The Scottish Gentry, or How We Learned To Love Music Again

"The Scottish Gentry, or How we learned to love Music Again!"
Coming up in the next couple hours, we will see how one band and their music changed the entire world.

Chapter 1- The Part You All Already Know Of.

On January 12, 2004, the band Franz Ferdinand released their single "Take Me Out". It became such a hit that it changed the world around it.

NME called their album "Franz Ferdinand" the "Greatest thing since sliced bread. I think they are going to be the biggest thing to ever reach the top of the music pedestal since Elvis."

The Rolling Stone said "It is inconceivable of how good this album is. Drop the magazine and buy it now."

It quickly went to the top of the UK and US Billboards, and by the end of January, Take Me Out was inescapable. You could not go anywhere without hearing the song. Howard Dean, the Democratic candidate for the Presidency versing the incumbent George W Bush, was, and still is, a huge supporter for the band. "Take Me Out" only grew more. It became an disease that nobody wanted to get rid of.

Howard Dean took some time off from his campaign to spend a day with the band, making his popularity rise. Alex Kapranos, the lead singer of Franz Ferdinand, lead his support behind Dean. It made little sense, because Dean is American, and Alex is Scottish.

OOC: Look for some surprises here. If you get the butterfly correct, you get a brownie point!
 
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The POD is that it's an entirely different and somehow much better song?? ;)

Seriously, though: "Take Me Out" peaked at #66 in the U.S. -- it's going to take a lot to get it to #1.
 
Chapter 2: The beginning, or the part nobody likes to hear about.

"Around 1997 or 98 is when I met Alex. We were at a party, and I think a friend named ..... Oh **** it! I can't remember, but we started to talk, and we quickly became friends. I soon joined a band called The Yummy Fur, and six months later Alex joined. Well, after we all broke apart, I started to DJ all around Glasgow, and I became a nude model. Boy was that fun. Alex was a musician wanting to become an artist, and Bob (the Bassist of the band) was an artist wanting to become a musician. Well, they quickly became friends. They first became friends, I wish I was kidding, by Bob telling Alex dead baby jokes. Nick (The Lead Guitarist) became friends with Alex. God forbid I remember how, but I think it was all at the Art school, where I was nude modeling and where Bob was studying. It is funny how a small world can lead to great things." - Excerpt from the Tour De Franz Documentary, 2005.

Soon they became a band together, Paul Thomson, being the Lead Guitar, Nick McCarthy being the Drums, Bob Hardy being the Bassist, and Alex Kapranos being guitarist/ Lead Vocals.

Soon, Paul and Nick switched instruments as it became very clear Nick was pretty bad at drums.

Soon they played small gigs around Glasgow, gaining attention around the music industry in Glasgow.

One person who it caught the eye of was Angus Young, who had accidentally gone into the wrong bar, missing Oasis's gig the next block over.

"I was going to a bar for a secret bloody gig by a band called Oasis. It was a small gig by Oasis, and to this day, I refuse to listen to them. I went into the wrong bar actually. I only found out it was Franz when at the end they said " We are Franz Ferdinand." Or some ******* thing like that. I called up some friends in the music industry, and that is how they got signed to EMI."
 
Chapter 3, or how the album that changed the world was made.

"Chapter 3, or how the album that changed the world was made."

Soon, in 2003, Sony requested that their album would be released on January 12th, 2004. It was planned that the single Take Me Out would also be released on the same day.

"We were taken aback when they told us the plan! It was either gonna backfire badly or it was gonna succeed pretty well." NME Magazine- 2013

And so, on May 16, 2003, they started to record. On September 21, 2003, they started to tour around the UK. They were medium sized venues. Larger bars, and some colleges around, but especially The Glasgow School of Art.

"Around the end of 2003 is when the album really took off. Well, of course it was not on shelves, but the advertisement was unseen. EMI knew they had something good on their hands. The first single, Take Me Out, was already in everyone's heads, as video games were begging EMI to put our songs on their games! It was the craziest thing we had ever seen. We saw our album cover on Times Square! EMI really went overboard on the single and the album, but more on the single if anything." The Rolling Stone- 2011

The Album, which was written only by the band, but was produced with help of Angus Young, had 13 songs.

Album: Franz Ferdinand
by: Franz Ferdinand
01.Jacqueline
02.Tell Her Tonight
03.Take Me Out
04.The Dark Of The Matinee
05.Auf Achse
06.Cheating On You
07.This Fire
08.Darts Of Pleasure
09.Michael
10.Come On Home
11.Love And Destroy
12.Shopping For Blood
13.40'
 
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So, Angus Young gets lost, and a slightly different sounding Franz Ferdinand end up being a bigger deal than before.

Butterflies from Caledonia lead to Howard Dean getting the nod from the Democratic Convention. How did I do?
 
So, Angus Young gets lost, and a slightly different sounding Franz Ferdinand end up being a bigger deal than before.

Butterflies from Caledonia lead to Howard Dean getting the nod from the Democratic Convention. How did I do?

Actually, it will all make sense in the next chapter.
 
Chapter 4, Howard Dean, or how we learned to become Deaniacs.

On January 14, 2004, Franz Ferdinand went to Iowa. Of course, they were on tour. Also, this was 2 days after their highly anticipated release of the greatest album of all time. So, when Howard Dean asked for them to do a concert on his behalf, his poll numbers in Iowa went back up. Howard and the band spent the day together.

Come January 19th, he came in second in the Iowa Primary. People say that the day Franz Ferdinand came to support him, was the day his campaign turned around. John Edwards came in third, and Richard Gephardt dropped out and down to forth. John Kerry came in first.

Soon, Howard Dean got more and more supporters, especially since he got the ball rolling again with endrosements from more people.

Dean's enthusiastic speech about going to D.C. was well applauded by fans, and the press seemed to agree in total. (Dean Scream moment that cost him the election IOTL)

Dean soon got through almost unscathed through New Hampshire.

Polls showed Kerry on top, and Dean at a close second.

Once Dean started winning key states, soon Edwards endorsed Dean, and Kerry started to fall apart. Dean finally pulled out the nomination when it was obvious that Kerry had no shot of winning.

When Dean won the nomination, he of course, thanked his favorite band, Franz Ferdinand.
 
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