How The Proclaimers’ “I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles)” Proved the Industry Wrong and Became a Global Hit

Professor of Rock · Jan 27, 2023 · 20m

Coming up, a tale of identical twin brothers who were told by everyone in the music industry that if they wanted to make it in show business, they had to lose their thick Scottish accents. The Proclaimers had a lot against them before they hit with I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles). For example...famous British TV host Paul Yates called them “weird” on their national television debut… But they didn’t care. They refused to drop their accents, and proved their skeptics wrong when their 2nd single rose to #3 on the British Pop Chart, and their 4th single became an International smash- largely because of…