Champion Doug Veitch
Encyclopedia
Douglas Veitch, better known as Champion Doug Veitch (born 1960, Hawick
, Scotland
) is a Scottish
musician and songwriter.
, for whom he recorded two radio sessions, 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, which foretold the cross cultural mixing more common in later years.
In 1985, he co-founded the label
DiscAfrique with his colleague Owen Elias, 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.
In 1989, he released an album of Scottish 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 Ph.D. in woodland management. Recently however he has reunited with Bhundu Boys guitarist Rise Kagona under the name Culture Clash
. 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.
Hawick
Hawick is a town in the Scottish Borders of south east Scotland. It is south-west of Jedburgh and south-southeast of Selkirk. It is one of the farthest towns from the sea in Scotland, in the heart of Teviotdale, and the biggest town in the former county of Roxburghshire. Hawick's architecture is...
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
) is a Scottish
Scottish people
The Scottish people , or Scots, are a nation and ethnic group native to Scotland. Historically they emerged from an amalgamation of the Picts and Gaels, incorporating neighbouring Britons to the south as well as invading Germanic peoples such as the Anglo-Saxons and the Norse.In modern use,...
musician and songwriter.
Biography
The self styled 'King of Caledonian Swing' rose to some prominence in the mid 1980s. A favourite of John PeelJohn Peel
John Robert Parker Ravenscroft, OBE , known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey, radio presenter, record producer and journalist. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly from 1967 until his death in 2004...
, for whom he recorded two radio sessions, he holds the record for having most (six) consecutive NME
NME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
singles of the week. His music was a ground-breaking polycultural mix, using elements from dub
Dub music
Dub is a genre of music which grew out of reggae music in the 1960s, and is commonly considered a subgenre, though it has developed to extend beyond the scope of reggae...
, reggae
Reggae
Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...
, country Music
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
and Scottish folk music, which foretold the cross cultural mixing more common in later years.
In 1985, he co-founded the label
Record label
In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...
DiscAfrique with his colleague Owen Elias, which was one of the first world music labels in the United Kingdom, releasing records by The Bhundu Boys, Orchestre Baobab
Orchestre Baobab
Orchestra Baobab is a Senegalese Afro-Cuban, Son, Wolof and Pachanga band. Organized in 1970, as a multi-ethnic, multi-national club band, Orchestre Baobab adapted the then current craze for Cuban Music in West Africa to Wolof Griot culture and the Mandinga musical traditions of the Casamance...
and The Four Brothers
Four Brothers
"Four Brothers" is a jazz standard composed by Jimmy Giuffre and performed by the Woody Herman Orchestra.The song features four saxes in an arrangement that gives each "brother" a solo and culminates in a hard-swinging sax section chorus.The song so typifies the sound of Woody Herman's second...
amongst others.
In 1989, he released an album of Scottish dance music
Céilidh
In modern usage, a céilidh or ceilidh is a traditional Gaelic social gathering, which usually involves playing Gaelic folk music and dancing. It originated in Ireland, but is now common throughout the Irish and Scottish diasporas...
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 Ph.D. in woodland management. Recently however he has reunited with Bhundu Boys guitarist Rise Kagona under the name Culture Clash
Culture Clash (band)
Culture Clash is the Harare Jit band, led by ex-Bhundu Boys guitarist/vocalist Rise Kagona and Champion Doug Veitch , who is credited with bringing the Bhundu Boys to the attention of British audiences...
. Unusually Veitch sings the songs in Shona
Shona language
Shona is a Bantu language, native to the Shona people of Zimbabwe and southern Zambia; the term is also used to identify peoples who speak one of the Shona language dialects: Zezuru, Karanga, Manyika, Ndau and Korekore...
rather than his native tongue. The duo released the album Tanzwa Neku Tambura: We've Suffered Enough in 2007.
Champion Doug Veitch
All 7" unless stated.- Lumiere Urban" (1982)
- "Another Place, Another Time" (1983)
- "Not the Heart" (1984)
- "One Black Night" (1985)
- "Jumping into Love" / "Deep End Version" (1985)
- The Original (albumAlbumAn album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
, Bongo Records, 1989)