Latest news with #SallyMagnusson
The Independent
18-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Independent
Texas star Spiteri recalls early days in music as she collects honorary degree
Sharleen Spiteri has said she would have been happy if her band had written 'just one hit record' when she started out as she was awarded an honorary doctorate for her services to music. The singer, who formed Scots rock group Texas in 1986 with her bandmates, said she never anticipated the band achieving global success as she sat recording debut single, I Don't Want A Lover, which kickstarted the group's path to fame. On Wednesday, the University of Glasgow (UoG) recognised a number of individuals for services to their respective fields and industries, including: Spiteri; broadcaster Kirsty Young; political scientist Professor Sir John Curtice; and the author and journalist, Sally Magnusson. Following the special commemoration day ceremony, which marked the foundation of the university, Spiteri, originally from Bellshill, North Lanarkshire, said it was 'emotional' to have received such recognition for her career in music, and said she and her sister wished their mother could have been there to witness the occasion. She told the PA News Agency: 'When I got the call, the first thing I did was phone my sister, Corrine, up and said, 'you will never believe this' and both us us were wishing my mum could have been here to see it, which makes it really special. 'In the moment, you're sitting in there and you're surrounded by the other honoraries and you listen to their stories. 'You're listening to what they've done and it gets really emotional because you're thinking about all the people that got you here. She added: 'It takes a lot of people to allow you to support you and to be successful. You don't start successful, nobody does.' The band's current line-up, consists of Spiteri, Johnny McElhone (bass, guitar, keyboards); Ally McErlaine (guitar); Eddie Campbell (keyboards); Tony McGovern (guitar, backing vocals); and Cat Myers (drums). Next year, the band marks 40 years together, and Spiteri said she had no idea the group would have ever become as famous as they are now. She said: 'Honest to god, I thought if I could just write one hit record, I'd be happy. 'Johnny McElhone and I thought that as the two of us sat there in a spare room, literally recording on a four-track, writing I Don't Want A Lover and we thought, 'we can write one song'. 'He had already been in successful bands before, he'd already written a few hit records, so I feel that I probably had a better chance than a lot of people.' Asked if the band has any plans to mark the 40th anniversary, Spiteri said: 'Well, if I tell you, then you know about it, don't you? It's what you don't know about you'll have to wait and see. 'We've got a big summer this year, we've got 30 festivals around the world. So we're doing that and I'm actually heading off now to literally get back on the tour bus.' Asked what advice she would offer any young, aspiring musicians hoping to get into the industry, she joked: 'Don't listen to people like me.' Also honoured, Kirsty Young spent 35 years working as a broadcaster across a number of TV and radio outlets, including the BBC, STV, Channel 5 and ITV. She was made an Honorary Doctor for her services to her industry, and said it means a 'huge amount' to her. She told the PA News Agency: 'The thing about this honorary degree is it genuinely, deeply feels like an honour.' She added: 'My mother is a Glaswegian, my grandparents and great grandparents were Glaswegian, so to be in this great city and receive this award means a huge amount.' Asked what advice she would offer those who want to work in broadcasting, she said: 'I think the best thing you can do if you're interested in breaking into broadcasting is become a kind of citizen journalist. 'You've got it all in your hands – when I started I was packing camera cases for camera men, there were no camera women in those days or female sound recorders. 'I was labelling tapes, it was a very big, cumbersome operation, but anybody who is at university now will know that it can just be them and their phone or a little camera and they can make news and they can upload it to YouTube and do their own thing. 'So, I would say, get experience by getting the on-air miles under your belt by doing that, and badger organisations that you want to work for. It's a really hard game and it's harder than ever now because people aren't used to paying for content. 'Stick at it, it's a hard game, but it will give you a fantastically interesting life, and you will have access to people and places that most people never get to see or speak to so it's really worth it.' Professor Sir John Curtice, who was awarded an honorary doctorate of letters, said: 'It's a great delight to receive an honorary degree from the university. It is a rare accolade, and I appreciate the university for having awarded it to me. 'In a sense, it's a recognition or a celebration of the fact that I have been able to work with Glasgow University over a number of years. And the fact that, although I'm a member of a different, somewhat rival institution on the other side of the city, it's been perfectly willing to allow me to work, or to be involved in some of the work of this institution as well.' Sally Magnusson, who was awarded a doctor of the university degree, added: 'I'm absolutely thrilled to have got this wonderful doctorate, from the University of Glasgow. 'It has been a real thrill for me to discover what the inside of this lovely university is like, and to be part of its history is tremendous. Centuries and centuries of history and beauty and learning – it's fantastic.'
Scotsman
16-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Scotsman
Borders Book Festival, Melrose review: 'banter and rage'
Sign up to our Arts and Culture newsletter, get the latest news and reviews from our specialist arts writers Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Let's look back a bit. That's what Borders Book Festival director Alistair Moffat, newly minted MBE, is doing in his latest book – looking back at how much Scotland has changed in his lifetime – and in part it's what his festival's stars were doing last weekend. For Sally Magnusson and Kirsty Wark ('just a couple of pensioners talking to another lot of pensioners' – Wark) that meant looking back in banter on a half-century's worth of friendship and curiously intertwining – not to say, now that they're both novelists with the same publisher and even editor – mirroring careers. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Looking back is something Michael Palin has done every day since 6 April 1969, when he first started writing his journal 'to give each day a value': within a week he had the very first meeting about something that became known as Monty Python. 'It worked,' he said, 'because we took extremely silly behaviour very seriously.' Sally Magnusson PIC: Robert Perry / The Scotsman It's a strange art, this ability to be affable in front of 550 people without the slightest trace of ego, but Palin has it in spades. This is a man whom John Cleese ('the funniest man in my generation') wanted to take as his luxury item (because he talks so much it would be like a radio') on Desert Island Discs. The Dalai Lama even said he wanted to be his personal assistant, for heaven's sake. Alison Steadman is less assured talking about herself (who isn't?) but as soon as she started explaining how she got into character for her roles, she was fascinating. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Beverly in Abigail's Party, she said, drew heavily on a makeup artist at Selfridges, while her Mrs Bennet in Pride and Prejudice (the one with Colin Firth) owed a lot to her aunt. Jim Swire, played by Firth in the recent BBC drama Lockerbie, says he is still driven by the rage that started when he found out that one of the reasons his daughter Flora found it so easy to book a flight on Pan Am 103 in that normally busy time just before Christmas was that some passengers had been deterred by a US Helsinki embassy warning that a bomb would be put on a US-bound plane from Frankfurt. After 37 years, his demand that we be told all the facts of the case seems irrefutable. What about the future? Andrew Marr joined Magnusson and Moffat in a brilliant, freewheeling discussion of how the media can cope with what Gavin Esler on Friday called 'truth decay' – the way in which lies flourish as we retreat to our own thought-silos and rely on social media for news. Marr is, however, surprisingly upbeat: 24-hour TV news is on its way out, so is Trump, there's still great journalism out there, and it's more accessible than ever. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad
Daily Mail
04-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
JOHN MACLEOD: A song of praise for TV's Sally, who endured horror enough for a lifetime
I recently enjoyed some holiday with my mother in her new Glasgow pad, barely half an hour's walk from where we lived through the Seventies. And, walking hither and yon, I visited many old haunts. Schools. The Jordanhill woods. Victoria Park and – just in time, as it sadly proved – the Renfrew ferry. Which often saw me stumping along Anniesland Road. Even the name sets me a little on edge, for I remember my parents' horror back in 1973. Solemn warnings. Talk of kerb-drill and the Green Cross Code. After an 11 year-old boy with a very famous father, dashing joyously – as boys do – from his school bus, by the Glasgow Academy playing-fields, was struck by a vehicle. Sigursteinn Magnusson died three days later. His mother Mamie, for ages after, would retreat to her room and howl. Jamming the door shut with her leg, so that her other children should not see. The other day Sally Magnusson starred on Songs of Praise, the programme she had presented for decades. If being, on this occasion, the guest, she betrayed no unease on being the other side of the microphone. Against the backdrop of the Campsie Fells – and still adjusting to a new chapter in her life; she quit Reporting Scotland early in April – she reflected on deep things. 'It's a messy sort of affair, my faith,' she told Sean Fletcher. 'It's full of questions…' Sally Magnusson – journalist, broadcaster, author, campaigner – has been in the public eye since the late Seventies. An ongoing career astonishing, too, for her versatility. It was my privilege one morning in January 2017 to work with her when Songs of Praise came to Lewis. My job was to talk about the Iolaire disaster, when over 200 men drowned at the mouth of Stornoway harbour, at New Year 1919 on their return from the Great War. Sally, over breakfast, was delightful – but focussed. She pushed me hard on one detail. I assured her that, yes, it was still Britain's biggest peacetime disaster at sea since the Titanic; but those precise words must be used. I did not say, even in jest, 'I've started, so I'll finish.' Magnus Magnusson's daughter – she owns the Mastermind chair – gets that a lot, I suspect, and I doubt it was ever funny. The death of Siggy, five years her junior, would have been horror enough for one lifetime. At 51, Sally Magnusson found herself facing into others. Her father, still alert and vital, was wasting away to cancer – and there was something far wrong with her mother. Mamie Baird, born in Rutherglen in 1925, was far more than Mrs Magnus Magnusson, mother of five. She was a brilliant writer in her own right - 'one of the finest journalists of her day,' mused the late Jack Webster – and did much of the research for her husband's books. And, as far as her health went, Mamie did all the right things. Ate healthily, kept trim, went for great long walks, read constantly, learned lifelong. A striking beauty, 'with a smile that could eclipse lighthouses.' Yet, by the last weeks of her husband's life – Magnus died in January 2007 – she could not safely be left in charge of his medicines. Though still at the fey, giggly stage, Mamie Magnusson had dementia. Sally and her siblings had a big decision to make. They could consign their mother to some institution – they had ample means – or they could care for her, in her own home and familiar environment, themselves. They settled unhesitatingly on the latter. And through the years that followed, as children and grandchildren pulled together, Sally had to turn down big career opportunities, fulfil the duties she had and carry, too, her man (Norman Stone is an esteemed TV director) and her five maturing children. From protracted, sometimes nightmarish years, and in the spirit of beauty for ashes, came perhaps Scotland's best memoir this century, Where Memories Go. With, even at that time, scant professional support, Sally came to grips with what was happening to her mother. I know of no other book that captures, with such searing honesty, what it is like to care for a frightened, failing parent. Around 44 million people on the planet live with dementia. Most are in the developed world: after all, we live longer. 7.7 million new cases are diagnosed every year. You can support, you can mitigate, you can carry – but there is no cure. Dementia is not actually a disease, but a condition, born from a host of pathologies and of which Alzheimer's is just the most infamous. But they all mean the same thing – changes to the way electrical charges work in the brain, and the activity of our neurotransmitters. And there is nothing you can do to prevent dementia – save, perhaps, choose the right parents. We're not talking about the sort of 'senior moment' forgetfulness that at times startles us all. (The other day, for the life of me, I could not remember who had played the tenth Doctor Who.) Dementia, as has been bleakly said, is not forgetting where the key is: it is forgetting what the key is for. There is not even the comfort that dementia shields the sufferer from reality and self-awareness. Mamie Magnusson knew something was far wrong; my late father, in the last months of his life, was in no doubt that something terrible was happening to him. Someone with dementia will try desperately to make sense of things from assorted, disparate fragments of memory. Sometimes to hilarious consequence: Mamie once announced to her family that, when she was sixteen, she had worked with Attila the Hun. But, sometimes, too, in ways that are not the least funny. The godly old matron who becomes foul-mouthed. Frightening personality changes. Aggression, tantrums and venom. And the desperate isolation of the carer. 'I was hungry for other people's experience,' Sally has recalled. 'It's a tremendously lonely thing to be in the middle of – extraordinarily so when you think that so many people are on the same journey, and yet each one feels so alone.' To their great surprise, the family found music a mercy. It calmed and cheered their mother. She still knew hundreds of songs by heart. Could harmonise beautifully. Sally Magnusson has since launched Playlist for Life, after studies in New York demonstrated how much familiar music helps a disintegrating personality. Like her Mum, devastated by the way her mind was pouring from her cells like water through a sieve. But there are still the swipes of its claws. 'Don't touch me,' hissed Mamie when Sally tried to embrace her one Christmas. And how dreadfully, exhausted and harried and scared, you can sometimes behave yourself. 'I am aghast at how quickly my temper frays,' Sally would write, 'when nothing I say or do seems to help.' Mamie Magnusson died on 12 April 2012. Once, near the end, Sally brought up her late brother. Her mother smiled quizzically. Bent forward, determined to be polite. 'Now remind me. Who is Siggy?' Where Memories Go: Why Dementia Changes Everything. By Sally Magnusson. John Murray Press. £10.99
Daily Record
22-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Record
All the fun of the fair from Calderwood Primary School Parent Council
A terrific afternoon raised thousands for the school, and there was a special video message from former pupil and TV presenter Sally Magnusson. Calderwood Primary School Parent Council brought all the fun of the retro fair to the local community on Saturday. And it was also an extra-special one as the school – which recently received a glowing report following an inspection in January – was also celebrating its 75th anniversary. Visitors to the fair enjoyed some fun in the sun with attractions that included fairground games, circus skills, Animal Man's mini-zoo and a silent disco. Ex-Calderwoodies were reunited for the anniversary celebrations which included a video message from well-known Scottish broadcast journalist and TV presenter Sally Magnusson. She is a former pupil of the school who lived on Calderwood Road with parents Magnus Magnusson and Mamie Baird. A 75th birthday celebration cake was also cut by some original pupils that attended the school in the 1950s and a time capsule was buried in the garden with specially-selected items from current pupils in each class. Ex-pupils of the Rutherglen school also had a chance to wander down memory lane through a corridor of photo memories and memorabilia that were lovingly curated by the staff. The fundraising event generated a whopping £9147 pure profit – the most the school has ever made at a summer fair. These funds will ensure every child enjoys a school trip, free fun events and additional school resources. Elaine Miller, chair of Calderwood Primary School's parent council said; 'The sun shone in more ways than one on Saturday. What an incredible day and a fantastic amount of funds raised in three hours. 'With local council cuts these funds are even more vital. They enable each child to have at least one school trip a year and allow us to deliver free fun events for our children in recognition of the cost of living for families. 'We have also funded some essential school resources like books and overhead projectors in the absence of local council funding. This event could not have been achieved without a tremendous team effort. 'A huge thank you to all our parent volunteers, school staff, pupils and Calderwood community for coming along and supporting the school.'
The National
30-04-2025
- Business
- The National
BBC announces new presenter for flagship Reporting Scotland show
Laura Goodwin, who has worked as BBC Scotland's innovation correspondent since 2018, will join the programme next month alongside current presenter Laura Miller. It comes after Sally Magnusson (below) announced she was stepping down after 27 years in the role. Goodwin was born in South Africa and moved to Scotland at the age of 12, going on to study sociology at the University of Edinburgh. She started her broadcast career at Moray Firth Radio in Inverness before moving to STV in Aberdeen as a presenter and reporter. Goodwin will start her new role on Reporting Scotland from next month, presenting on Thursdays and Fridays. She said: "I am delighted to be officially joining the Reporting Scotland presentation team after six years working as a correspondent for the BBC. READ MORE: Thousands expected at Orange Order march for VE day 80th anniversary "To take over from Sally Magnusson, someone I hold in such high regard, is an incredible honour. "I look forward to sharing the week, and the Reporting Scotland desk, with the wonderful Laura Miller, delivering the stories that matter to our audience. "On a personal note, this is an opportunity that as a once very shy little girl, I could only have dreamt of and I am looking forward to getting started." Gary Smith, head of news and current affairs at BBC Scotland, said: "Laura is a brilliant addition to the Reporting Scotland team. "She is a consummate professional who presents with authority, flair and grace. "A great journalist and interviewer too, who gets straight to the heart of a story."
