Unusual inspirations for Belle and Sebastian

While acts like Paolo Nutini and Franz Ferdinand have grabbed the headlines, one Scottish act have quietly become a Scottish institution.

Belle and Sebastian will make a triumphant homecoming gig at the newly refurbished bandstand in Kelvingrove Park, next week.

They may not be as glamorous as some of their contemporaries, but the cult Glasgow indie band, fronted by Stuart Murdoch, have a devoted following.

All 2,500 tickets for the event were sold out within five minutes of going on sale last month. And it might all be thanks to ’50s puppet show Pinky and Perky!

Murdoch, whose work these days is used in cutting edge American dramas, credits an old novelty record he found when he was a boy with his initial interest in music.

“The very first LP I got was Pinky and Perky’s Greatest Hits Volume II. I got that at the Scout jumble sale, and loved that LP.

“A few months later, at another jumble sale, I picked up Bridge Over Troubled Water and obviously that one has stayed with me longer.

“But at that age, I probably listened to both about the same amount and I listened to the Pinky and Perky LP all the way through. I took them seriously. But I feel very lucky that one of those early ones was Simon and Garfunkel.”

The gig, on July 23, will celebrate the beginning of the Commonwealth Games For Murdoch, this might be why he’s taking an international approach to the band’s latest album, which they’re in the midst of recording.

He said: “One of the things I wanted to explore is the Eurovision Song Contest. For example, Abba won in 1974, and that’s how they got their big break. And that was really the last great song from Eurovision.

“I remember saying to the band, I want to do an album that one song feels like it could be the Cyprus entry for 1974 and then the next song would be the German entry for 1989.”