Alex Glasgow

Alex Glasgow (14 October 1935 – 14 May 2001) was a singer/songwriter from Low Fell, Gateshead, England. He was educated at Gateshead Grammar School where he founded the Caprians, a choir that, 55 years on and still counting, is thriving. He graduated in German at the University of Leeds. He wrote the songs and music for the successful musical plays Close the Coal House Door and On Your Way, Riley! by Alan Plater, and scripts for the TV drama When the Boat Comes In, the theme song of which he sang. He also worked in Germany and emigrated to Australia in 1981.

Alex met Paddy (Patricia) Wallace at Leeds University in 1955. They later married in Bremen, North Germany on 5 July 1961. They had their first child Richie (Richard Duncan) in 1963, their second Dan (Daniel Alexander) in 1965. Ruth their daughter was born in 1968.

Alex was a traditional working class singer-songwriter. His style would be regarded as solidly within the British (and wider) folk music tradition. He became widely known for his own style of Geordie folk songs, often on political topics, generally socialist and/or trades union-focused. He wrote his own songs, not all political, and earlier in his career sang versions of other popular Geordie folk and socialist political tunes and some of the best of these can be found on albums such as Songs of (Alex Glasgow) and Now and Then. His songs included "The Sunsets, Bonny Lad (the sunsets, that will drive your breath away)", "Any Minute Now", "(They're) Turning the Clock Back (he could hear his granny say)", "The Mary Baker City Mix", "In My Town" and "When It's Ours"(Jackie Boy, when it's ours...).

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