Way before there was stylized graffiti as it has become today, and even before the abundance of gang graffiti in the 70's, Dundee was still being tagged upon.
In the 60's, chalk and stones were most commonly used for the swift tag, usually by those who were school aged.
For the older and more daring, a pot of paint and a brush were the tools used to get the job done. Gangs like SHIMMY (above), HUNS & COSMO were on the go, and I remember there was a huge MAFIA painted on Gussie Park wall.
Political slogans were also daubed in paint. I recall "NO POLARIS" and the "Ban The Bomb" CND symbol splashed on the walls in Exchange Street and under the rail bridge at Riverside (above).
Another method was to "etch" into a wall with something sharp.
There were examples of this technique along the length of the Riverside wall. Basic stuff like "We luv the Beatles", grooved like gouged tree trunks?
Anyway, by the early 70's when aerosols and felt pens were made commercially available, these took over, and are still the main gear used today.
WE'RE THE MENTAL MID YA BASS,M.I.D.
ReplyDeleteSUNG TO THE TUNE OF "IM THE URBAN SPACEMAN"
I REMEMBER WRITING YLF ON A BOG WALL IN BAXTER PARK.AS YOU SEE I HAD NO LOYALTY TO ONE GANG.
YMR
DeleteDundee has had a strong graff scene (as in new york inspired graffiti) since early 80's, hot on the heels of london, Mad to see earlier gang "menchies"
ReplyDeleteI remember one outsidet the Keiler Centre that read "Steves gone Mad" (opposite Artic Bar) & on the side of the Colside Library "Toth 84. Andy"
Ha ha I was there the night FAT ANDY sprayed TOTH 84 on the coldside library.
ReplyDeleteCan remember his secondname but he lived in one of the flats in hill street, butterburn sq.
One of the FEW toth members that actually came fom the TAP O THE HULL.
The main connection with the peps in the toth was they were at the johnies together
Andy kenneth
DeleteNo it was Meldrum fae butter burn with rolf harris magic paint brushes i knicked from safeways ��
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