Wednesday 21 January 2009

CRANKED UP - A DUNDEE FANZINE - 80'S

This is the cover of the very first issue of Dundee music fanzine, Cranked Up. It wasn't the cities first fanzine, with the likes of "Men from Soya" and "Le Sinistre" being very short-lived attempts earlier. Cranked Up, however, kept it going for 18 issues, so they had a good run.
The mag hit the scene in 1981 and managed to capture the start of the "New Wave" bands that were springing up locally, although a variety of other music categories were given plenty fanzine space too.
Performers and places that get a mention in ISSUE 1 are - SCROTUM POLES - BLIND PEW - TAYSIDE BAR - UPSTAIRS DOWNSTAIRS - THE GRIP - TIFFANY'S - NO FIXED ABODE - MEGAZONES - BARRACUDA - ASGARD - ST. ANDREW & THE WOOLEN MILL.
The main man behind Cranked Up was, Jock Ferguson, who nowadays makes a living acting, specialising in Scottish characters. Check out his website to see what he's up to http://www.thesonsofscotland.co.uk/jockferguson.htm

8 comments:

  1. "St.Andrew" was one of my Art College lecturers...nice bloke

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  2. Jock was also a dj at dens who liked to play The Cures "killing an arab" before each derby match,(he had a good sense of humour) :)

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  3. Cranked Up was a great fanzine and represented a great time in Dundee. If you were in a band or enjoyed going to see original bands, the Tayside Bar was great little venue and the place to be seen. I say bring back Cranked Up and bring back Jock as the DJ at Dens as well, loved hearing The Clash before a game whilst standing in the Derry, great memories :)

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  4. Still have a copy of the Blind Pew article!

    It was a great time to be in a band in Dundee - we're back in the studio now and are planning a Dundee gig in a couple of weeks.

    Scrotum Poles are also active planning an album of their stuff
    Pew

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  5. does the face on the cover not look like jock in his hey day ?

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  6. Le Sinistre was my doing too.
    I nicked the image for CU number one from Sounds music paper.
    The Star Trek sideys are my addition though.

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  7. Amazed that anyone remembers 'Men From Soya' fanzine - I think it stretched to a single issue! I was obliquely involved, it was put together by Bob Crosbie (unusually for Dundee in the late 70s a vegetarian, hence the name) as a sort of vanity project. We were Tayside Bar regulars, Bob went on to play guitar for a few local bands, ended up (I think) playing for the Jazzateers, singer Paul Quinn.

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  8. Great to see all the posts about zines and read the comments too - I'm writing my dissertation about Dundee's Zines through the years, so if anyone can chip in with more info, or would be up for a chat, please let me know!

    Email - j.m.cumming@dundee.ac.uk

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