#happy birhtday

Happy Birthday Scottish actor Martin Compston.

Born in Greenock on May 8th 1984 the second of two boys he attended  St Columba’s High School in nearby Gourock.  As a child he dreamed of becoming a footballer and at 17 left school  to pursue that dream, he was soon signed by Morton Football Team.

Before leaving school his acting career began when Ken Loach discovered him at an audition at his old high school and gave him the lead role in Sweet Sixteen, which also starred a friend of mine, Gary McCormack as Martin’s step dad, Stan.

The movie was filmed in Martin’s home area, including Greenock, Gorcock, Inverkip, Kilmalcolm, and Wemyss Bay and was a huge success, which shot Martin into full view of the public and even gave some fame to Inverclyde. However, many counsellors thought that this was bad publicity because the film has to do with drugs and underage drinking. However, Ken Loach then made a statement that the movie was not based on Greenock and Inverclyde - but was only filmed there, as that was where Martin was located.

Martin’s subsequent film career was comparatively low-key, as he wanted to “serve his apprenticeship” with a regular role in the  popular series Monarch of the Glen as  Ewan Brodie. Since then we have seen Martin in some of the most popular shows on TV including, Silent Witness,, Victoria and In Plain Sight. His film roles have included playing the gangster Paul Ferris in the movie, The Wee Man, and as Lord Bothwell in the latest Mary Queen of Scots film on which he commented “Riding about on a horse, with a sword. It’s fantastic “

Sometimes the sign of a good actor is how well you can adapt your accent for the roles, and Martin does this with ease in perhaps his most famous role as anti corruption officer Sergeant Steve Arnott in the police drama Line of Duty, he has been in the series since it’s start in 2012 and has confirmed he will be returning to play Steve in a new series, the read throughs’ started just before lock down started and we shall not see the new shows now until well into 2021. Many people did not realise that Martin is Scottish and does speak with a guid Scots accent.

As for his football career Martin says “ I don’t regret giving up football for acting. I love football and am very proud I played for Morton. But the truth is, I wasn’t going to get much higher in football.” He made two first team starts for the team in the 2001/2002 season.

More recently Martin was last on our TV screens in the TV shows, Traces and The Nest, both shot primarily in Scotland, he has been married to actress Tianna Chanel Flynn since 2016, Traces just finished it’s second series recently, since then he appeared in the mini-series, Vigil and Our House, I await with anticipation on his next mini-aeries, The Rig, which also stars Iain Glenn, Mark Bonnar and Emun Elliot, three Scottish actors that feature amongst my post throughout the year. 

As well as his acting work we will also see Marin on our screens with his friend and Gaelic television presenter, Phil MacHugh in Scottish Fling. The series will see the pair  tour the country and see how it’s being shaped by its people and its landscape.  We will see them journey from the bustling cities to the wild highlands to meet the locals and visitors that share their special love for Scotland. I think some might compare it to the Men in Kilts from Sam Heughan and  McTavish, but I am hoping it will be a wee bit less frivol than that, and don’t think I mean that in a disparaging way towards them.

Happy 59th Birthday Scottish actress Stella Gonet.

After a quiet start to the month it’s good to have a busy day today on the anniversary front, I’ve scheduled a few posts for later as I am off a walk up Ben Cleuch, the highest point in the Ochil Hills range, and being so unfit I might just not make it back! 

Stella was born in 1963.her Scottish mother met her  Polish father when her father was stationed in Greenock during the second World War, she was the seventh of twelve children and four of her sisters are nurses but Stella went on to further education at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow.

Since graduating Stella has made a good career for herself with many stage appearances and regularly turning up on our TV screens. Her first big role on TV was in the period drama House of Elliot, playing the part of Beatrice Eliott in all 34 episodes, on the Scottish front she has been in Taggart, of course, and The Crow Road and Rebus, her biggest role so far, in my opinion was as Jayne Grayson in the long running shows Casualty and Holby City as Chief Executive of the hospital.

In the past few years Stella has been in the sitcom Man Down, and tv series’ The Cry and the American-British parental comedy television series Breeders.

We last saw Stella on the small screen in Dundee crime drama Traces, with another of today’s birthday actors, Martin Compston 

Stella is married to English actor Nicholas Farrell, they have two children.

Happy 90th Birthday Scottish actress Phyllida Law, born on May 8th 1932 in Glasgow.

I always love  announcing events like this where the person in my post has had as long successful life and career, and  Phyllida certainly falls into this category.

There is very little  about her early life except she was born in Glasgow, the daughter of Megsie “Meg” and William Law, a journalist, we don’t even know if  Phyllida has any siblings, the only comment she has made about her upbrining is  “When you grow up in Glasgow with a Glaswegian granny, you’re taught that pride is a wicked thing. I still feel a bit like that.“ The little we know is she grew up in Glasgow’s west end, just off Great Western Road, and when war broke out when she was just seven and she found herself evacuated to places such as Lenzie, in Dunbartonshire, and Skelmorlie, Ayrshire.

That gave her a love for the Scots countryside which means she now splits her life between her home in London and a family cottage in Argyll. Phyllida would fit in well with the Scottish & Proud ethos, in an interview she says:

“I’m passionate about my Scots heritage. How could I not be?  I can’t live without it. There’s no way I could live without those hills and it’s got to be the west coast.
“I sometimes travel to Edinburgh then go up to Pittenweem or somewhere and I think to myself, ‘This isn’t Scotland.’ It’s a wonderful coastline but it’s not Scotland for me.

“When my parents lived in Glasgow they were always looking for a cottage to which they could retire. They found one in Ardentinney, so I visit that a lot.

She joined the Bristol Old Vic in 1952, from what I can gather she was first in the wardrobe department, the first pic shows her standing, from a 1952 photo.
Heron screen acting credits start in 1958 and are very extensive, the pick of them are Dixon of Dock Green and a stint as the storyteller in the great children’s show Jackanory in the 60’s. It must have been during her time in the BBC’s children’s TV department she met her husband to be, Eric Thompson, they married in 1957, he went on to narrate The Magic Roundabout

Angels in the 70’s and of course Taggart in the 80’s followed, as well Thomson, the variety series hosted by actress Emma Thompson in 1988, Emma just happens to be her daughter. Heartbeat, Hamish Macbeth and Dangerfield in the 90’s, Waking the dead and Doctors in the noughties has kept her busy, now in her 86th year she has still been appearing on the small screen, in The Other Wife and New Tricks during the past 8 years. Film roles include She is known for her work on Much Ado About Nothing , The Time Machine and The Winter Guest.

Phyllida spends most of her time in Argyll in a house she shares with her actress daughter, Emma. The second picture shows mother and daughter receiving honorary degrees from The Royal Conservatoire in Glasgow in 2013. Her other daughter, Sophie is also a talented actress.

With Phyllida’s advance years she is classified as ‘extremely vulnerable’ category in the current climate, Emma, who spends most of her time in Italy, flew out from her home in Venice, just as the corona virus was starting to take hold in the country, arriving in Scotland in early March to look after her mother in her home on the banks of Loch Eck. Emma has a love for Scotland too and once said of the loch …

“I’ve played on its banks, picnicked on its beaches, swum in its chilly, unsalted depths, cycled round it, drunk it, got drunk near it, kissed in boats on it, got married near it and never wearied of it.”

When asked,  The way you would spend your fantasy 24 hours, with no travel restrictions she answered

I’d take my best friend Mildew on a tour of the islands of Scotland, 

which of course id the correct answer!

The third pic is from 1998 when Phyllida was a mere 66 years young, it is of Emma and Alan Rickman  at The Winter Guest. Next up is with Emma again, this time at the 1993 Oscars.  The last pic is proud Mother with her two daughters. 

Happy Birthday Scottish actress Annie Wallace.

Annie was brought up in Aberdeen and is a former National Youth Theatre member, she graduated from the Manchester Metropolitan School of Theatre in 2004, and has also appeared in many theatre productions. As well as being an actress, Annie writes and records music, and has two albums already released. She is also a skilled sound recordist and designer.

Annie was the consultant for the character of Coronation Street’s Hayley Cropper from 1998-2000, developing a friendship with the writers and the actress Julie Hesmondhalgh. This led to her applying to drama school and eventually becoming a professional actress in her own right appearing on stage in Manchester in productions  including Withnail and I and Wyrd Sisters.

On the 29th of October 2015, she became made history by becoming the first transgender person to play a regular transgender character in a UK soap opera when she debuted as school head teacher Sally St. Claire in Channel 4’s Hollyoaks.

Annie is one of several Scots over the years who are or have been regulars on the Channel Four soap set in Chester

Wallace has been nominated  for and on many awards over the years, most notable, The National Diversity Awards 2016 she was  Celebrity of the Year, the  Proud Scotland Awards she was awarded a gong for  Outstanding Trans Activism. Annie was also the first transgender star nominated for a Scottish Bafta. 

Away from Hollyoaks, Annie has appeared on Celebrity Mastermind, where she specialist subject was Doctor Who from 1970 to 1980.

Annie revealed she was trans during a Manchester Pride panel in 2015 which discussed the writing of LGBTQ+ characters on television.

Speaking to Lorraine earlier last year, the soap star said: “I turned 50 in May 2015 and I went, you know what, I am at this stage where I really don’t care what people think of me anymore. I just thought this is the time to come out.”

Since then she hasn’t looked back, well done Annie. 

Happy 40th Birthday, the popular STV weather man Seán Batty.

Born in Paisley in 1982, he spent some of his early childhood, here in Falkirk and attended Carron primary school in the town before moving back to Paisley where he went to  Castlehead High School and studied Meteorology at Reading University.

His interest in meteorology began when he was only seven years old, after receiving a BBC weather kit for his birthday. Batty became the weather forecaster for the School newspaper as well as the regional newspaper, The Paisley Daily Express for a few months during the summer of 1996.

Batty joined the Met Office as a weather observer at the school of Army Training at Middle Wallop airbase near Andover, Hampshire. He later worked with the ITV Weather team preparing TV weather graphics and maps for S4C, UTV and ITV.

In 2004 he joined the BBC as a broadcast assistant. Seán has been working in Scotland for STV Weather since August 2007.

Batty was nominated for the BAFTA Scotland Lloyds TSB Scotland Award for Most Popular Scottish Presenter in November 2008, losing out to Lorraine Kelly.

Seán learnt Gaelic in preparation for the National Mòd in his home town of Paisley in 2013. He has been a supporter and Judge for part of the Breast Way Round Charity event since 2008. He is also an ambassador for the TV charity, The STV Children’s Appeal and haa raised money by cycling, running, walking and hiking his way around the country since it started in 2011.

In 2019 he was given his own show ‘Sean’s Scotland’, taking viewers on a journey around our beautiful country over the course of 7 weeks. The programme covered weather, environment, the people and wildlife. He is often seen with his wee dug, Harris, in 2021 he also brought us his  Don’t Waste Scotland show, where he  he met people making Scotland greener.

If you are on twitter Batty is a must to follow, you will get the best pics of the Scottish weather and some great banter.  He is a trainee pilot for his Private Pilots License learning to fly at Glasgow Airport.

During the lockdown Seán presented the forecasts from his home, mostly in his garden, but he has also got an abundance of helpers he calls his “mini me’s” who have been sending him their forecasts every day.

In 2012 Seán suffered homophobic abuse on twitter.  The teen  admitted he posted the offensive remark and insists he felt ‘awful’ about it the next day. He was prosecuted and handed an 18-month Community Payback Order.

Happy 67th Birthday musician Alasdair Fraser.

Alasdair was born in Clackmannan on May 14th, 1955 and began taking classical violin lessons at the age of eight, enduring much teasing and leg-pulling from fellow school pupils at a time when carrying a fiddle case around was considered far from cool. Undeterred, he persevered and found a love of and natural aptitude for the violin which he applied to the Scottish music that he heard at home – his late father, Bob, and his brother, Iain, both being musicians.

In his teens Alasdair played with dance bands and began gathering the compositions of great fiddling forebears including Niel and Nathaniel Gow, William Marshall and James Scott Skinner into a repertoire that is now vast. Twice winner of the Scottish National Fiddle Championship, he also began to notice the connection between speech patterns and musical expression, especially among Gaels and the Doric speaking players in the north-east, and incorporated this into his fiddle style.

Inclined towards science as well as music at school, Alasdair went on to work as a petrophysicist with British Petroleum, a post that took him to California in 1981 and the realisation four years later, while writing out a fiddle tune during office hours, that he was in the wrong job. He decided to concentrate on music and passing on his passion and skills through programmes such as the Valley of the Moon fiddle camp, which he founded among the Californian Redwoods in 1984 and still directs, the fiddle course that he’s run on the Isle of Skye since 1987, and the more recently established Sierra Fiddle Camp, near his home in California.

As a fiddler equally capable of playing haunting Gaelic airs and rumbustious dance tunes and improvising endless variations on traditional themes, Alasdair has worked in a variety of successful partnerships, including his duos with pianist Paul Machlis and guitarist Tony McManus and his acclaimed band Skyedance. He has also guested with The Chieftains, The Waterboys, Itzhak Perlman and Los Angeles Master Chorale, appeared on innumerable broadcasts including A Prairie Home Companion and CBS TV’s Kennedy Center Honors and performed on film soundtracks including The Last of the Mohicans and Titanic. His compositions have featured in works by the Richmond (Virginia) Ballet and Shiftworks Dance Ensemble and his commissions include Fettercairn Suite.

Since 2003 Alasdair has featured in a duo with cellist Natalie Haas, restoring the wee fiddle and big fiddle partnership that flourished in eighteenth century Scotland to contemporary prominence at the cutting edge of tradition-rooted creativity. Their debut album, Fire and Grace, was voted Album of the Year at the Scots Trad Music Awards 2004, adding to Alasdair’s North American Independent Record Distributors award for his Dawn Dance album in 1996, and they continue to thrill audiences internationally with their virtuosic playing, their near-telepathic understanding and the joyful spontaneity and sheer physical presence of their music.

Alasdair posted on his Twitter a few days ago; 

“Unusual birthday celebration for me! Last of the Mohicans 30th Anniversary celebration concert in Morganton, NC Can’t wait!!”

I’ve chosen a beautiful tune by  Alasdair Fraser, he plays the fiddle and orates a poem by Sorley Maclean,  one of Gaeldom’s great poets.  Finding The Other Side Of Sorrow is from the concluding line of one of MacLean’s poems, ‘An Cuilithion, The Cuillin’ It has been described as a celebration of the awful strength of those Skye mountains, and the affinity of the Gael with such places. Some of you will have read and listened to other work by The Rasaay poet, most notably Hallaig, with the late Martyn Bennett.

Beyond the lochs of the blood of the children of men,
beyond the frailty of plain and the labour of the mountain,
beyond hardship, wrong, tyranny, distress,
beyond misery, despair, hatred, treachery,
beyond guilt and defilement; watchful,
heroic, the Cuillin is seen
rising on the other side of sorrow.

Happy Birthday Scottish born singer-songwriter David Byrne.

David was born in Dumbarton on May 14th 1952, his family moved to Canada when he was two and later moved the US, settling in Maryland. Byrne is a highly popular musician who has been rocking the music world with his experimental music and rhythms since the 1970s.

The versatile musician started performing as a teenager and has worked in a number of media like films, albums, opera and photography. During his early career he was known mainly as one of the co-founders of the new wave band Talking Heads which produced hit singles like ‘And She Was’ and ‘Burning Down the House’. The band was considered one of the most innovative and critically acclaimed bands of the new wave movement.

Propelled by the success of his band Byrne went on to pursue an equally, if not more successful, career as a solo artist. Famous for his experimental ways, he featured a mix of Afro-Cuban, Afro-Hispanic and Brazilian music in his debut solo album. He has provided music for the soundtracks of various films including ‘The Last Emperor’ for which he won an Oscar along with the brilliant Ryuichi Sakamoto and Cong Su.

The talented artist has also written musical scores for operas. Exploring another side of his creativity, he exhibited his photography and designs on international art shows. He founded his own record label Luaka Bop which was originally intended to release Latin American compositions; however the label has grown to represent music from all over the world.

Away from the music, the movie David Byrne co-wrote and directed, True Stories, is often touted as the most authentic expression of Autism in cinema. The hyper-fixation of a man desperately trying to fit in is an example of ‘Autistic Masking’.

I love Byrnes “weirdness”, his off the wall looks and the diversity of the songs he produces, this version of the Whitney Houston song I Wanna Dance With Somebody is superb. 

Happy 82nd Birthday  Scottish yachtsman, rower and soldier Sir Chay Blyth.

Born Charles Blyth  on May 14th, 1940 in Hawick, in the Scottish Borders,  the youngest of a family of five girls and two boys. At the age of 15, he left school and went to work for a local knitwear factory as an apprentice frame worker. This career was short-lived as, proudly Scottish, Chay signed  at age 18, for the  Parachute Regiment where he rose quickly through the ranks, becoming sergeant at the age of 21 – the regiment’s youngest ever Sergeant at that time. In 1966, Blyth teamed up with Captain John Ridgeway to row across the Atlantic from Cape Cod to the Aran Islands in a 20ft dory. They completed this in 92 days.

In 1971, having left the Army three years previously, aboard the 59ft ketch British Steel, he became the first person to sail non-stop westwards around the world against the prevailing winds and currents.  Before the attempt,  Sir Francis Chichester commented that he thought the voyage was impossible, and on completion it became known as ‘The Impossible Voyage.” The Times newspaper  described it as, ‘The most outstanding passage ever made by one man alone’.It is still considered the toughest challenge in sailing; only five people have ever managed it, a number which becomes more significant when compared to the 12 people who have walked on the moon.

The plan began in earnest to sail the ‘wrong way’ round the world in 1969, but it wasn't until 18th October 1970 that Chay Blyth departed from Southampton on board the 59ft ketch, British Steel.

His voyage had never been done before: to sail single-handed, non-stop, westwards around the world. Blyth returned to a hero’s welcome 292 days later.

Since that year, he has accumulated a staggering list of racing successes: 1973/4: skippered Great Britain II in the first Whitbread Round the World Yacht Race with a crew from the Parachute Regiment. They won the elapsed time prize and nine out of the 12 trophies. 1978 he won the Two-handed Round Britain race with Rob James. In 1981 the Two-handed Transatlantic race with Rob James breaking the record

It wasn’t all plain sailing though, pardon the pun, in 1984 Chay capsized in Beefeater II off Cape Horn and spent 19 hours in the water before being rescued; A year later he had to be rescued in the Atlantic from Virgin Atlantic Challenger, which sank. But in 198 Blyth co-skippered ,with Richard Branson, the successful Blue Riband transatlantic attempt on Virgin Atlantic Challenger.

In 1989 Chay founded Challenge Business, a market leader in creating, managing and promoting World Class events, as part of his work with the company he e mentored fDee Caffari on her successful bid to be the first woman to sail around the world against the prevailing winds and currents in 2005–2006.

In 1997, Sir Chay was Knighted for his services to sailing, am not keen on the honours system, but in some cases recognition like this is merited, Chay is a very brave guy who succeeded against all the odds at times in a prusuit of goals that almost cost him his life.  The second pic show the pair celebrating her return.

In 2013 aged 73 Chay was still involved in his first love of sailing, in his yacht  Wullie Waught he sailed round the world taking part in events worldwide.  The yacht’s name was inspired by the great Robert Burns poem.

Happy 58th Birthday, singer and actress Lorraine McIntosh born 13th May 1964 in Glasgow.

Lorraine was brought up in Cumnock, Ayrshire from about the age of three.  She has been a member of one of Scotland’s favourite bands Deacon Blue since they formed in Glasgow in 1985.

Lorraine didn’t have an easy upbringing, she lost her mother and she said her Dad coped for a while then fell apart, hitting the bottle he started missing rent payments which led to them being evicted, she said the council waited until she had turned 18, a week after that the were out. In an interview for The Big Issue Lorraine poured her heart out saying………..

“I got a phone call from a social worker saying I wasn’t to go home, as dad had been evicted. I was at the bus stop with my friend, but couldn’t get on the bus. She phoned her mum and I ended up staying with them at first.  No clothes, no nothing. We lost everything. It just got put in the street. And the saddest thing was I lost all my mum’s things, her clothes, wee bits of jewellery, all put on the street. Gone.”

I empathise with this entirely except I actually got home from school and found all our belongings on the street after we got evicted, I was 13 at the time………..

Lorraine was a regular on the Scottish soap, River City, she has also appeared in three  episodes of Taggart  playing different roles, more recently she turned up on Outlander last year as Mrs. Sylvie, the owner of a popular brothel in the town of Cross Creek. Also last year  Deacon Blue’s 10th album, City Of Love, shot to No 4 in the UK album rankings the week before lockdown, giving the Glasgow outfit their biggest chart success since 1994.

During the pandemic, as well as coping with the strain of lockdown, Lorraine, who lives with Ricky in Glasgow, was taken ill with coronavirus in the early stages of the outbreak.

She said: “It has taken quite a while to get over it completely. I was in bed for three weeks, and then recovered.”

In 2020 Lorraine joined up with the Simon Community’s Nightstop campaign, to encourage people to open their homes to vulnerable young people. The Nightstop service offers young people aged 16 to 25 a safe place to stay when they find themselves in a crisis. All the volunteer hosts are fully vetted and trained. Since starting in Glasgow last year, eight families have provided 96 nights of emergency accommodation. She and her husband, Deacon Blue frontman Ricky Ross, are considering signing up as hosts – but only if the Simon Community think that their high profile won’t get in the way.

I really like Lorraine, and Ricky’s humanity,  specifically Lorraine visited Rwanda  two years ago to raise awareness of sexual violence against women when she was moved to tears by the testimony of victims. She has recently spoken out against the plan to send refugees coming to the UK to the country and  said the country was still recovering from a genocide inflicted during the civil war in 1994 and for ministers to consider sending asylum seekers there is deplorable.

On her trip, she heard of shocking conditions, including child slavery, youngsters being burned to death, and rape being used as a weapon of war to destroy communities.

On her final day in Rwanda, she made a pilgrimage to one of the most infamous genocide sites in the country called Nyamata where thousands were slaughtered in and around a church.

She said: “I was unprepared for the sight of thousands of items of clothing from the fallen folded and piled up on the church pews. The ceiling pockmarked with bullets and a line around the bottom of the wall which our guide tells us is the blood line from the carnage. A river of blood. In the gardens outside 50,000 people lie buried.

On the music front, Deacon Blue recently played The Hydro in Glasgow to a sell out audience. The band released their tenth studio album entitled Riding on the Tide of Love in February this year, they next play in Scotland on July 9th on Edinburgh Castle Esplanade, they have other gigs before and after this throughout Europe. 

Happy 39th Birthday  Mince Fratelli.

Real name Gordon McRory, the Scottish Drummer was born 16th May 1983. Gordon McRory is best known by his stage name Mince Fratelli: he is the drummer and backing vocalist in Scottish band The Fratellis.

The band formed in Glasgow in 2004 after Mince and other band members stuck advert sin a windows of record stores in the city.  The “Fratelli” pseudonym name came from the criminal family in The Goonies and received their first radio playing in 2005, on central Scotland’s Beat 106 (later XFM Scotland, now Capital Scotland) Fratelli means brothers in Italian so I think them taking the surname fits perfectly. I have heard that bassist Barry’s mother’s maiden name was Fratelli, Barry’s actual surname is Wallace, but it really was Fratelli before his mother remarried.

For the drummers out there Mince plays with a Premier Modern Classic (mahogany and bird’s-eye maple and a Ludwig wood snare.

The band have released 6 studio albums, the latest,  Half Drunk Under a Full Moon came out in April 2021, having been delayed a bit due to the pandemic, it reached number 12 in the UK and 3 in Scottish charts. Their single Chelsea Daggers is their biggest hit to date and is a great anthem like song.

I’ve chosen another anthem from the lads, a version of the Baccara hit  Yes Sir, I Can Boogie, the song was famously adopted by The Scotland football team after they qualified for the UEFA Euro 2020 championships.

Happy birthday Scottish folk musician John McCusker.

McCusker was born in Bellshill, 15th May 1973  to an Irish mother who encouraged him to learn to play the whistle and fiddle beginning at age seven.
He became a regular in local youth orchestras and ceilidh bands and formed the band Parcel O'Rogues (named from Robert Burns’ Sic a Parcel o’ Rogues in a Nation) with some schoolmates when he was 14. A couple of years later he gave up a place at the Royal Scottish Academy in Glasgow to go on the road with the Battlefield Band.

John has long been renowned for his skill at transcending musical boundaries: striving to keep his music fresh and exciting, never leaving the past behind but always embracing new sonic adventures. As a live and studio guest he has shared stages with Paul Weller, Paolo Nutini, Teenage Fanclub, Graham Coxon and Eddi Reader. Since 2008, he has been a member of Mark Knopfler’s band, playing arenas around the world including a double bill with Bob Dylan at The Hollywood Bowl and 20 nights at the Royal Albert Hall.  

John was awarded the coveted BBC Radio 2 Musician of the Year in 2003 and also The Spirit of Scotland Award for music in 1999 and again in 2009.
2016 saw John receive the Good Tradition Award and perform with his band at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards at The Royal Albert Hall.

In celebration of his 30th Anniversary as a professional musician he has just announced his delayed  Anniversary tour. Joining him will be Ian Carr, Sam Kelly, Helen McCabe & Toby Shaer.. with special guests joining us along the way.

It kicks off in Cardiff on October 16th, Scottish dates are in Galashiels, Stirling and Bearsden in October, then Edinburgh and Inverness in November.   A best of album is dur out sometime next year.

Happy  birthday celebrity chef Tony Singh.

Born Rajinder Tony Singh Kusbia in Leith, Edinburgh, Tony is fourth-generation Scottish Sikh, who learned all his cooking skills at his mother’s knee. Tony is well known for imaginative fusion of Scottish and Asian flavours.

Born Rajinder Tony Singh Kusbia in Leith, Edinburgh, Tony is fourth-generation Scottish Sikh, who learned all his cooking skills at his mother’s knee. Tony is well known for imaginative fusion of Scottish and Asian flavours.

After showing early promise in Home Economics at school, Tony went on to train classically as a chef and later secured prestigious roles working at the Balmoral Hotel, Skibo Castle, Gravetye Manor and on board The Royal Scotsman and the Royal Yacht Britannia. After years of experience working in destination dining spots in London and Scotland, Tony went solo to launch his own award-winning restaurants – and it was here that his inimitable cookery style really came into its own, with crowds (and cameras!) flocking to see Tony’s contemporary twist on traditional dishes for themselves. A previous winner of Scottish Chef of the Year, Tony strives to promote innovative use of Scottish produce, but always with an unexpected flourish.

Chef Tony Singh has cooked for Queens, Maharajas, Presidents and the ordinary citizens of Edinburgh.

Known for his quick-fire wit and cheeky personality, Tony is a firm favourite on our television screens, starring in BBC2 programmes, A Cook Abroad: Tony Singh’s India, and The Incredible Spice Men, with Cyrus Todiwala. Alongside this, Tony makes regular appearances on cookery shows including The Great British Menu, Saturday Kitchen and Ready Steady Cook, as well as guest spots on Pointless, Celebrity Eggheads, Celebrity Mastermind and many others.

Tony is a member of significant industry peer appointed associations, a Master Chef of Britain, and the Royal Academy of Culinary Arts, the Craft Guild of Chefs and the Scottish Chefs Association.

I love how he is so Scottish, he has a genuine love for haggis saying in an interview once; 

“Haggis is a fantastic product, it shows the trading links and culinary skill of Scottish cuisine. It uses the cheaper cuts. It’s highly spiced with white pepper, so it shows we’ve always used spice in our cooking here. And it has the right amount of fat.

“You can stick haggis with most things and it tastes good.” he added.

Singh has supported and worked closely with the charities Sick Kids Edinburgh, McMillian Cancer Research, the Scottish Blood Transfusion Service, Food Train, Scottish Air Ambulance, Water Aid, St. Columbus Hospice, and the Back Up Trust. In 2015 he was a presenter on RBS – Finding Scotland’s Real Heroes, where he visited and spoke about the eventual winners of the Carer of the Year award: East Kilbride & District Dementia Carers Group.

Tony’s latest venture is in Edinburgh’s new St James’s Quarter at  Bonnie & Wild’s Scottish Marketplace a celebration of Scotland’s world-class food and drink.  Tony and his team will be offering regional specials throughout the year, as well as their selection of delicious dosas, vegan butter chicken and tantalising fur fur at Radge Chaat.

Happy 82nd birthday Lena Martell, born May 15th 1940 in Possilpark, Glasgow.

Born Helen Thomson, she began singing at the age of 11 with her eldest brother’s band. After his untimely death, Martell decided to pursue a career in music as a tribute. 

Her rising popularity among the easy listening elite allowed for the release of Lena’s Music Album in 1979. The record spawned a number one hit, One Day at a Time, written by Kris Kristofferson and Marijohn  Wilkin, it helped launch Lena’s career. Producer and bandleader George Elrick and Martell continued to release records throughout the 1980s, she recorded more than 30 albums, some of which went silver, gold and platinum, including By Request, Beautiful Sunday , Love Songs, and Feelings, before her retirement in the early ‘90s, for a decade Lena also had her own Saturday night BBC TV show with over 12 million viewers. Lena worked with Liza Minnelli and understudied for Barbra Streisand in Funny Girl on Broadway.

She has been through a lot in the years since her hey day, She almost lost her voice with cancerous nodes, has had a double mastectomy, had two nervous breakdowns and the death of her mum after caring for her through the ravages of Alzheimer’s, she has also had surgery to replace a valve in her heart, and in March 2008 underwent a triple heart bypass operation- Lena is really one of life’s survivors.

In 2004, her comeback CD My Homeland outsold Kylie Minogue and Britney Spears in Scottish record shops and went gold.

In 2012 she celebrated 50 years in show business with a tour that kicked off in Glasgow. Sean Connery quoted at the Edinburgh Festival in 2004; “The best singer not to record a Bond soundtrack was Lena Martell”

I’ve chosen a wee medley of Scottish songs Lena sang on her  My Homeland album.

Happy Birthday Scottish tennis player and three time grand slam tournament winner Andy Murray.

Born in Glasgow on May 15, 1987, to Judy and William Murray, Andrew Barron Murray grew up in Dunblane and began playing tennis at age 3. A former competitive tennis player, Judy coached Andy and his older brother, Jamie, in their early years.

In March 1996, while 8-year-old Murray was sitting in his classroom at Dunblane Primary School, an armed man by the name of Thomas Hamilton entered the facility and shot and killed 17 people — 16 students and one teacher — before committing suicide by turning the gun on himself. During the horrible event, Murray ran and hid in his headmaster’s office.

Murray scored a major youth championship when he won Florida’s Orange Bowl in his age group in 1999. In 2004, he became the world’s No. 1 junior after winning the U.S. Open junior title. Later that year, he was named the BBC’s “Young Sports Personality of the Year.”

Shortly after becoming the youngest player to compete in the Davis Cup for Britain.  Murray made his professional debut in April 2005. In 2006, with new coach Brad Gilbert, Murray beat top-ranked Roger Federer in Round 2 of the Cincinnati Masters tournament. Also that year, he defeated Andy Roddick en route to winning the SAP Open for his first ATP title. In 2007, Murray claimed a second straight SAP Open and also won the St. Petersburg Open to break into the Top 10 rankings.

Murray emerged in the tennis spotlight when he defeated Spanish sensation Rafael Nadal to reach the final of the 2008 U.S. Open, before losing to Federer. He ascended to No. 2 in the world in 2009, and finished runner-up at the Australian Open in both 2010 and 2011.

In 2012, Murray made it to the Wimbledon final for the first time with his semifinal win over Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. Murray’s victory made Scotland proud — he was the first tennis pro from Great Britain to reach the Wimbledon final since 1938. However, Murray lost in the final to Federer, who claimed his seventh Wimbledon win.

Andy avenged his Wimbledon loss at the 2012 Summer Olympic Games, held in London, where he beat Federer to take his first Olympic gold medal. That September, he continued to burn up the courts with an impressive run through the U.S. Open field. Murray scored an impressive victory over Novak Djokovic in a tough three sets to clinch his first Grand Slam title, becoming the first player from Great Britain since 1977 — and the first since 1936 — to win a Grand Slam singles tournament.

After losing to Djokovic at the 2013 Australian Open, Murray made history that summer by defeating the Serbian player to claim the Wimbledon men’s singles championship. He was the first British male to win the tournament in 77 years and the second Scottish-born player to win Wimbledon since Harold Mahony in 1896.

Murray underwent back surgery in September 2013 following his loss in the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open. His performance was uneven for much of the 2014 season, though he made news by hiring former women’s champion Amelie Mauresmo to be his coach.

The Scot was seemingly was back on track when he reached his fourth Australian Open final in early 2015. That March, he scored career victory No. 500 while competing at the Miami Open.

Murray followed with an impressive run at the 2015 French Open, battling back from a two-set deficit in the semifinals before succumbing to Djokovic. A few weeks later, he reached the semifinals of Wimbledon, but his hopes of advancing were cut short by the ageless Federer. Murray’s subsequent fourth-round loss at the U.S. Open not only thwarted his last chance for a major title in 2015, it snapped his streak of 18 consecutive appearances in a Grand Slam quarterfinal.

Murray began the 2016 season on a strong note, advancing to the Australian Open final before suffering another loss to his nemesis, Djokovic. However, he gained some revenge by defeating Djokovic to claim the Italian Open in May and then sustained his high level of play through the French Open. With his semifinal win over defending champion Stan Wawrinka, Murray became the first British player to reach the French Open final since 1937. However, his bid to add another Slam title fell short when he wound up on the losing end of a blistering Djokovic onslaught once again.

In July 2016, Murray advanced to the semifinals at Wimbledon after defeating Jo Wilfried-Tsonga. In the final, he upended Milos Raonic, the first Canadian man to make it to the Wimbledon final, 6-4, 7-6 (3), 7-6 (2). The victory was Murray’s third Grand Slam title.

The following month, Murray continued his sterling play by defeating Argentina’s Juan Martin del Potro at the Rio Games, making him the first male tennis player to successfully defend his Olympic singles title.

Hampered by a lingering hip injury for much of 2017, Murray wound up withdrawing from the U.S. Open in late summer. He then underwent surgery the following January.

Murray returned to competitive tennis in June 2018 and was back in Grand Slam action at that year’s U.S. Open, but struggled to get into a groove post-operation.

Just before the start of the 2019 Australian Open, Murray announced that his hip was still bothering him and he would likely retire by the conclusion of Wimbledon that summer, if not sooner. However, after battling through a first-round match that ended in defeat, he suggested he may undergo another operation in an attempt to regain mobility on the court. He eventually had BHR surgery in January 2019.

Murray returned to the professional tennis scene in June 2019 competing in several tournaments including Queen’s Club Championships, Wimbledon, Canadian Open and Winston-Salem Open. Sadly he has never been able to fully capture the form that saw him sit at the number one spot for 41 weeks.

In April 2015, Murray married longtime girlfriend Kim Sears at Dunblane Cathedral in his hometown. They have s son and three daughters; the youngest of the girls was born in March 2021.

Murray is on the leadership team of Malaria No More UK, a charity that raises funds and awareness to save lives in Africa, and a global ambassador for the World Wildlife Fund.

Heading into 2017, he was knighted in the New Year Honours for services to tennis and charity.

Happy 71st Birthday the Scottish film and television actress  Juliet Cadzow.

Juliet was brought up on a farm in West Lothianand has lived in London, Edinburgh and Glasgow, she was inspired to become an actress due to her relatives,  Alistair McIntyre, the actor and broadcaster and her aunt, the actress, Marjorie Morris. These two made quite an impression on Juliet when they visited her family home at their home in a farm in Broxburn. The small town also  gave birth to two other stars – Michael Caton Jones, the film maker and Bill Torrance, television and radio presenter). Juliet went on to study acting at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, although she lived in Edinburgh.

Juliet started her career with Billy Connelly in The Great Northern Welly Boot Show, but is probably best known for the role of Edie McCredie in the 2002 children’s television series Balamory (which ran until 2005 and aired on BBC One, BBC Two, and CBeebies) and appeared in the 2006 BBC series Still Game in the roles of Winston’s fantasy woman and the conductress, whom her character became when he was awakened. She was nominated for “Best Actress” at the 1997 BAFTA Scotland Awards for her role in the 1992 film Upstate. She provided the voice of the resurrected ‘Ice Governess’ in the Doctor Who Christmas special of 2012 The Snowmen.

Juliet’s first film role was in the classic 1973 fil The Wicker Man, she has also appeared in may shows throughout her long career, notably, 6 times in four different parts on Taggart, she has also been in the soaps  High Road and  Coronation Street, Doctor Findlay, High life and Hamish Mcbeth, Looking after JoJo and The Bill.

Juliet has also appeared in many plays and pantomimes across Scotland she has played many interesting parts and enjoyed performing as Miss Jean Brodie at the Edinburgh, Lyceum. Juliet also starred in ‘Female Parts’ by Dario Fo, in the one woman show – initially at The Tron, then on tour. Juliet describes this experience as one which she found ‘quite frightening’, albeit that the show went 'fabulously well’., nowadays she is in another Scottish soap, River City, as Suzie Fraser, her first show was 5 years ago in 2017.

Happy Birthday to ex Pop Singer turned TV personality  Michelle McManus who hits 42 today.

Born in the Queen Mother’s Maternity Hospital in Glasgow, on May 8th 1980, Michelle was brought up in Baillieston with her four wee sisters, she auditioned for Pop Idol in 2003 and brought criticism from judge  Pete Waterman due to her image and he “fuller figure”, fellow judge Simon Cowell to a shine to Michelle and championed her cause, she beat Mark Rhodes  in the final with 58 percent of the vote.

After signing to Sony BMG, her debut single, All This Time, spent three weeks at number one, while her first album,  The meaning of love reached number three. However, after her second single, the title track “The Meaning of Love,” stalled at number 16, she was dropped by her label, and a year later she parted company with management company 19 Entertainment.

In 2007, she set up her own record label, McManii Records, and released the track Just for You. Michelle has since released a book entitled You Are What You Eat, performed in a production of The Vagina Monologues, and co-hosted the Scottish TV show The Hour. Michelle has also appeared on The Edinburgh Festival Fringe as well as working on numerous Scottish TV shows and guesting as a DJ.

McManus paid tribute and sang two songs at Martyn Hett’s funeral on 30 June 2017. Martyn was one of the 22 victims of the Manchester Bombing on 22 May 2017.  

Michelle recorded a cover version of  Paul MccArtney’s, We all Stand Together in aid of  a collection of a dozen charity choirs.  McManus married Jeff Nimmo on 23rd September 2017.

The couple tied the knot at  St Mary and St Finnan Church at Glenfinnan on the edge of Loch Shiel.  

In January 2020  the couple shared pictures of their first baby, a boy they named Harry. Michelle thanked NHS staff for their “care and attention” following a “challenging pregnancy.

In February this year Michelle announced on twitter the birth of her second son saying;  "….completing our family and our world.“ he is called  Nicholas Peter. She waved goodbye to January, adding: "I don’t know how any other month this year could possibly top you as you’re the month we welcomed the newest addition to our family.”

The Pop Idol star recently returned to the music industry as a singer in the band The Flaming Blackhearts. Michelle has also been on  BBC Radio 4 with  Clive Anderson  on the podcast Loose Ends.