The Proclaimers want more “political” songs in the charts.
The Scottish rock duo – which consists of 60-year-old twin brothers Charlie and Craig Reid – enjoyed their heyday in the 1980s along with fellow acts such as Communards and The Housemartins, with Charlie arguing that times are “just as turbulent” these days as they were back then.
He said: “Newspapers are dying on their feet, but it’s going online and people are still reading, so the press does have a great deal of power. I don’t know if it’s worse in Britain than in other countries but I think they have shaped the political agenda here and continue to do so. Frankly, I’m amazed because the turbulence of the times are at least as great now as they were in the late 60s, 70s or early 80s. In fact, I would say probably more. The dearth of good political writing, for want of a better term, there seems to be a lot of anger. There’s plenty of personal anger but but in terms of the more thoughtful political
songs, they are noticeable by their absence.”
Charlie’s fellow ‘Sunshine on Leith’ hitmaker echoed the thoughts of his twin brother, adding that he is “mystified” by the lack of political pop songs in the charts.
In the joint interview, he told Classic Pop Magazine: “It does mystify me, why there are no more political songs in the charts. I think with what’s happened in the last probably 15 years, you don’t have to be massively engaged in politics. You just have to have a passing interest. I think there’s so much you can write about what’s happening right now. I think it’s going to happen for the next few years, as well. I do find it strange there aren’t more people making political songs.”
Charlie concluded by claiming that someone like pop megastar Harry Styles, 28, is always going to top the charts but explained it would be “nice” to have other stars take songwriting in a “different direction” without worrying what commercial radio might think.
He said: “Harry Styles is going to be No. 1 no matter what, but it’d be nice if people could take songwriting in a different direction. Not for the sake of it, just because they feel it and they allow themselves to express that, without editing themselves or worrying about what radio is going to think.”