#40: In A Big Country by Big Country

Peak Month: December 1983
17 weeks on Vancouver’s CKLG chart
Peak Position #1 ~ CFUN
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #17
YouTube.com: “In A Big Country”
Lyrics: “In A Big Country”

William Stuart Adamson was born in 1958 in Manchester, England, and grew up in Fife, Scotland. He learned to play keyboards, guitar and basss guitar. In 1976 he formed a band called Tattoo, and in 1977 a punk rock band called the Skids. The Skids had a #10 hit on the UK Singles chart in 1979 titled “In The Valley”, followed by “Masquerade” which peaked at #14 in the UK and #6 in Ireland. A third released in ’79, “Working for the Yankee Dollar”, also made the Top 20 in the UK. In 1981 Adamson formed Big Country. His co-founder, Bruce Watson, was born in Timmins, Ontario, in 1962, and moved with his family to Scotland while he was a toddler. In the late 70’s, Watson was a member of Edinburgh area new wave bands the Delinquents and Eurosect. Watson was versatile with his musical skills in guitar, mandolin and sitar. Bass guitarist, Anthony “Tony” Butler, was born in 1957 in London. He was a member of the new wave band On The Air, who toured with the Skids in 1980. From that tour, Butler and Adamson became friends. Mark Brzezicki was born in the suburbs of Greater London in 1957. He learned to play the drums and was a member of On The Air.
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