The Proclaimers on their terrifying debut performance and the success of I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles)

THEY’RE one of the most instantly recognisable musical duos, the much-loved bespectacled twins responsible for Scotland’s unofficial national anthem.

But The Proclaimers have revealed they were terrified they’d be bottled off the stage the first time they played a major gig more than 30 years ago.

Nerves became frayed when, in 1986, Craig and Charlie Reid were invited to tour alongside The Housemartins following a boozy night out in Hull.

“It was the most scared we’d ever been in our life,” admits Craig of their Birmingham bow. “We had never played to more than 50 people and we were on stage in front of a couple of thousand.”

However, as recalled in a new BBC Scotland documentary celebrating their career, their Midlands support stint put the brothers on the radar of the top record companies.

They were asked to perform an impromptu audition atop a wooden desk in the Chrysalis boardroom, while a £50 video of Throw The ‘R’ Away, shot on Edinburgh’s Royal Mile, helped land them their breakthrough appearance on Channel 4’s The Tube.

“Paula Yates introduced us as, ‘Here’s something totally weird’,” laughs Hibernian fan Charlie. “She wasn’t wrong. We were always going to be fish out of water in anything we did. We went to the football at Easter Road the next day and people were coming up as we were buying a pie saying they saw us last night.”

No one had quite seen anything like them before.

But the siblings wanted to do things on their own terms, and central to that was singing in their native accent.

“It was a determination to do it our own way,” explains Charlie.

“Not ‘sod the consequences’ but just accept the consequences.”

KT Tunstall, just one of a number of big music stars paying tribute in the documentary, names I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles) as her favourite song.

But the tune that has got toes tapping the world over was created in no time on an early acoustic tour in Aberdeen.

“We were getting picked up in an hour,” confides Craig. “I sat down at an electric piano and it came in 45 minutes, the whole lot.

“One of the quickest songs I’ve ever written. It was just like it was writing itself.”

However, the importance of the song can never be underestimated, with Charlie revealing it is the reason they’ve been able to continue making music for decades.

“It pays for tours, new records and underpins everything we do. It’s indestructible, that record.

“We’d never play a gig without it. We’d never get out alive.”

And when quizzed about the possibility of performing separately, he says that they’ll always be a partnership.

“It’s like Sooty and Sweep,” he smiles. “I think it’s unlikely. If we’ve got to the age we’ve got to now I think the solo career and doing some of my numbers with the London Philharmonic will wait.”

Presented by David Tennant, The Proclaimers: This Is The Story marks the 30th anniversary of the release of their debut album of the same name.

Their fellow Scot admits he’s a long-time superfan.

“I bought every album and have seen them live countless times over the years,” says Broadchurch star David, 46, who picked Over And Done With as one of his records on Desert Island Discs.

“I even had Life With You played at my wedding as I walked down the aisle. They never failed to make my heart fly.”

For comedian and actor Matt Lucas, the duo represent “rebellion in an Arran sweater”.

He persuaded the pair to dress up as women for the video for their single Spinning Around In The Air. “As soon as they’d made the decision to drag up they couldn’t get into those clothes fast enough,” says Doctor Who star Matt, 43.

“If the musical career ever dips we could reboot Little Britain and Charlie and Craig could take our roles. They were very natural.”

Nicola Sturgeon is another who confesses the massive part The Proclaimers have played in her life, especially Letter From America.

“It wasn’t just that my home town was mentioned in it, which in itself was quite a big thing,” says the Irvine-born First Minister.

“It spoke about something about my country that motivated me to get involved in politics.

“That song for me is the anthem of my teenage years.

“Over the past 30 years their songs have in many respects been the soundtrack to Scotland’s political journey.”

The Proclaimers: This Is The Story, BBC Two Scotland, Wednesday 9pm.