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Dream Me Up, Scotty

• Stuart Bailie
• 16 Feb 07, 10:30 AM

As a cub reporter in 1985, I was asked to interview a band called The Waterboys. Their big record at the time was ¡®The Whole Of The Moon¡¯ and I thought it was a bunch of overwrought piffle. Actually, I was completely wrong about the tune, but myself and Mike Scott had a bit of a barney in his record company offices and it made for a good feature.

Three years later, The Waterboys released the ¡®Fisherman¡¯s Blues¡¯, and I was smitten. By this stage, Mike had given up on the interview caper and so I basically stalked him across Dublin and Spiddal, Kilburn and Belfast. We eventually set up an interview in Stornaway, in the Outer Hebrides. The night before we¡¯d taken a moonlight adventure to see the Callanish Stones, this mind-blowing megalithic walkway, which also helped me to understand the guy.

There¡¯s a very long version of this story, but essentially, we became quite friendly. I got a dedication on his ¡®Dream Harder¡¯ album and we corresponded a bit. And on my Radio Ulster programme tonight, sometime after 10pm, you can hear us talking up his new album ¡®Book Of Lightning¡¯.

It¡¯s a rousing collection, with Steve Wickam lashing out the fiddle lines, while trumpet player Roddy Lorimer is blowing with gusto. A couple of tracks date back to the ¡®Fisherman¡¯s Blues¡¯ period and they are instantly regal. The news songs also have a majestic dimension and I¡¯m very much looking forward to the Waterboys show at the Waterfront Hall, Belfast, March 25. And if they play ¡®Whole Of The Moon¡¯ I may be leaping around like I¡¯ve always, always loved that record.

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