condolences to his family and friends.
Standard Saturday morning having breakfast in Glasgow with
@rickastley
. Coming to
@BBCRadioScot
’s Afternoon Show soon. (And then he’s playing just across the river there at the Hydro in February…) 💃🏻🧡
If you've ever had the misfortune to spend so much as five minutes in my company, you’ll know how thrilled I was to write liner notes for
@deaconbluemusic
’s new Greatest Hits comp & LP Box Set. Info here . Spoiler alert: I’ve always loved them; always will.
Got an early train through to Auld Reekie to spend more time with
@alisonjfwatt
’s still, shimmering exhibition, A Portrait Without Likeness, which runs until tomorrow and is full of life, and light, and love.
🤍
@NatGalleriesSco
It’s Friday! It’s Hogmanay! Party time! On
@BBCRadioScot
, 2-4pm, I’m joined by DAME JOAN COLLINS *and* BARBARA DICKSON! Name a more iconic duo. Plus: tunes from Chic, Bowie, Nina Simone, more! Here’s a photo of me & my mum (aka “Stirling’s Joan Collins”) to celebrate. Join us! 💋
We are here!
@StirAlbertHalls
is looking magic, and the Scottish Album of the Year Award party kicks off in five minutes! Wooooohoo! All the luck and all the love to all of the brilliant artists involved. Pictured with thee debonair punk gentleman
@VicGalloway
@SAYaward
🧡💃🏻🍹
If you’ve a free hour that you’d like to fill with the wonder of
@claregrogan2
discussing her life & work - & choosing the songs that mean the most to her (no spoilers, but let’s just say DORIS DAY) - it’s right here
@BBCSounds
:
@BBCRadioScot
#ForTheRecord