FAT SAMS - SOUTH WARD ROAD -1980's

Fat Sams opened in December 1983 and very quickly became a favourite with local clubbers.

One of the main reasons for this was because many of the best night's in Dundee in the 80's were the ones under the "Dance Factory" banner.

Dance Factory organisers had been putting on gigs in town since 1982, but they never settled on a specific venue for these events. Sometimes it was Teazers, other times it was the Marryat Hall and they even tried the Barracuda a couple of times, but when Fat Sams cropped up on the scene, this then became their venue of choice.

Dance Factory promoted the "alternative" music scene. Some of the acts I can remember catching here in the 80's were - Frank Chickens, Bhundu Boys, Shriekback, Jonathan Richman, X-Mal Deutschland, Divine, The Higsons, John Peel, The Associates, A Certain Ratio, Bo Diddley, Jesse Rae, Paul Haig, plus a whole heap of others who's names now escape me!!

The above photos, which were taken around the mid/late 80's, give you an idea as to how the exterior & interior looked back then, as does the video clip below, also from the same era - with Billy MacKenzie your host.