Russell Leadbetter

Glasgow

Nostalgia Writer at The Herald (Scotland)

Writing about nostalgia and music for @heraldscotland

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Articles

'A genuine one-off': academic who was an expert on child sexual abuse

1 week ago | heraldscotland.com | Russell Leadbetter

Dr Sarah Nelson Born: November 1, 1949; Died: March 29, 2025. ASKED to summarise the qualities of Dr Sarah Nelson, who has died of pancreatic cancer at the age of 75, a close friend and colleague said that among those that sprang to mind were her fearlessness, a groundbreaking attitude, a taste for speaking truth to power, and unfeigned kindness and compassion for victims of abuse.
Why, at nearly 80 years of age, Van Morrison is still The Man

1 week ago | heraldscotland.com | Russell Leadbetter

In an interview published in 2005, Van Morrison was asked about the long-rumoured autobiography on which he was said to have been working for the previous two decades. “It’s something I’ve been working on for years, off and on”, he told Uncut magazine’s Jon Wilde. “To me, the main purpose of it is to dispel the myths. Because those myths, they’re too much to live up to”. The main myth, he added, concerned what had actually happened in his life. “You get these biographies that claim to be about me.
When prog rock ruled the world - the Glasgow band which led the way

1 week ago | heraldscotland.com | Russell Leadbetter

Beggars Opera, pictured outside the Maryland Club, opposite Glasgow School of Art (Image: free) BACK in the November of 1969, the discerning music fan in Glasgow had lots of intriguing concerts to choose from. David Bowie, Deep Purple, and Fat Mattress - the latter featuring Noel Redding, former bassist with the Jimi Hendrix Experience - all played the Electric Garden on Sauchiehall Street. Such shows were billed as ‘Electric Garden goes Underground every Monday night’.
Bringing It All Back Home at 60: an electrifying Bob Dylan album

3 weeks ago | heraldscotland.com | Russell Leadbetter

BACK in May 1965 the music magazine, Record Mirror, had the idea of asking Donovan, the Glasgow-born troubadour, to review the latest Bob Dylan album, Bringing It All Back Home. The record, Dylan’s fifth, had been released in the States in March. Now, just before it went on sale in the UK, a Record Mirror journalist sat Donovan next to a turntable and lowered the needle onto the vinyl. The singer generally liked what he heard.
This Scottish band produced one of the 'most extraordinary albums' of 1980s

3 weeks ago | heraldscotland.com | Russell Leadbetter

Billy MacKenzie (left) and Alan Rankine, of The Associates (Image: Paul Cox/LFI) Over the decades, Scottish musicians have made many classic, cult or under-appreciated albums that have stood the test of time. Today, we look back at Sulk, by the Associates.
'Legend' of Scotland's mountain rescue community dies after a lifetime of service

3 weeks ago | heraldscotland.com | Russell Leadbetter

David Whalley Born: December 17, 1952; Died: March 24, 2025. DAVID ‘Heavy’ Whalley MBE, who has died, aged 72, from liver cancer, was, to many, a legend in the mountain rescue community, one who was involved in more than a thousand rescues and emergency call-outs. He spent nearly four decades with the RAF Mountain Rescue Team and three years with a civilian team.
Pink Floyd's 1971 Pompeii gig to get cinema and IMAX screenings

1 month ago | heraldscotland.com | Russell Leadbetter

Pink Floyd – Roger Waters, Nick Mason, David Gilmour, Rick Wright – circa 1970. Photo by Ray Stevenson/REX/Shutterstock FROM its debut at the Edinburgh International Film Festival in September 1972, Pink Floyd Live at Pompeii has grown to become one of the most influential concert movies ever. Roger Waters, David Gilmour, Nick Mason and Rick Wright were filmed in the Roman amphitheatre in October 1971 by the film-maker Adrian Maben.
When music writers fell over themselves to praise Cosmic Rough Riders

1 month ago | heraldscotland.com | Russell Leadbetter

Cosmic Rough Riders (Image: free) Over the decades, Scottish musicians have made many classic, cult or under-appreciated albums that have stood the test of time. Today, we look back at Enjoy the Melodic Sunshine, by Cosmic Rough Riders. WITH their dazzlingly assured third album, released in 2000, Glasgow’s Cosmic Rough Riders became the critics’ darlings.
CBI boss: 'Most of the jobs people have now won’t exist in 20 years'

1 month ago | heraldscotland.com | Russell Leadbetter

Michelle Ferguson has set out her priorities for the CBI in Scotland (Image: Gordon Terris) The CBI’s new Scotland Director has called for urgent action to redress the shortage of skills north of the border. Michelle Ferguson’s call, made on the eve of tomorrow's CBI Scotland annual lunch in Edinburgh, which will be addressed by First Minister John Swinney, comes as more and more sectors are speaking publicly about the severe consequences of the shortage.
'It was just a noise': Francis Rossi on Status Quo's wild Glasgow gigs

1 month ago | heraldscotland.com | Russell Leadbetter

THERE was no stopping Status Quo back then. They’d had three chart-topping albums in less than three years – Hello, On the Level, and Blue for You – and such irresistible hit singles as Caroline, Paper Plane, Rain, and Down Down. A near-constant schedule of gigs at home and abroad, including US tours in 1973 and 1974, had expanded their fan-base and honed their live sound to perfection.