The Bluebells were a Scottish pop group in the 1980s.

Career

Peddling a kind of jangly guitar based pop not dissimilar to their Scottish contemporaries Aztec Camera and Orange Juice, they had 3 Top 40 hit singles in the UK, all written by guitarist and founder member Bobby Bluebell (real name Robert Hodgens) - "I'm Falling", "Cath", and their biggest success "Young at Heart". The latter was co-written with Siobhan Fahey (with whom Hodgens was romantically linked for a while) and made it to number 8 in the UK Singles Chart on its original release in 1984. The band also released two albums, The Bluebells and Sisters.

The band split up in the mid 1980s, but enjoyed an unexpected - albeit brief - revival in 1993 when "Young At Heart" was used in a Volkswagen television advertisement. Re-issued as a single, it was number one for 4 weeks and led to the band reforming temporarily to perform the song on BBC Television's Top of the Pops. A singles collection followed.

Post Bluebells

After the group's demise band member Lawrence Donegan played with The Commotions and then trained as a journalist and is now a golf correspondent for The Guardian, having previously worked at The Scotsman. The other members of the band stayed in the music business after the split - David McCluskey and his brother, Ken, formed a folk duo; Robert Hodgens formed Up; whilst the former Aztec Camera axe-man Craig Gannon briefly filled in for bassist Andy Rourke in The Smiths on tour during 1986, then stayed as a second live guitarist until being fired from the band, after which he joined The Adult Net.

Band members

• Bobby Bluebell (born Robert Hodgens, 6 June 1959, in Scotland) — vocalist.
• Lawrence Donegan (born 13 July 1961, in Stirling, Scotland) — bass guitarist.
• Craig Gannon (born 30 July 1966, in Manchester) — guitarist.
• David McCluskey (born 13 January 1964, in Scotland) — drummer.
• Ken McCluskey (born Kenneth McCluskey, 8 February 1962, in Scotland) — vocalist.
• Russell Irvine - guitarist.

Discography

Singles

• "Cath" / "Will She Always Be Waiting" - 1983 - UK No. 62
• "Sugar Bridge (It Will Stand)" - 1983 - UK No. 72
• "I'm Falling" - 1984 - UK No. 11
• "Young at Heart" - 1984 - UK No. 8
• "Cath" (re-issue) - 1984 - UK No. 38
• "All I Am (Is Loving You)" - 1985 - UK No. 58
• "Young at Heart" (re-issue) - 1993 - UK No. 1

Albums

• The Bluebells - 1983 - Sire Records
• Sisters - 1984 - London Records
• Second - 1992 - Vinyl Japan

External link

• AMG Bluebells page