A new documentary titled 'The Story of Skids: Scotland’s No 1 Punk Band' offers an engaging look back at the rise of the Scottish punk act, though it focuses heavily on frontman Richard Jobson. The film features Jobson reflecting on his career, from his teenage years in the 1970s to his later work as a TV presenter, film-maker and novelist.
Jobson recounts his first encounter with punk legend Sid Vicious in Malcolm McLaren's Sex shop in London in 1976, when he was just 15. He later met fellow Dunfermline native Stuart Adamson, who invited him to join his band after an audition at Cowdenbeath Workingmen's Club. The documentary includes tales of mass fights and the record-industry frenzy that followed punk's breakthrough in 1977.
Jobson remains proud of Skids' best-known songs such as 'Into the Valley', 'The Saints Are Coming' and 'Charles'. He is forthright about his views on contemporaries, expressing dislike for John Lydon and Nancy Spungen, while former bandmates Rusty Egan and the late John McGeoch receive criticism. However, Jobson is reluctant to discuss Adamson, who left Skids in 1981, found success with Big Country, and died by suicide in 2001.
The documentary features archive footage and Jobson revisiting his past, getting a haircut and trying on leather jackets. It provides an amiable stroll through 1970s pop culture, highlighting the band's journey from a bleak post-industrial mining village to national prominence.
