Bruce Watson (Big Country) interview, pt2 – 'Stuart [Adamson] was like Jekyll and Hyde; on Monday, a brilliant guy, on Tuesday, your worst nightmare'

This is the second and final part of the interview with Bruce – and this week the mood and conversation take a turn: to pressure, alcoholism, depression and the death at 43 of the guitarist who, in Bruce’s own words, “made an amazing sound that I loved”.It’s October 1984 and Margaret Thatcher is in No 10 Downing Street, overseeing the most destructive deindustrialisation policy ever inflicted on the UK. The industrial heartlands of central Scotland are particularly hard hit. Not that you’d know it from a Top 30 awash with bright suits, big drums, synths and yachts. In the past year, Big Country have broken big around the world with debut album The Crossing and three agenda-setting singles but now the record label need a follow-up. “We had absolutely nothing to give them,” says Bruce, in this week’s episode.You can sign up here for the Scotpop newsletter on ⁠⁠⁠Substack⁠⁠⁠ - featuring extended shownotes, behind the scenes info, Scottish music news stories and the best new bands.For the latest news on the podcast and music updates, make sure to follow Scotpop on:⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠X⁠⁠⁠If you have guest suggestions or queries about sponsorship opportunities, you can email me at [email protected]. Cheers.