Jimmy Shand tune proves unlikely Euro rave hit

AN ENTERPRISING DJ has catapulted the late Sir Jimmy Shand to fame in Europe’s nightclubs - by turning one of his popular tunes into a dance hit.

‘Shander’, a seven minute remix of the The Linton Ploughman, based on The Muckin’ O’ Geordie’s Byre, has topped the download charts in Germany and creator Stevie Lennon, who curates the Stereofunk Festival in Strathclyde Park has revealed the secret behind its success.

The 33-year-old DJ said: “I’ve been a fan of Jimmy Shand for years and I made the track orginally for myself. But I saw more than 1000 people doing the Highland fling to it at Stereofunk this year, and that’s when I thought I’d try and get it released.

• Listen to Shander

“When people hear it in the clubs, they stop what they’re doing and start dancing.

“To see it at number one is just phenomenal. I expect it to become a big track in Scotland but I’m just delighted with how it’s gone so far.”

Sir Jimmy Shand, who died in 2000 aged 92, sold millions of records in a career spanning 70 years, breaking into the UK Top 20 with the Bluebell Polka in 1955.

Scottish folk music is no stranger to the popular music scene, with Canadian punk band the Real McKenzies drawing on their Scottish ancestry for several of their offerings, with the Skye Boat Song, Scots Wha’ Ha’e and Loch Lomond getting the punk treatment on their debut album, and Wild Mountain Thyme appearing on their wonderfully-named sophomore effort ‘Clash of the Tartans’.

Personally, we can’t wait for the scenes of euphoria to unfold in Ibiza’s clubs when techno remixes of Lonnie Donegan are released (well, we can dream).