Remember that night?  Rummaging through memories of first gigs and ticket stubs to favourite places, Dougal Perman and Jim Gellatly can cover a few decades of Glasgow music. 

Yet, listening to the first episode of our Talking Feet podcast during Freshers Week 2017, it’s striking how fresh (sorry!) their experience seems. Old artists may fade away but the music and the famous venues are still going strong.  Take a listen now, what was your first gig?

Why Talking Feet?  The inspiration comes from Glasgow Music Tour, Walking Heads ever-growing audio walking tour led by Jim Gellatly. It covers many miles and several centuries of Glasgow music and streetlore.  Yet, with each new stop we gather more stories than we can possibly fit on the app.

And everyone we meet has more stories and insight to share. Through Talking Feet podcasts we look forward to recording conversations with artists, presenters, clubbers, bloggers and friends in all kinds of places.  What makes Glasgow a great music city?  What does it have in common with other great music cities?

Jim and Dougal at the Glasgow Music Tour quiz night at Wellpark Brewery

Talking Feet…leading questions

Dougal kicks off the series by asking Jim a leading question: what was his introduction to Glasgow music? That takes us back to the late 1980s. Was it the Beastie Boys? Or Iggy Pop, or the Ramones?  He can’t quite remember, ‘I wish I was like Billy Sloan,’’ Jim confesses, ‘the legendary Scottish music journalist can probably tell you every gig he went to and when they happened and where they happened.”

But whoever the band was, the venue was definitely the Barrowland.

That was Jim’s first introduction to Glasgow music, and the Barrowland is still his favourite venue. And the favourite venue for bands across the world. Even though, as Dougal later explains, it’s hard work for performers and especially the stage crew who have to heave the gear upstairs in that starlit venue without benefit of mundane contraptions like a lift.

Plunge straight in

Dougal’s introduction to Glasgow music was more recent and since we publish Ep1 Talking Feet podcast as the the Freshers Festival gets going, there’s a definite sense of déjà vu:

“My musical education started immediately with a packed freshers week at QMU. There was a Ministry of Sound night I remember. Then Sub Club, Cathouse, Garage and Tuts. I plunged straight in!”

Memories flow but the ticket stubs prove to be more elusive.  Jim still has his ticket for the SECC Nirvana concert cancelled when Kurt Cobain tragically took his own life.  Dougal thinks he should contact his friend who took the stub to Seattle, ‘it’s probably worth a bit,” he says ruefully.

There’s much more. That’s just the start of a fascinating trip through past encounters and very present experiences in the Sub Club, King Tut’s, Nice N Sleazy, and the Barrowland.  Enough typing, here’s the Mixcloud link to tune in to Talking Feet.  Subscribe to the series, it’s also available on iTunes, Buzzsprout, Stitcher and Soundcloud. There’s so much more to come!

Our thanks to Jim Gellatly who puts his experience and knowledge to great and infectious effect. He’s been guiding our ever-expanding Glasgow Music Tour since the launch in King Tut’s more than five years ago.

And to Rae-Yen Song, the talented artist who produced the beautiful illustrations for A Brisk Walk (another fascinating audio trail through Glasgow buildings).  We asked her to design a quirky logo for Talking Feet and as you can see she didn’t disappoint.  (See more of Rae-Yen’s work here).