Their descriptions makes them sound more like a group of friends that would come together for a pleasant round of golf.
But this retired Minister, computer programmer, property valuer and mortgage advisor – all over 60 – have something surprising in common.
The foursome are enjoying newfound fame after an album they made as young rockers has become a collector’s item – and has been re-released.
“We’re all retired, or close to it, and now we find ourselves on a record label’s listings right beside The Who, The Stones and Nirvana,” said Rev Doug McRoberts, who played lead guitar on the 1974 recording. “Back in the 1970s, I was lead guitarist with a hard rock band called White Light. We were finalists in Melody Maker’s national rock contest in 1972, no less – and we issued a vinyl LP ‘Parable’ before becoming adults and going off to more conventional careers.”
Now Mr McRoberts, 66 and from Inverness, and his fellow band members are amazed to find their music back in demand – with the LP listed as an ultra-rare collector’s item and one example exchanging hands in the United States for $950.
Mr McRoberts, who for many years was a church minister in Malta, said: “It was a huge surprise. We never thought this would happen. Who would think that one of the first things to happen after we retire is for our music to be re-issued?”
The band was White Light, a quartet of committed Christians who were determined to spread the Gospel through rock music. Mr McRoberts and his brother, bass player Daves, 62 from Newton Mearns, teamed up with drummer Alex Smith, 65, from Glasgow, and keyboardist David Murdoch, 65, from West Kilbride.
The album — Parable — was recorded in Paisley and issued on the Scotia Records label. Just 2,000 copies of the LP went on the market.
Back in 1974, Doug was an assistant minister in East Kilbride. After the band split in 1975, he went on to a career in communications before returning to ministry at Keith in Moray. From there he went to Malta where he helped create the Out of Africa into Malta refugee project.