How Scottish band The McKinlays blazed a trail for girl power in the 1960s but fell foul of industry sexism
The McKinlays worked alongside bands like The Beatles and The Rolling Stone
‘Girl power’ may be associated with the Spice Girls, but 60 years ago The McKinlays blazed a trail by becoming the first Scottish girl band to break into the charts and also to perform at Wembley.
They played with bands like The Beatles and were close enough to realise that John, Paul, George and Ringo were not “these big icons” but “just very nice guys”, which is good to hear. Band member Jeanette Gallacher, who formed the band with her sister, Sheila, said: “They were just our colleagues, we would chat to them.”
However, while the men became fabulously wealthy, in stark contrast The McKinlays struggled to make ends meet. “Guys have power that girls don't in that business, especially back then,” Gallacher said.
A documentary, called Since Yesterday: The Untold Story of Scotland’s Girl Bands, is to be shown during the Fringe by the Sea festival next month – a chance to hear their half-forgotten, joyful and very 60s music, and lament what might have been had they lived in more enlightened times.
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