To listen to Dougie chatting with The Proclaimers - click here THE Proclaimers are as Scottish as our "other national drink" and much loved the world over but, like that bottle of Barr's finest, nobody has worked out their recipe for success and identified that secret, magical ingredient!

To listen to Dougie chatting with The Proclaimers - click here

THE Proclaimers are as Scottish as our "other national drink" and much loved the world over but, like that bottle of Barr's finest, nobody has worked out their recipe for success and identified that secret, magical ingredient!

So, when the two most famous members of the Hibs Supporters Association (Auchtermuchty Branch) stuck their faces round the door of my Smooth Radio Drivetime Studio, it was the first question I asked them.

Charlie was quick to answer: "Hard work, it's as simple as that. James Brown was the hardest working man in show business, The Proclaimers are the hardest working duo! We win fans round on a song by song basis."

Craig elaborates with a story from their early years.

"The first time Charlie and I gigged in Glasgow it was at the Barrowland Ballroom where we'd been booked as the support act for the Housemartins.

"They were running late because of a last minute invitation to appear on Top of the Pops, so we downed some liquid courage and braved the main stage."

The boys hadn't banked on an MC with a twisted sense of humour. They told him not to mention they were from Edinburgh, but he introduced them as "The Proclaimers, live and direct from EDINBURGH!" to a room full of half cut Glaswegians.

Craig says: "That was a true baptism of fire but we gradually won them round and our careers have pretty much been based on that same principal, work hard and the success will come."

The Housemartins played a pivotal role in the Reid brothers' early success.

Charlie picks up the story: "They championed us in the early days. They put us on their tour, talked us up on radio and newspaper interviews and helped us."

But it was the emotional fire in their writing that brought the lads to the attention of the producers of the cult TV show The Tube.

The song they performed on the show in January 1987, daringly delivered in a broad Scots accent, concerned the politics and emigration, and was as far removed from the playlist staples of the day as you could possibly get!

Letter from America became an overnight phenomenon, securing the duo thousands of new fans and a multi-album deal with Chrysalis Records.

"It all happened quickly from there," says Charlie, "When we went on The Tube, we were a duo with an acoustic guitar, just two guys chancing their arm, no band, no deal, no clue! Within a month we'd recorded our first album and were on the road with a full band, gigging all over the UK."

So what did that early success mean to the lads, big houses, fast cars, offshore bank accounts? "All we ever wanted to do and all we still want to do, is stay off the dole doing something that we enjoy. We love this business and we're grateful for the fact that it's still providing us with a decent living!"

They weren't kidding about the working' part; after a 129-date, year-long world tour last year, The Proclaimers are back in 2009 with a great new CD Notes and Rhymes, a busy summer festival schedule and a 25-date UK tour this year.

Craig added: "It's what we do, we're working musicians."