The Proclaimers
Craig and Charlie on the cover of their debut album This is the Story
Background information
Origin	Auchtermuchty, Scotland
Genre(s)	Folk Rock, Pop
Years active	1983 - Present
Label(s)	Chrysalis Records
Website	Proclaimers.co.uk

The Proclaimers are a Scottish band composed of identical twins Charlie and Craig Reid. They are best known for two particular songs they wrote: "Letter from America" and "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)". The latter became the theme song to the film Benny & Joon (1993), and to the charity event the Terry Fox Run, as well as a Molson Canadian beer commercial.

Career

Formed in 1983, the Auchtermuchty pair leapt to public attention after a January 1987 appearance on UK popular music programme The Tube on Channel Four; "Letter from America" peaked at number 3 in the UK singles chart, while the album This is the Story went gold. The follow-up album Sunshine on Leith featured "I'm Gonna Be..." and "I'm On My Way".

The brothers are famous fans of Hibernian Football Club, "Sunshine on Leith" is played at every home match. They are also well-known supporters of Scottish independence and have at various stages of their lives been activists for the Scottish National Party, expressing such views on their promotional tour of Britain in March 2007, although the following month, Charlie Reid announced that he had switched his allegence to the Scottish Socialist Party in protest at the Scottish National Party's receipt of funding from big business . Many of their songs reflect their political views, such as "Letter from America" and "Cap in Hand". On May 16, 2006, the twins announced their participation in a campaign to free a fellow Scot, Kenny Richey, from his death row sentence in Ohio, USA, including them playing at a charity concert.

"I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)" and "I'm On My Way" were both major chart hits in Australia - so much so that the band very successfully toured the major cities of Australia in 1989. They were supported on the Sydney and Canberra legs of that tour by indie rock band The Mexican Spitfires. Helped by the inclusion of "I'm on My Way" on the Shrek soundtrack in 2001, the Proclaimers have remained popular in Australia with "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)" and the former song regularly played on Australian radio and at suburban parties, nightclubs, and especially pubs.

As of May 2006 "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)" had remained in the iTunes download chart since December 2004. The 1988 album Sunshine on Leith sold over 25,000 copies in 2005. In June 2007 their ex-manager, Kai Davidson, was killed in a fall aged 44, and the death is being treated as a suicide.

Continuing popularity

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• In 1994, their cover of "Get Ready" featured in the soundtrack for the hit film Dumb and Dumber.

• Their song "I'm On My Way" appeared on the soundtrack to the 2001 animated film Shrek.

• In 2003, the Proclaimers came fifth in The Glasgow Herald's poll to find The Most Scottish Person in the World.

• On July 6, 2005, they were the opening act at Edinburgh 50,000 - The Final Push, the final concert of Live8 at Murrayfield Stadium. They played "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)" to symbolise the conclusion of The Long Walk to Justice.

• On April 30, 2006, the Proclaimers appeared on the hit animated show Family Guy, due to the show's creator, Seth MacFarlane, being a fan. They appeared in episode "You May Now Kiss The...Uh...Guy Who Receives", in which Stewie Griffin says Brian's homosexual cousin will fit in the Griffin family as badly as Peter fit in the Proclaimers, as a cutaway shows him fighting over who sings a lyric of "I'm Gonna Be...".

• On July 9, 2006, the Proclaimers played the Main Stage at T in the Park.

• On September 17, 2006 it was announced that a jukebox musical featuring the music of the Proclaimers was being prepared and set to debut in April 2007 performed by the Dundee Repertory Ensemble and directed by James Brining.

• On the February 27, 2007 episode of the television show, How I Met Your Mother, the band's "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)" was played multiple times throughout the show as the "cassingle" that was stuck in the tape deck of a car.

• "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)" is an unofficial charity single for Comic Relief's Red Nose Day 2007 in the UK. It has been covered by comedians Peter Kay and Matt Lucas, in character as the wheelchair users Brian Potter of Phoenix Nights and Andy Pipkin from Little Britain respectively (the word "walk" in the chorus has been replaced with "roll"). The Proclaimers feature in the song and the accompanying video. Lucas wrote sleeve notes for their greatest hits, while Kay joined the band on stage when they performed at Live 8. On 4 April 2007 they appeared on The New Paul O'Grady Show.

• The Proclaimers appeared randomly on the popular Australian television show Rove (TV series) twice. The first time they appeared, they appeared randomly on the stage, and began playing, before Rove McManus, host of Rove, pressed a button on his desk and a piano was dropped on the band. He then stated that he was going to fire someone after the show. The band later reappeared on the show, and were this time interviewed by Rove McManus. After being interviewed, they played again (this time a different song), but their performance was cut short just before the end of the song, when the pair exploded in a cloud of white smoke and the clatter of a guitar. This series of gags were widely watched and well-received Australia wide, making the already popular band even more famous in Australia.

• In issue 165 of Viz, there is a head to head to find the "King of the Proclaimers", Craig vs Charlie. It is a dead heat for the first four rounds, "Recording Career", "Scottishness", "Spectacle Wearing" and "Anti Death Sentence Campaigning". Charlie takes it by 10 points in round 5 "Guitar Playing"!

Discography

Studio albums