Vocals: Rab McEwan, Denny Oliver, John Smith
Guitars: John Smith, Denny Oliver
Bass Guitars: Rab McEwan, John Smith
Keyboards: Denny Oliver, John Smith, George Wright
Drums: Des Osborne
Saxaphone: George Wright
PLEASE NOTE SCHEME MUSIC IS CURRENTLY NOT FOR SALE PLEASE DO NOT MESSAGE ASKING TO BUY MUSIC.
****Denny Oliver,Alan Sinclair And John Smith from Scheme are currently playing with The Scheme Experience Visit http://www.myspace.com/schemeexperience or http://www.theschemeexperience.com for gig info.(First on friends list)
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Scheme must go down in Scottish history as the most successful band never to get any proper recognition from a record company, in no way was this a reflection on their ability as song writers , musicians or performers, but there was a lack of balls from any major record label to take the band on because of the lyrical content of some of their material , by todays standards Schemes lyrics are quite tame in comparison. There is also the common view that Scheme refused to be changed or be moulded into anything else other than what they where, In your face, straight to the point with attitude, This appealed to the average guy in the street and the band had the musical know how and ability to back it up, this is also why they were known as The peoples band.
Originally calling themselves Olivers Army the band played in pubs and clubs in the east end of Glasgow like The Dalriada and The El Paso in Barlanark and the Centaur bar in Easterhouse . They built up a following playing cover versions and gradually incorporating their own material, mainly written by Denny and a couple from John.
The band changed their name to Scheme and it wasnt long before their set was mostly self written. They started to play gigs in the centre of Glasgow in places like The Muscular Arms Toffs and Maxwell Plumbs very rapidly building a massive fan base Inspiring their song Growing Stronger.
In the summer of 1982 Scheme brought out an E.P. single under their own label Schemesongs with four tracks including Growing Stronger All Grown Up C.N.D and Your Eyes.
After a slight line up change with a new drummer in Des Osbourne and Rab taking over on bass guitar, Schemes popularity started to outgrow the venues they were playing and they were headlining most of the outdoor concerts in Glasgow at that time. The pinnacle of their playing career was when they sold out Glasgows legendary Apollo on the 8th of September 1984 the only unsigned band ever to achieve this, They carried on to play a few concerts in the Pavillion theatre, this was never heard of before and will probably never be repeated again by a local band.
T.V. appearances include, news reports on The Peoples march for Jobs 1983 with the band singing an acoustic version of Bow out Maggie
, The band appeared on a Scottish topical discussion programme called Talk Back playing two songs on each show (not sure how many shows, around six I think!)
Channel four made a documentary called Innocent As Hell in 1986 dedicated to Scheme, looking at the bands local success , with clips from a concert they played in George square in Glasgow and one of the Pavillion concerts , The documentary also had interviews with the band ,local celebrities and fans .
Scheme brought out their long awaited first L.P. called Black and Whites in 1986 with an equal mix of rock and reggae tracks, a few years later they recorded two home made albums called Late Again and Non Returnable
Their live set had some hard hitting and controversial songs like Jail for the weed Another Five years Bow out Maggieetc...tackling subjects from legalising marijuana to getting rid of Margaret Thatcher
then there were the anti war numbers like Young Warrior Self destruct and C.N.D .these songs all had a message but what was almost never written about was that these songs were well constructed and had ample musical content with tight three part harmonies, brilliantly executed guitar solos and their trade mark (Cant get it out of your head ) choruses.
It was always a misconception that Scheme were just a protest band. they had a lot of positive non political numbers in their set, like... Keep your head up Give me an up song Growing stronger Turn on tune in All Grown Up Time and Twotone etc.. these were all good clean pop/rock songs that if ever given the chance would have stood up to anything being played on the radio at that time.
SOME PERSONNEL INFO
Denny Oliver, The brains behind Scheme a prolific song writer and the musical director of the band along with John, if you where at your first Scheme gig you would think that Denny was Just the rhythm guitarist that sings some of the songs every once in a while, by the end of a gig you know better, with the odd look or nod to the rest of the band you realise he is the man in charge, a perfectionist who knows how to write and does not care if his words offend the people he was writing about, his voice was very different to Rab McEwan more Rasping and laid back but easy to the ear in songs such as Growing Stronger and All Grown Up.
John Smith, lead guitarist with Scheme he was known mostly for his guitar solos and catchy guitar riffs, every once in a while he would blow you away with a last chord of the song guitar lick that would have you looking around the room for Clapton or Gilmour, the striking thing was that he always played his solos with his eyes shut (How do you do that?) He got the chance to let loose on songs like Jail For The Weed the original version of Bow Out Maggie and the bands version of the Carlos Santana/ Buddy Holly song Well Alright full of guitar riffs and solos which were always impeccably handled. He also had a major role in the production of most of the bands studio work and helped Denny Oliver with the writing with songs such as Only a cowboy and Sixteen Today
Rab McEwan, Lead singer and bass player although he did not always play bass with the band he only took over on bass in 1983 when the band settled down to the five members most people know about now, He had a very sharp voice very similar to Colin Hay from Men At Work a band which Scheme were always compared to.
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Hope the sun is shining on you up there in Scotland. I'll be coming over there in June for three shows. We play St. Andrews, Edinburgh, and Irvine (near Glasgow) Come out and say hello if you can?
Tommy Allsup
Hey, hows ya ?? Hope all is well and any chance when or if youse will be playing?? last time i knew of youse playing was in the piperack .. yip, i am eastend lass . Have a rocking week Mary x
I watched the doc 2day, for the first time in years. had wee laugh 2 myself. Forgot that me and suzanne were on at the end, dancing, Given it large ! Ha,ha. Can still remember that night. Was over the moon, we were allowed to get up on the stage with u. Thought everyone was watching me Ha,ha
My lasting memory was of my big brother telling me to chase after a strange guy in the street to ask him when the next gig was! Me and my 13yr old pal duly obliged to be told it was in Maxwell Plums. About 6mths later I discovered the guy I had chased was a man called Dezi Osbourne, Pollok's very own member of Scheme. I became a Schemie and trawled the Sunday Mail every week for Apollo gig info (cos I was too young to get into the pub gig's) Amazing times guys, the music was excellent, the politics were eye-opening, John Smith was just, well stunning, and it was "AN ERA" I will never forget. Glad to hear you're still gigging, hope to catch up with you soon . Meanwhile I've managed to buy " The Scheme Experience" on Ebay through your myspace page and totally love it.(Much to the annoyance of my teenage sons, who like it but won't admit it yet). Keep going guys you are amazing!!!!
Hi all, Any chance of playing a gig in Maxwell plums again, they were brill days. i've got a cassette recording of a gig in there of Scheme (1984). (sneaked in my cassette recorder) lol. Those were the days, lets do it again someday eh!!
Playing a gig in Glasgow last night and got talking to the guy who used to drive Scheme's tour bus! He just raved and raved about the band so I thought I'd better check them out. Such a shame a band like this got no industry recognition. Great tunes and plenty to say. Glad I found them. Regards Andy Miyagi
