Containing hits I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles) and Letter From America, Sunshine on Leith was the album that propelled brothers Craig and Charlie Reid to international fame and recognition.
But it was also a turbulent year that saw the nation mourn two awful tragedies: the Piper Alpha oil rig explosion and the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over the skies of Lockerbie.
The fizzy lager was flowing in Fountainbridge in March 1988, with the news that Aussie firm Elders IXL’s plan to merge with Scottish & Newcastle Breweries had failed. The highly-controversial bid had seen demonstrators travel down to London to make their feelings known.
In sport, Scotland’s absence from the Euros was certainly a sore point, but at club level there was joy for at least one half of Edinburgh as Hearts romped through the 1988/89 UEFA Cup competition, eventually succumbing to German cracks Bayern Munich over two legs at the quarter final stage.
The year also witnessed two notable unions taking place, one in politics, the other in a certain Australian soap opera.
March 1988 saw the merger of the SDP and the Liberals to form the Liberal Democrats, while 20 million television viewers across the UK tuned in to watch Scott and Charlene, played by real-life former lovers Jason Donovan and Kylie Minogue, tie the knot in Neighbours.
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13. Lady Macdonald & cook book 1988
Lady Macdonald with her Choclate Book opens Scottish Book Fortnight at the Royal Museum of Scotland in Chambers Street Edinburgh, October 1988. Photo: Hamish Campbell
14. Fountain Brewery 1988
Exterior and sign at Fountain Brewery, the Scottish & Newcastle Breweries site at Fountainbridge in Edinburgh, October 1988. Photo: Derek McNaughton
15. Dame Edna at the Playhouse 1988
Australian actor Barry Humphreys applies his make-up backstage as housewife-superstar Dame Edna Everage at the Playhouse theatre in Edinburgh, October 1988. Photo: Albert Jordan
16. Phil Collins at Meadowbank 1988
British singer Phil Collins waits at Meadowbank stadium in Edinburgh, where he was to present the prizes in the Evening News Charity Walk, October 1988. Photo: Unknown