The first time I saw the Skids in Brighton was at the Top Rank Suite (which used to be at the bottom of West Street) on the 15th of October 1980. I thankfully still have my ticket. The band’s original lineup then consisted of Richard Jobson, Stuart Adamson (sadly no longer with us), Bill Simpson and Tom Kellichan. They were arguably the biggest Scottish punk band of the 1976-1979 era.
Having originally formed in 1977 in their home town of Dunfermline, the Skids debut 3-track release hit an unsuspecting world on 24th February 1978 on the Scottish punk label ‘No Bad’. The independent single was played by legendary DJ John Peel, and the Skids went on to support The Clash in concert. They were then signed to Virgin Records in 1978, with their first major label singles being ‘Sweet Suburbia’, ‘The Saints Are Coming’ and ‘Into The Valley’ with the latter reaching the UK Top Ten in early 1979.
Their seminal debut album ‘Scared To Dance’ came out on 23rd February 1979 and was quickly followed by two chart singles – ‘Masquerade’ and ‘Working For The Yankee Dollar’. Both singles were taken from the Bill Nelson (Be Bop Deluxe) produced second album ‘Days In Europa’. The album also featured new member Rusty Egan of Rich Kids and Visage fame, after the departure of Tom Kellichan.
The band’s third album release was ‘The Absolute Game’ (1980), which features singles ‘Circus Games’, ‘Goodbye Civilian’ and ‘Woman in Winter’, and it peaked at No.9 on the UK album charts, no doubt assisted by the fact that initial copies came with a limited edition second disc entitled ‘Strength Through Joy’, which was a collection of material recorded during ‘The Absolute Game’ sessions but omitted from the album.
One more album followed, this being ‘Joy’ (1981) before they decided to call it a day. Stuart Adamson went on to have worldwide success with his new band Big Country. Richard Jobson then resurrected the Skids name once more from 2007 to 2010, and then again in 2016, and they have thankfully been on the case ever since.
Thankfully the Skids have decided to head out on tour early next year with a staggered run of 11 concert dates, with one of these being here in Brighton at the Chalk venue in Pool Valley on Saturday 31st January 2026. A venue that they headlined at the tail end of last year – Review HERE. Support for the dates has yet to be announced, but the tour flyer states “Special Guests” so it’s quite likely to be a band on a similar level to the Skids.
Tickets for all 11 dates are now on sale and can be purchased from HERE and tickets for the Brighton concert are also available from HERE.
