On Christmas 1984, the four members participated in the Band Aid charity record " Do They Know It's Christmas?". They are among a small handful of acts to contribute a spoken message to the B-side of the single. Find sources: "Big Country"– news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR ( April 2014) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message)

Their second album Steeltown (1984) was a hit as soon as it was released, entering the UK Albums Chart at No. 1. [3] The album featured three UK top 30 hit singles, and received considerable critical acclaim on both sides of the Atlantic, but like Wonderland (and, in fact, all subsequent releases) it was a commercial disappointment in the US, peaking at No. 70 on the Billboard album chart. [6]

Release

The culmination was a concert at the Glen Pavilion in Dunfermline and an interview with BBC Radio Scotland where the CBS Studio demos were utilised. The band then played live with Alice Cooper's Special Forces tour for two concerts in February 1982 at Brighton and Birmingham. Proper Records are delighted to make again available the first three albums from the much-loved Big Country. Originally released on Mercury Records between 1983 and 1986, these records – The Crossing, Steeltown, and The Seer – sound as striking and singular now as they did when first heard. Sisältää hitin: Levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1961" (in Finnish). Sisältää Hitin - Suomen listalevyt (Timo Pennanen) . Retrieved 11 August 2016. That would have been the Harvest Home single, released in September 1982. That was the first time the Big Country logo was used, and when Julian arrived he found that the idea for the logo was already on the table.

a b c d e f g h i Colin Larkin, ed. (2003). The Virgin Encyclopedia of Eighties Music (Thirded.). Virgin Books. pp.60/1. ISBN 1-85227-969-9. The Irish Charts - All there is to know". irishcharts.ie. Archived from the original on 5 January 2010. Julian would work as a freelancer for a few years before the call came to work for Big Country. “I got introduced to Big Country through their product manager at Phonogram. I was working freelance at the time and my two biggest clients were The Clash and Adam and the Ants. As a result I was working a lot for CBS. Suddenly I got a call out of the blue – completely out of the blue! – from a guy at Phonogram called Bob Fisher. Phonogram had got a couple of new acts, including Tears For Fears, which was who Bob called me about. I ended up doing some work with him for Tears For Fears. He was so pleased with that, and we were obviously starting quite a good relationship. When Big Country signed, it was like, ‘come in and meet them, they are coming down from Scotland. We’ll have a meeting at the office.’ I can’t remember who was in the meeting, I think it might just have been Bruce and Stuart. Their A&R man Chris Briggs was also there.” a b Strachan, Graeme (16 September 2022). "Big Country and Harvest Home: The start of something special for Fife band that conquered the world". The Courier . Retrieved 21 October 2023. Julian has long since left the music industry behind. For the last three decades he has worked under the banner of Vegas Design, being involved in all aspects of brand creation, identity development, design and marketing for the art, publishing, and classic car world.BIG COUNTRY - full Official Chart History - Official Charts Company". Official Charts Company . Retrieved 5 November 2018.

Message from Derek Forbes — Big Country – It's more than a journey. It's an adventure". Bigcountry.co.uk. 31 December 2012. Archived from the original on 22 February 2014 . Retrieved 8 April 2014. Mike Peters left the band in November 2013 at the end of their 19-date Land's End to John O'Groats UK Tour. The band attributed Peters' departure to his inability to commit fully to Big Country, much of his time being devoted to The Alarm and solo projects. Initially, the band intended to continue as a four-piece, sharing lead vocals and returning all the songs to their original keys; Peters had required the songs to be tuned lower to accommodate his deeper voice. [26] However, when they resurfaced in December 2013, they were joined by English singer Simon Hough, who performed most of the lead vocals as well as harmonica and additional guitar. [27] [28] While the status of Hough's membership was not immediately clarified, in a March 2014 podcast, Bruce Watson confirmed that Hough was now the band's fifth member. He also indicated that the group was working on new material, which would involve Hough, for potential future release. [29] Opening the evening is the wonderfully talented Charlotte Grayson. Please come and show her your support. You’ll be glad you did. There was plenty of depth beyond the singles, with songs like “Inward” exuding a choppy energy that had remained intact from the new wave days. “1000 Stars” and others built an intricate wall of guitar sound, carefully constructed by the band with producer Steve Lillywhite. The opening section of “The Storm” showed their more acoustic side, on an album entirely written by the four members of a big new British attraction of the era. Hung, Steffen. "Big Country - The Crossing" (in Dutch). dutchcharts.nl . Retrieved 15 September 2011.

Those vintage adventure-style drawings would become an important part of the art direction for the first album campaign. There was talk of featuring one (or several) of those on the sleeve itself, but that did not work out. This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sourcesin this section. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.