Have you ever wondered what Scottish politics meets glam rock would sound like? Wonder no more
MICHELLE MONE, the Duke of Buccleuch and John McTernan are the star subjects of a new glam rock album, Bam Glam!, by comedian Tommy Mackay.
Produced by The National cartoonist and MoodieVision co-creator Greg Moodie, Mackay's album is available to listen to and buy online.
Mackay, who used to play in punk bands in the 1970s and 1980s before turning to comedy, said he created the album to liven up Scottish politics a bit.
Tommy Mackay
"I made this album because I felt the Scottish political scene was becoming a tad staid after the whole referendum/election excitement," he said. "In such situations I find an injection of glam rock always helps."
Bam Glam! features songs including John McTernan Says (You're Unelectable), Lady Mone (Treacherous Scants Merchant), Save Our Macaroni Pie, Throw Me In The Sex Bin and Children of the Devolution.
Moodie, who played guitar on the album and produced it, explained: "Tommy and I came together through our shared love of beer. He's a stickler for Tennent's Special whereas I'm more of an Amstel sort. From there, we got onto music and it turns out he's been writing comic songs since the ice age.
"When I first heard him I thought 'this boy's going places'. He's absolutely hilarious but he doesn't seem to know one end of a microphone from the other. I've never heard dodgier recordings. Whatever neolithic shoebox reel to reel he's using has to go.
"So I said 'look Tommy, I had my ears insured years ago for a hundred million pounds. With your talent and my ears, we could really be onto something.'
"He sent me an album's worth of material and each song had four tracks – drumloop, bass, guitar and vocal. First thing I did was turn everything down. I fixed up the drum tracks, stripped out the guitars and re-played most of them. I wanted a whole T Rex/Phil Spector kind of sound – people say music was a lot better back then, but that's only because it's true."
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Mackay said: "I sought out Mr Greg Moodie because I knew he was also a glam rock aficionado. And a deviant. Took the slacker bloody months to get it together.
"I thought the topicality of it might get lost in the meantime, but it turns out that politics, like glam rock is timeless. So, I'm really chuffed with how it's turned out."
Moodie, himself honoured on the album in The Ballad of Moody Greg, added: "I've never had so much fun. I'm hoping The Boobs Of Doom will ask me to produce their next album. I'm not sure Tommy will have me back after I made 'Better Yourself' sound like Suicide."
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