Peter Capaldi’s life in a teenage Glasgow punk band and a public apology to the Cocteau Twins

Peter Capaldi – aka Malcolm Tucker, Dr Who, the universal screen delight and an Oscar-winning film director – was the singer in the punk band the Dreamboys in the late ‘70s who put out a single when he was at the art school in Glasgow. And then became an actor. And then - in the grand tradition of actors who’ve made albums, Hugh Laurie, Scarlett Johansson, Jeff Bridges and Keanu Reeves among them – released St Christopher in 2021. He’s just recorded a second, Sweet Illusions, and talks to us in this extremely funny and entertaining pod about …

 

… how his sole motivation was “a burning desire to be on the telly”.

 

… the difference between fronting bands and being in plays.

 

… how he grievously stitched up support band the Cocteau Twins at a gig in Grangemouth.

 

… a teenage love of Slade - “a bit terrifying but still a bit safe”.

 

… first-hand evidence of the connection between Blakey from On the Buses, Adolph Hitler and Beatles.

 

… “you have to write a hundred songs before you can write a good one”.

 

… arriving at art school in ’76 a Neil Young fan and his overnight transformation – “peroxide hair, PVC trousers and bright red crepe sole shoes”.

 

… seeing Simple Minds at the Mars Bar in Glasgow, Jim Kerr with his Shakespearian haircut, “strange, powerful, imaginative, post-glam”.

 

… forming the Dreamboys and “trying to be big, clever and Kafka-esque”.

 

… the stigma of being virtually the only band in Glasgow not to get a John Peel session.

 

… writing the “bizarro pulp” lyrics for the Dreamboys – “we couldn’t decide if we were the Cramps or Talking Heads”.

 

… what’s required, “apart from a terrible Scouse accent”, in playing John Lennon onstage and George Harrison onscreen.

 

… auditioning (comedian, actor, TV host) Craig Ferguson as the band’s drummer.  

 

… how Bill Forsyth launched his acting career: “one minute you’re supporting Altered Images, the next in a movie with Burt Lancaster”.

 

… forming a duo with Keanu Reeves when filming Dangerous Liaisons in Paris – powdered wigs in the daytime, guitar/bass punk-thrash at night.

 

.. the romantic Edward Hopper charm of Glasgow in the ‘70s - proto-goths, street lights, rain.

 

… how Dr Robert of the Blow Monkeys and four months filming The Suicide Squad in Atlanta spurred him into writing songs.  

 

… the greatest record of all time.

 

Order the Sweet Illusions album here:

https://shop.lastnightfromglasgow.com/products/peter-capaldi-sweet-illusions-vinyl-lp-cd-lossless-dl

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