The Skids album “Days In Europa” has been re-packaged and re-released. The original cover with a painting evoking the look of the Berlin’36 Olympics apparently stirred up some people into thinking the band had pro-Nazi leanings. Nonsense! Lead singer Richard Jobson told Sounds, “We checked things out very carefully, even the gothic script we used on the cover, which supposedly has Nazi connotations, is actually Jewish!” He went on to say they even had a call from some British fascists who offered to give money to the band if they’d wave a few flags about. Instead of swimming against the current of public opinion, no matter how misinformed, The Skids have just repackaged the album with a nice ’20s style painting of high society people.”
‘Days in Europa’ by the Skids. Now over 30 years old and (depressingly) it stands up and over modern music, and in most cases, crunches them underfoot like beetles. ‘Days in Europa’ is a classic. I don’t know any other way to put it.
Despite being produced by the bombastic, Bill Nelson, it breathes joy and celebration.
It’s a happy album. It has loads of notions and possibilities streaming from its grooves. It’s an ideas album. Ideas of being brilliant electro-dance rock music which hasn’t dated.
‘The Olympian’, ‘Charade’, ‘Dulce et Decorum Est’, ‘Home of the Saved’, ‘Thanatos’, it’s an arresting roll-call of literary mightiness and majesty. Extra tracks include the rare ‘Masquerade/Aftermath Dub’ and the Volgar Boatmen wannabe ‘Grey Parade’.
The Skids being Scottish, there’s a definite air of bagpipes at Bannockburn, claymores at Culloden about some of the melodies. This, clashing stridently with Nelson’s pulsing euro-rock supervision, is what gives it’s memorable uniqueness .
Singer Richard Jobson eventually ended up doing poetry and directing films; and guitarist Stuart Adamson formed the stadium rock act Big Country before despairingly topping himself over a woman .
Forever though, their crowning glory is ‘Days in Europa’ and not even that old critic-killer – time – can take it away from them.
The Fat Angel Sings 