Post-Punk Legends Orange Juice To Reform

BY Brock ThiessenPublished Oct 27, 2008

After 26 years apart, the legendary post-punk outfit Orange Juice are reuniting. According to Sunday Mail report, the long-disbanded Scottish act will share the same stage next month to be honoured by Nordoff-Robbins Scotland, a charity that raises money to fund music therapists. The entire original line-up — front-man Edwyn Collins, bassist David McClymont, guitarist James Kirk and drummer Steven Daly — will be present to receive an award from Nordoff-Robbins, whose work helped Collins recover from the near-fatal brain hemorrhages he suffered in 2005.

"I'm very flattered," 49-year-old Collins told the Sunday Mail of the honour. "It's all part of the renaissance of Orange Juice. I have fond memories of the band and am looking forward to seeing them all again."

Orange Juice originally formed in 1979, and the awards event will mark the first time the entire band have been together since 1982. The group’s original line-up put out a series of singles via the influential Postcard Records imprint, as well as the classic and influential 1982 full-length You Can’t Hide Your Love Forever, before cracks appeared in Orange Juice’s armour. Before long, Collins became the only remaining member of the original four and led the band through two more albums, Rip It Up (1982) and The Orange Juice (1984), before embarking on his own solo career.

"Orange Juice were a dysfunctional bunch of people whose career was a roller-coaster ride," McClymont told the newspaper. "We went from being an act nobody was interested in to one of the biggest indie bands in the UK.

"We really needed a level-headed manager but, if anything, Postcard founder Alan Horne was even crazier than we were. It took years for me to realise I'd been part of something so important musically. Now with the endorsement of Franz Ferdinand it's almost come full circle. It's the end of a journey in a way."

Daly added: "Orange Juice set rolling a multimillion pound industry and completely reshaped Glasgow's self image. That wasn't easy. We were self aware enough to realise our records were making history."

Collins’s old band-mates went on to say they were devastated when he fell ill three years ago. The pair of cerebral hemorrhages the songwriter suffered in 2005 left him on the brink of death, partially paralysed and entering a lengthy rehabilitation program. Collins has since regained enough of his old health back to release a solo album, last year’s Home Again, and even have his own art exhibition, which in London displayed the pictures of birds he drew daily as part of his rehabilitation.

"It's amazing what he's achieved since his illness,” McClymont said of Collins. "That's why it's important for us to get together."

The newspaper did not report whether the band would be performing at the event, but it’s very likely that more than a few savvy pop fans will be keeping their fingers crossed.

Orange Juice "Falling and Laughing”

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