Prior to Mr
Cruickshank’s untimely exit, he completed a bunch of recording with his
long-time musical co-pilot Wilf Smarties. The first instalment of the
reactivated Mowgli and the Donuts oeuvre is available now on CD entitled “Terms
and Conditions Donut Apply”. You can order your copy here and it'll set you back £7.99 including UK postage. Overseas folks can enquire via that same portal. Copies can now be found in discerning music emporiums in Glasgow and Edinburgh and hopefully further afield in the not too distant future.
The band
grew out of a remarkable friendship struck up at school, between Wilf and
Stewart. Formed spiritually nearly 50 years ago in 1967, M + TD started in
earnest as soon as they could both play 3 chords. Wilf gravitated to lead
guitar, Stewart to rhythm and the two began to write songs soon after.
The band
gigged regularly for a decade in various formats and locations, playing sets of
original material. Wilf went on to run Planet Recording Studio in Edinburgh
during the 80's. He produced Wet Wet Wet and ended up accidentally writing for
Kylie. Stewart’s Mowgli moniker was Gilmore Wines in the old days, prior to
becoming a producer at the BBC. Post millennium, the two old worthies began to
have some very eccentric, off the beaten track adventures and it was mooted
that they should record songs for posterity. A little over 3 years ago Wilf
returned to Edinburgh and this move kicked off this final phase.
They
recruited former Donuts - Keith Froude from our “East Anglian” period (drums) and also Andy Munro aka Mr Boom
(drums) and Iain B. Veitch (bass) from the later “Edinburgh” era. The voice of Lorraine, Stewart's widow, is set to
be heard on subsequent releases.
The songs are
a mixture of the romantic, idiosyncratic, observational and political, in
roughly equal amounts, many set here in their native Scotland. Musical
influences are broad but the peel of the 60's West Coast sound is most
prevalent. Stewart and Wilf grew up in
the age of the concept album. They would reverentially listen to an LP all the
way through and that’s how “Terms and Conditions” should be enjoyed.
The tracks are not available for download and shuffle
play is not encouraged.