It was August 1988 when Edinburgh twins Craig and Charlie Reid released this song and were encouraged to keep their thick Scottish accents for the first time. Now, over three decades later, the cash they made from today’s song has allowed them to keep touring all these years later.
While the single failed to reach the top of the charts in the UK, it did hit No1 overseas. The first place this song reached was Iceland when it was released in 1988. In the US, this song peaked at number three that same year.
The song enjoyed a resurgence five years after its initial release when it appeared in romantic comedy movie Benny And Joon starring Johnny Depp and Mary Stuart Masterson. This song has been used in a string of top movies and TV shows like How I Met Your Mother and Grey’s Anatomy.
Craig has revealed it didn’t take him long to write the song. He says back in 1988, the twins were in a flat in Edinburgh waiting to head to a gig. They had an hour to kill so he sat down and started playing the piano. Within 45 mins, he had the music and lyrics down.
Various artists have covered the iconic number over the years. Phish played it at their now legendary performance at Madison Square Gardens in 1997. Imagine Dragons played a live version of it at the 2014 T In The Park and nearly four million people have watched it online.
This duo might seem like a one hit wonder, but they have released many successful albums in their native Scotland, but despite success with other work, Reid has said that the band's earnings from the song are about five times the rest of their catalogue combined.
A Scottish Government life-saving campaign encouraged people to do CPR to the rhythm of today’s song. They released a short film which showed a woman trying to save someone who had collapsed in a garden. The woman carries out the proper CPR technique while singing some slightly different lyrics
The Proclaimers...I’m Gonna Be (500 MIles)...I Know That Song