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SAINTS & SINNERS
Created by Chris Brickley
Foreword by Peter McArthur
'Saints & Sinners is a welcome amplification of Scotland’s key role in musical and subcultural development.
It’s an Aladdin’s Cave for all music fans, retro or modernist.'
- Malcolm Dickson, Director, Street Level Photoworks
Saints & Sinners captures the live music scene in the West of Scotland from the late 1970s and early 1980s.
Turning the lens on Glasgow and Paisley, the book features key acts and less familiar names, from Ramones, Clash,
Simple Minds and Bob Marley to Backstabbers, Poems and Berlin Blondes.
The book also features portraits of gig-goers and fans who were intrinsic in creating and supporting the scenes,
alongside venues, pubs and streetscapes.
Saints & Sinners features mainly unpublished vernacular photography which was in danger of being lost to the public, particularly ‘crowd shots’ which convey the immediacy and energy of the live music experience in a unique manner.
The book also showcases the work of renowned Scottish photographers such as Harry Papadopoulos and Laurie Evans, whose photography has been celebrated since the heyday of the music press in the 70s and 80s.
Compiled and independently-produced by Glaswegian Chris Brickley, the book began when musician Graham Scott sent photographs of acts ranging from The Jam and Ian Dury to Scottish favourites Simple Minds and Skids.
Delighted to see these freshly-unearthed pictures, Brickley sourced additional photographs with the aim of creating a
book solely focused on capturing the complementary scenes in Glasgow and Paisley. ,
The book features a foreword by Peter McArthur, who was one of the original punk contingent in Glasgow.
McArthur is also a photographer, and contributed some of his fantastic images of the period.
The book kicks off with a set of pictures from 'The Weekend New York Came to Glasgow', in May 1977.
Featured here are Blondie, on their first overseas trip, who visited Strathclyde University to watch their
friends Ramones and Talking Heads play their first UK gigs. Other notable acts in the book include The Clash,
Iggy Pop, Stranglers, X-Ray Spex, Siouxsie & The Banshees and Specials.
The book celebrates an enduringly-popular genre, which remains of cultural relevance today.
Famous lost venues such as the Apollo are revisited, alongside college halls and less-familiar sites
such as Zhivagos in St Enoch Square and the Doune Castle in Shawlands. In Paisley, we revisit the key venues
Silver Thread and Bungalow Bar. Fondly-recalled Glasgow clubs such as Maestros and Night Moves are also seen.
Saints & Sinners follows the 2020 publication of 16 YEARS: Gigs in Scotland,
a 500-page photo book which covered venues from across the length and breadth of Scotland.