In a Big Country

Reading this portrait about the iconic 80s band I came across a couple of topical paragraphs...written in 1985

Here is band member Tony Butler talking about ‘racialist remarks’:

“I never expected to get any trouble in the music community. The only time I was ever faced with that problem were two incidents in America. I was doing a phone interview from London and I was asked whether I was employed in the group because I’m a token black. I just put the phone down. The second time was when Mark unfortunately had an altercation with the law in New Orleans. I realised if I’d been arrested I might not be around now. “

And then when the band were touring Japan, guitarist Bruce Watson said :

“ They’re right sort of polite people as well and if they’ve got a cold they didnae want to spread the germs to somebody else so they wear a mask. So you’ve got all these rockabillies dancing in the street with squint eyes and the big quiff trying to look like rebels and one of them’s got a cold so he’s got this bloody mask on.”