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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
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8 comments:

  1. Anonymous21 January 2009 at 11:51

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

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  2. Anonymous24 January 2009 at 03:01

    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. Anonymous24 January 2009 at 06:00

    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. Graeme29 April 2009 at 13:39

    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. Anonymous2 May 2009 at 05:00

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

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  6. Major Longhorn15 July 2009 at 00:51

    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. Anonymous21 September 2009 at 02:51

    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. Dundee Heritage Trust10 July 2017 at 03:09

    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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