My
Big Country Page
Welcome to my little Big Country page. Here are my most interesting anectdotes.....(just added three new ones!)
I had a BC penpal who committed suicide! I saw a letter about BC in "Rock Video" magazine written by her, and when I saw her name and address in the BC fan club penpal list, I decided to write her. To my surprise she said she didn't like BC anymore, but she sounded like a very lonely kid (she was 16). I put off writing her, then when I did I got no answer. Just for the hell of it I looked up her number and called (no, I'd never dream of doing that now!) and they told me she had shot herself! I wrote the BC fan club about it, and the editor wrote me back saying BC was touched by my story, along with an autographed photo. To this day, I wonder If I was partly responsible for her death.
I visited Dunfermline, Scotland, twice. The first time an amazing incident happened- I turned to a young woman on the bus to tell her I was visiting the town becouse I loved BC, and she told me she worked for the newspaper! I got a small article written up about me. The second time I took some pictures,Click here
to see pictures, the article, other BC mementos, also pics of an English penpal who lived there!
The recent BC developments (Stu leaving the group) broke my heart. But I am reminded of the first time the band was rumored to have split up, 1985. While lounging in a hot tub eating chocolate sorbet (still can taste it) I composted a tongue-in-cheek C&W tune called "Blu over Stu". The last verse of my doggerel went like this:
"Well they could break up for a moment,
Break up for a day,
Break up for a year or more,
The matter's beyond me say,
But if his band is permenently broken up
I don't know what to do,
Couse without B,T, and M
You can't hear nothin' from Stu!"
Speaking of songs, Jennifer Johnsen wrote this:
The legend lives on, from the Highlands on down,
For the band that they once called Big Country.
The band, it is said, never gave up for dead
Though the troubles were many and sundry.
With a fine guitar crew and a singer named Stu
They were set for success big and pearly.
But a manager named Grant had a big ugly rant
And a singer named Stuart left early.
The band was the pride of the loud guitar side
"An answer to keyboards," they reasoned.
As the 80s bands go, it was better than most
With a bassist and drummer well seasoned.
"Fields of Fire" was a hit, though Alice Cooper split,
When the band only just had their shoes on.
But the USA tour was a grand adventure
Even Stuart got blown up in Tucson!
"Steeltown," they say, it got too much airplay
But it hit Number One and it stayed there.
Soon as they got back, did a movie soundtrack
And the band Hall and Oates, it said "Hey there!"
But Stuart freaked out, got drunk, had a pout
(The rumors are many, and seedy.)
Instead of the push, they got stuck with Kate Bush,
And the manager's eyes, they grew beady.
As the Greatest Hits spun, the old deal came undone
And the label said, "Too rough to sell ya."
The singer's wife split, took the bar and the kids,
And the drummer said, "Been good to know ya."
The manager wired that he was sick and tired,
"And those unruly fans need a sentry!"
And somewhere in Nashville a new sound was born
From the wreck of the band called Big Country.
Steely Dan rolls, Madonna still sings
In the rooms of her Malibu mansion.
Duran Duran steams with Medazzaland dreams
Alice Cooper made Marilyn Manson.
Brian Setzer, the foe, on a tin roof will go
Annie Lennox is diva pretender.
And the bagpipes still blow as the Scotsmen all know
And the fans of the 80s remember.
In a dusty old chat room they know the right words
To "The Sailor," "Chance," "Kansas" and "Steeltown."
The Blue Heeler boys make that Great Unknown noise
Where the Wild Blue Yonder broke speed sound.
The legend lives on from the Highlands on down
Of a band that they once called Big Country.
The band, it is said, isn't legally dead
But a singer named Stuart left early.
(Did he ever. JW.)
Around the same time, I knit 2 Big Country sweaters, and made a BC inspired quilt! Click here
to see them!
I came across a soap by Elizabeth Arden called "One Great Soap!" I bought a bar and mailed it to the band via thier fan club. A friend told me that was crazy, and maybe so. What could they do with a bar of lady's soap? I also heard of a video called "Flags of The Nations" and a folk song called "The Buffalo Skinners".
I saw a business at a crafts fair called "Big Country Pottery." The guy told me he had nicknamed his girlfriend's bum "Big Country", and he was lying with her and listening to"In a Big Country" on the radio when he came up with the name! He gave me a free hand lotion dispenser, which I still have.
Did you know Halley's comet was closest to the earth on Stuart's birthday? As a joke I wrote the manager of Big Country's fan club saying it would be a "perfect present" for him. She wrote back, "it couldn't have happened any other time, could it? a satellite sent back pictures on my boyfriend's birthday- what does that make him?" I blushed! By the way, my apartment was trashed by a car on the same day the probe landed on Mars and didn't work...
In 1986 I saw a newspaper ad for a movie and noticed the leading man was a dead ringer for Stuart Adamson. I didn't like the movie, but I hoped the actor who looked like him would go far. For almost ten years I heard nothing from him, then he exploded onto the world.
His name was Jim Carrey.
A few years ago I looked for words in Stuart's name, and came up with an amazing number of (hilarious) words.
Click here
to see the words I came up with, and to see the interesting words submitted by my prizewinner!
I know you all are grieving, but here are a couple anectotes for you:
I had this dream in March 2002. I recieved a note in the mail saying that a group of Big Country fans were going to conduct a seance for Stuart in San Francisco, not far from where I live. I spent the rest of the dream looking for the building, which was located on Kauai street- which does not exist. As I awakened I thought that I came up with the name because he had died in Hawaii. That Sunday, a San Francisco newspaper ran an article on Kauai! It also compared a neighboring island to the Scottish highlands. Could that be where Stuart's ghost hangs out?. If anyone
is
interested in conducting a seance, let me know.
When George Harrison passed away, I was saddened. While walking down the street- wondering how his spirit was doing- by chance I saw a plush washcloth on the ground with a mandala pattern.
It was a coincidence, but I somehow took it as a sign he was OK.
On Monday the 17th, I was again disraught by Stuart Adamson's death. I was watching an episode of "Seinfeld" in which Jerry seduces his maid. I don't really care for that show.I halfway was paying attention, as I was wondering what Stu's final moments were like. I also worried whether he'd get to heaven, being a suicide. (Not Hell-I feared at the worst that he was in limbo, purgatory, or became a ghost wafting around.)That very moment- I'm not making this up- Seinfeld yelled to someone, "Stay Alive!"
Stay alive, Stuart.
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