Champion Doug Veitch

Douglas Veitch, better known as Champion Doug Veitch (born 1960, Hawick, Scotland)[1] is a Scottish musician and songwriter.

Biography

The self-styled 'King of Caledonian Swing' rose to some prominence in the mid 1980s.[2] A favourite of John Peel, for whom he recorded two radio sessions,[3] he holds the record for having most (six) consecutive NME singles of the week. His music was a ground-breaking polycultural mix, using elements from dub, reggae, country music and Scottish folk music,[4] which foretold the cross cultural mixing more common in later years.[5][6]

In 1985, he co-founded the label DiscAfrique with his colleague Owen Elias,[7][8] which was one of the first world music labels in the United Kingdom, releasing records by The Bhundu Boys, Orchestre Baobab and The Four Brothers amongst others.[9]

In 1989, he released an album of Scottish country dance music with his wife under the moniker Martin, Doug and Sara.

He later drifted out of the music industry due to personal issues, and took a PhD in woodland management. Recently however he has reunited with Bhundu Boys guitarist Rise Kagona under the name Culture Clash.[9] Unusually Veitch sings the songs in Shona rather than his native tongue. The duo released the album Tanzwa Neku Tambura: We've Suffered Enough in 2007.

Discography

Champion Doug Veitch

All 7" unless stated.

  • "Lumiere Urban" (1982)[10]
  • "Another Place, Another Time" (1983)
  • "Not the Heart" (1984)
  • "One Black Night" (1985)
  • "Jumping into Love" / "Deep End Version" (1985)
  • "Margarita" (1986)[11]
  • The Original (album, Bongo Records, 1989)

Martin, Doug and Sara
  • Reelin' (album, Munro Records, 1989)

References
  1. Frame, Pete (1999) Pete Frame's Rockin' Around Britain: Rock'n'roll Landmarks of the UK and Ireland, Omnibus Press, ISBN 978-0-7119-6973-5, p. 233
  2. Martin Charles Strong (2002). The Great Scots Musicography: The Complete Guide to Scotland's Music Makers. Birlinn, Limited. pp. 382–. ISBN 978-1-84183-041-4. Champion Doug VEITCH Born: Hawick, Borders. Dubbing himself "The King Of Caledonian Cajun Swing", this otherwise reclusive full-time painter and decorator was a bit of an oddball who fused Celtic dub/reggae with country and cajun.
  3. "Champion Doug Veitch", Keeping It Peel, BBC. Retrieved 2010-10-31
  4. Joel Flegler (1987). Fanfare. 4. 10. J. Flegler. pp. 298–. "You'll like this one," he'd say, handing me everything from elegant, wood-paneled jazz like this, to the infamous Champion Doug Veitch and his Scottish-cajun-country-boogie (three or four Fanfares ago.) A lot of the time he's right. Certainly, in ...
  5. English Dance and Song. 47–48. English Folk Dance and Song Society. 1985. pp. 4–. Closer to home we find Champion Doug Veitch, the undisputed King of Caledonian Cajun Swing. Doug plays an intriguing blend of Country, Reggae, Cajun, Soul and Soca. All combine to make a music that effortlessly transcends the sum of ...
  6. Brian Hinton (2000). Country Roads: How Country Came to Nashville. Sanctuary. pp. 391–. ISBN 978-1-86074-293-4. The Pogues kick-started a new "rogue folk" movement, and the biggest rogue of them all was Scottish wild- man Champion Doug Veitch, billed as "the undisputed king of Caledonian cajun swing". He managed to upset country purists from the ...
  7. Briggs, Billy (25 November 2012). "Whatever Happened to the Bhundu Boys?". Sunday Mail. Archived from the original on 20 February 2016. Retrieved 22 November 2015 – via  – via HighBeam (subscription required) .
  8. McKay, Alastair (19 July 2001). "A bag full of sunshine". The Scotsman. Archived from the original on 20 February 2016. Retrieved 22 November 2015 – via  – via HighBeam (subscription required) .
  9. Thomson, Graeme (2006) "Jinxed: the curse of the Bhundu boys", The Observer, 17 September 2006. Retrieved 31 October 2010
  10. Black Music & Jazz Review. 5. IPC Specialist & Professional Press. May 1982. pp. 50–. Champion Doug Veitch On the face of it, Champion Doug Veitch and his Clydeside Rebels wouldn't appear to be tailor-made for the attentions of BM readers. But appearances can be deceptive. Mr Veitch 's opus "Lumiere Urban", a bizarre ...
  11. Blues & Soul. 461-473. Napfield Limited. July 1986. pp. 186–. Both ; on DiscAfrique, whose frontman, Champion Doug Veitch, has just released a 7" reworking of Mighty Sparrow's "Margarita". • A gathering of some of London's hottest talent takes place i at the Africa Centre on 20th September. African ...
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