The Proclaimers

The Proclaimers
Cover of the single for "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)"
Background information
Origin	Auchtermuchty, Scotland
Genre(s)	Folk Rock, Pop
Years active	1983 - Present
Label(s)	Chrysalis Records
Website	Proclaimers.co.uk

The Proclaimers are a Scottish band composed of identical twins Charlie and Craig Reid (born March 5, 1962). They are best known for the songs "Letter from America", "I'm on My Way", and "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)". "I'm Gonna Be" became the theme song for the film Benny & Joon (1993), and for several charity events, such as the Terry Fox Run and Red Nose Day 2007, as well as a Molson Canadian beer commercial.

Career

The twins were brought up in Auchtermuchty, Fife. After several punk rock bands at school, including one called "Eight-Eyes", in response to the taunts they received in junior school, they formed The Proclaimers in 1983. The pair leapt to public attention after a January 1987 appearance on UK popular music programme The Tube on Channel Four; ^[1] "Letter from America" peaked at number 3 in the UK singles chart, while the album This is the Story went gold. The follow-up album Sunshine on Leith featured "I'm Gonna Be..." and "I'm on My Way". The brothers are famous fans of Hibernian Football Club, and "Sunshine on Leith" has become a theme song for the club, being played at every home match. They are also well-known supporters of Scottish independence and have at various stages of their lives been activists for the Scottish National Party, expressing such views on their promotional tour of Britain in March 2007,^[2] although the following month, Charlie Reid announced that he had switched his allegiance to the Scottish Socialist Party in protest at the Scottish National Party's receipt of funding from big business ^[3]. Many of their songs reflect their political views, such as "Letter from America" and "Cap in Hand". On May 16 2006, the twins announced their participation in a campaign to free a fellow Scot, Kenny Richey, from his death row sentence in Ohio, United States, including an appearance at a charity concert.^[4] "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)" and "I'm on My Way" were both major chart hits in Australia, and the pair had a very successful tour of Australia in 1989. They were supported in Sydney and Canberra by indie rock band The Mexican Spitfires. Helped by the inclusion of "I'm on My Way" on the Shrek soundtrack in 2001, the Proclaimers have remained popular in Australia with "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)". The songs are regularly played on Australian radio and at suburban parties, nightclubs, and especially pubs. As of May 2006 "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)" had remained in the iTunes download chart since December 2004. The 1988 album Sunshine on Leith sold over 25,000 copies in 2005. In March 2007, they recorded a new version of their well-known song "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)" with television comedy characters Andy Pipkin (played by Matt Lucas) and Brian Potter (Peter Kay) for the Comic Relief charity. A long list of celebrities were featured in the music video for this new version, including David Bellamy, Rod, Jane and Freddy, Paul O'Grady, David Tennant, Frank Sidebottom and many more. This new version of the song reached No. 1 in the UK singles chart. In June 2007 their manager, Kai Davidson, was killed by a fall at age 44, with the death a probable suicide.^[5] On 31 December 2007 Hogmanay they sold out a concert in Stirling Castle to celebrate the new year.

Proclaimers in popular culture

Craig and Charlie Reid, as pictured on The Proclaimers album Hit the Highway

• "Over & Done With", from the 1987 Proclaimers album This Is the Story, is featured in Wes Anderson's first film, Bottle Rocket.
• In 1994, their cover of "Get Ready" was featured in the soundtrack for the hit film Dumb and Dumber.
• Their song "I'm on My Way" appeared on the soundtrack to the 2001 animated film Shrek.
• In 2003, the Proclaimers finished fifth in The Glasgow Herald's poll to find The Most Scottish Person in the World.
• On July 6, 2005, they were the opening act at Edinburgh 50,000 - The Final Push, the final concert of Live8 at Murrayfield Stadium. They played "I'm Gonna Be" to symbolise the conclusion of The Long Walk to Justice.
• On April 30, 2006, the Proclaimers appeared on the hit animated show Family Guy's episode "You May Now Kiss The...Uh...Guy Who Receives".
• On September 17, 2006 it was announced that a jukebox musical featuring the music of the Proclaimers was being prepared and set to debut in April 2007 performed by the Dundee Repertory Ensemble and directed by James Brining.^[1]
• On the February 27, 2007 episode of the television show, How I Met Your Mother, the band's "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)" was played multiple times throughout the show as the "cassingle" that was stuck in the tape deck of a car.
• "I'm Gonna Be" was an unofficial charity single for Comic Relief's Red Nose Day 2007 in the UK. It was covered by comedians Peter Kay and Matt Lucas, in character as the wheelchair users Brian Potter of Phoenix Nights and Andy Pipkin from Little Britain respectively (the word "walk" in the chorus has been replaced with "roll"). The Proclaimers feature in the song and the accompanying video.^[6] Lucas wrote sleeve notes for their greatest hits, while Kay joined the band on stage when they performed at Live 8.
• On April 4, 2007 they appeared on The Paul O'Grady Show.
• In issue 165 of Viz, there is a head to head to find the "King of the Proclaimers", Craig vs Charlie.
• In 2007 they were featured on Alabama 3's album M.O.R providing vocals on the track 'Sweet Joy'

Discography

EP

1. King of the Road (1990)

Studio albums

1. This Is the Story (1987)
2. Sunshine on Leith (1988) (re-released in 2001 with King of the Road appendage)
3. Hit the Highway (1994)
4. Persevere (2001)
5. Born Innocent (2003)
6. Restless Soul (2005)
7. Life With You (2007)

Compilation

1. The Best of The Proclaimers (2002)
2. Finest (2003, UK only)

Soundtracks

1. Dumb and Dumber (1997) (song Get Ready)

DVD

1. The Best of the Proclaimers 1987-2002
   (2002)
   

Singles

References

External links

• Official website
• Comprehensive Discography
• proclaimers guitar tabs
• Comic Relief version of "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)"
• Proclaimers Discussion List