Long-lost Edinburgh post-punks SCARS are to have their sole album reissued in a deluxe expanded edition this Autumn.
Formed in 1977, the four-piece were north-of-the-border contemporaries of The Pop Group and Gang Of Four and adopted a similar scratchy funk template, but with a more commercial, almost New Romantic, quality, making their lack of success all the more baffling.
Fronted by Robert King and featuring bassist John Mackie, drummer Calum McKay (then Steve McLaughlin) and brilliantly-named guitarist Paul Research, like Gang Of Four, they released their debut single 'Adult/ery' on Bob Last's Fast Product label before signing to PRE Records, the New Wave sub-label of Charisma, also briefly home to The Monochrome Set, Manicured Noise and Delta 5.
Released in 1981, Author! Author! is rated as a classic in post-punk terms and was rated by The Scotsman newspaper as number 75 in the top 100 Scottish rock and pop albums of all time. The band splitting the following year, the short and tumultuous story of Scars is told in Grant McPhee's award-winning documentary Big Gold Dream.
Crying out for a reissue, Author! Author! is now presented by Cherry Red Records as a 3-CD set: alongside the original 10-track album, the set also includes stand-alone singles, b-sides and demos featuring covers of Steve Harley's 'The Psychomodo', David Essex's 'Silver Dream Racer' and Jacques Brel's 'Next', previously made famous by Scots rock legends, the Sensational Alex Harvey Band.
There's also a full CD of live tracks spanning the years '78 to '81, taken from six gigs, including Edinburgh's White Hart pub and George Square Theatre, Glasgow's Plaza Ballroom and Valentino's club, and 11 tracks from a show in Groningen in The Netherlands.
Author! Author! is set for release on 30 October and is available to pre-order here.
Check out 'Leave Me In Autumn' from The Old Grey Whistle Test....
Pic by Sheila Rock