This Is the Story

The Proclaimers recorded a demo album with the assistance of Kevin Rowland. The demos caught the attention of Hull-based indie rock band the Housemartins, who invited the duo on their 1986 tour. After that tour afforded them the opportunity, The Proclaimers performed the songs "Throw the 'R' Away" and "Letter from America" on Channel 4 music program The Tube.{{cite web |last1=Monger |first1=Timothy |title=The Proclaimers - Biography and History |url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-proclaimers-mn0000492037/biography |publisher=AllMusic |access-date=20 January 2020}} Following this performance, the band were signed swiftly to Chrysalis Records and began recording This Is The Story within 5 days of signing.{{cite news |title=The Proclaimers: We never even thought about having hits |url=https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/19697165.proclaimers-never-even-thought-hits/ |access-date=10 March 2022 |work=The Herald |date=7 November 2021}}

After signing to Chrysalis, This is the Story was recorded in London at AIR Studios and Strongroom Studios.The liner notes describe This Is The Story as having been recorded at AIR and Strongroom by John Williams. The record was produced by John Williams, who had previously produced the Housemartins' debut album London 0 Hull 4 (1986).

The arrangements of This is the Story were described as "sparse but spirited" by AllMusic's Timothy Monger, featuring as its sole instrumentation Charlie Reid on six- and twelve-string guitar, and Craig Reid on hand percussion and vocals.

Describing This is the Story in 2012, The Scotsman wrote that the record was "written against a backdrop of unemployment and uncertainty".{{cite news |title=Still Game: The Proclaimers at 50 |url=https://www.scotsman.com/arts-and-culture/music/still-game-the-proclaimers-at-50-1-2275726 |access-date=21 February 2020 |work=The Scotsman |date=5 May 2012}} "Letter from America" compared the Highland Clearances of the 18th and 19th centuries to industrial decline in 1980s Scotland during the Premiership of Margaret Thatcher. "It Broke My Heart" similarly was themed around the regional divisions in Britain regarding employment opportunities (see North-South divide).{{cite web |last1=Kitching |first1=Robert Thomas |title=THE IMMOBILITY OF THE LOW-SKILLED AND UNEMPLOYED IN THE UNITED KINGDOM |url=https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10116293/1/out.pdf |access-date=24 December 2023}}

Some songs on This Is the Story contained references to Scottish culture and society. Los Angeles Times described the album's first single, "Throw the 'R' Away", as a celebration of the Scottish accents in which the duo sing and which many critics saw as a potential barrier to commercial success.{{cite news |last=Bohem |first=Mike |title=Proclaimers: Guileless Love Songs in a Rich Burr Earthy Approach Helps Scottish Twins Put Over Paeans of Pure Joy |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-04-28-ca-1870-story.html |accessdate=18 January 2020 |work=Los Angeles Times |date=28 April 1989}}

{{Album ratings

| rev1 = AllMusic

| rev1Score = {{Rating|3|5}}{{cite web |url={{AllMusic|class=album|id=r15835|pure_url=yes}} |title=The Proclaimers: This Is the Story |website=AllMusic |access-date=13 September 2017}}

}}

In 1989, Bill Wyman of Chicago Reader commented that This is the Story was "engaging and charming [...] even sharp in places", but "uneven".{{cite news |last1=Wyman |first1=Bill |title=The Proclaimers--Sunshine on Leith - Music Review |url=https://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/the-proclaimers--sunshine-on-leith/Content?oid=873774 |access-date=17 January 2020 |work=Chicago Reader |agency=Chicago Reader |date=27 April 1989}}

This Is the Story was ranked No. 18 on Record Mirror's "End of Year List" for 1987.{{cite web |title=Record Mirror List |url=http://www.rocklistmusic.co.uk/recordmirror.htm |website=RockListMusic |access-date=18 January 2020}}{{Better source needed|date=January 2020}}

This Is the Story was ranked at No.2 by The Scotsman on their list "100 Best Scottish Albums" in 2003, behind only Screamadelica by Primal Scream (1991).{{cite news |url=http://www.scotsman.com/music/100-best-Scottish-albums-.2470410.jp |title=100 Best Scottish Albums Nos 1–25 |newspaper=The Scotsman |date=16 October 2003 |access-date=8 January 2008}}

This Is the Story had a notable impact on Canadian alternative rock band Barenaked Ladies, with former member Steven Page calling the album "perfect for us", elaborating that "it was exactly what we were; two guys with acoustic guitars, singing in harmony. It had all the energy of punk rock but just with acoustic guitars and voices" and Ed Robertson praising it as "the best thing" he'd ever heard.{{cite book |last1=Meyers |first1=Paul |title=Barenaked Ladies: Public Stunts, Private Stories |date=2007 |publisher=Simon and Schuster |isbn=9781416587361 |page=36 |edition=Illustrated |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yTRuJKlUoHcC |access-date=11 January 2020}}

All songs written by Charlie Reid and Craig Reid unless otherwise noted.

{{Tracklist

| title1 = Throw the 'R' Away

| length1 = 2:44

| title2 = Over and Done With

| length2 = 2:47

| title3 = Misty Blue

| length3 = 3:35

| title4 = The Part That Really Matters

| length4 = 2:42

| title5 = (I'm Gonna) Burn Your Playhouse Down

| note5 = written by Lester Blackwell

| length5 = 1:59

| title6 = Letter from America

| note6 = Acoustic Version

| length6 = 4:03

| title7 = Sky Takes the Soul

| length7 = 2:22

| title8 = It Broke My Heart

| length8 = 2:25

| title9 = The First Attack

| length9 = 3:58

| title10 = Make My Heart Fly

| length10 = 2:28

| title11 = Beautiful Truth

| length11 = 4:26

| title12 = The Joyful Kilmarnock Blues

| length12 = 3:04

| title13 = Letter from America

| note13 = Band Version

| length13 = 4:00

}}

;The Proclaimers

• Craig Reid – vocals, tambourine, bongos, marracas
• Charlie Reid – acoustic six-string and twelve-string guitar, acoustic bass, vocals
• Ian Maidman – bass and keyboards (band versions){{cite web |url=http://www.discogs.com/Proclaimers-Letter-From-America-Band-Version/release/4203099 |title=The Proclaimers – Letter From America (Band Version) |publisher=Discogs |access-date=13 September 2017}}

;Production

• Produced by John Williams
• Track 13 produced by Gerry Rafferty and Hugh Murphy
• Engineered and mixed by Phil Bodger
• Assistant Engineering (Strongroom Studios): Danton Supple
• Assistant Engineering (Air Studios): Matt Howe
• Photography by Nick Knight
• Design by John Pasche

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Category:1987 debut albums

Category:Chrysalis Records albums

Category:The Proclaimers albums

Category:Folk punk albums

Category:Minimal music albums

Category:Post-punk albums by Scottish artists