Tindalls opened for biz in Castle Street around 1980ish.
I think I'm right in saying that this is the pub that had the bare floorboards, which was a bit of a novelty at the time.
Why I'm not 100% certain is because my memory is doing battle with Cactusville, another pub that opened in Castle Street around about the same time.
Anyway, Tindalls used to put bands on fairly regularly.
The advert here displays a typical kind of line-up they had entertaining weekly.
I know Havana Swing, Some Bad Shirts and The Divorce Brothers are all local bands, but I'm unsure if Streets Of Nowhere, Kashmir and Daylight Robbery were Dundee based.
So, it's up to you now to help fill in the details.
The place closed down in 1988.
The top ad is dated 1981.
Mid ad is May 1986.
Bottom notice is January 1988.
I saw the Wedding Present play live at Tindalls... must have been about 1987. They were supported by Perth band This Poison!
ReplyDeleteI also saw the Beaver Sisters and an off shoot band of theirs called Rock Lobster.
I always remember that Tindalls was painted red and Cactusville was painted green.
Did one of them become the Penny Farthing?
Alan, Cactusville became The Penny Farthing. Which was still open as that when I worked in Dexter's in the early 90's I think.
ReplyDeleteI Dj'd in Tindalls about 1981 into early 1982 I think it was. My memory is hazy also wether it was a wooden floor or not, probably too busy concentrating on what the crowd wanted played.
Tindalls definitely had bare floorboards...like you said, it was quite a talking point at the time.
ReplyDeleteCactusville was decked out along the same lines as Slickers - green with lots of chrome and mirrors. Prior to being Catusville it was called The George which , although I was never in it in that incarnation, was painted red and gold on the outside.
That was quick work, thanks for the lowdown on that. So Tindalls was the one with the floorboards. When the pub was quiet and somebody walked in, everyone automatically turned their heads to see who just came in, as the clomping on the floor made a bit of a racket. Could give you a real minter!
ReplyDeleteWouldn't have minded seeing the Wedding Present there. I had moved South by then and was just catching the start of the rave scene! GG
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ReplyDeleteAs the Penny Farthing, it was owned by Dean Entertainments of Kirkcaldy and tenanted out.
One of the later tenants was an employee of the former local council buses, who had invested his money from the share sell off when the employee-owners sold their company to the private sector (National Express?).
He had a couple of Dundee FC players as sleeping partners but, unfortunately, had no experience on the business side of the bar and thought "owning a bar" meant he could supply all his mates with drinks without keeping a tab.
In this incarnation, the pub went bust after a few months as the bill to Tennents for beer and liquor couldn't be paid. I understand the DFC players lost their cash.
I was in The George one night in the late 70s. (This story could also fit into the Bowlin' Alley thread...) It was when a guy called Martin was VP Ents. The band who were supposed to be headlining the Snoball pulled out on the Wednesday, two days before the gig.
Martin got on to the agencies to try to find a replacement and found out that Lindisfarne were on tour, supported by Chas & Dave and were on at the Caird Hall on the following night but had a night off on the Friday. The agency phoned back saying that Lindisfarne weren't interested as they wanted their night off but Chas & Dave might be persuaded.
I should point out here that Chas & Dave had played the Bowlin' Alley at least once before (I think they did three appearances in total over the years) and had gone down a storm.
It was arranged that we would meet them after their set. Our names (Martin, Pete and BW) must have been left at the door because we had no problem getting into the hall and to the side of the stage, where we caught the last song or two from Chas & Dave.
We went to their dressing room, where they immediately suggested "going for a pint to talk business". The George was the nearest to the Caird Hall, so that's where we went. In these days, it still had the appearance of a local working man's pub; nothing fancy. Can't remember if there was still sawdust on the floor...
Onnyhoo, C&D were quite taken with it and the deal was struck for them to headline the Snoball the following night. If I remember correctly, their fee was £250 cash in hand and a couple of cases of Nookie Broon!
BW.
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ReplyDeleteAfter posting the above, I went a-googlin' to see if I could find any further info.
Found this at:-
http://theviewareonfire.blogspot.com/2007_03_01_archive.html
[quote]Chas is looking forward to returning to Dundee, which was where they played one of their first gigs.
“We were on tour in Scotland with 10cc at the time and we had a couple of days off and a student from Dundee Technical College said, ‘Could you do a gig?’ and we slotted one in for them,” said Chas.
“A couple of years ago we did research. This young bloke came in and said, ‘We’ve been researching where your records sell the most and you’ll never guess where,’ and it was Scotland.[/quote]
Unless that was an earlier gig he's speaking about, it was definitely Lindisfarne!
BW 8=)
Class!
ReplyDeleteForgot to mention that this ad actually comes from a Dundee FC match day programme, so that links up with what Brian says about the players. Debt trouble...just like the club 2 decades later!
ReplyDeleteSeem to remember allan dinnie and billy dodds having something to do with it.
ReplyDeleteOne night there was a lock in that got raided by tayside's finest.
Dinners gave it the old "Do you know who I am" routine and was promptly hoisted up to Bell St
From memory wasnt Tindalls a 'Dundee FC' pub? Maybe they ran a bus or tow to away games? Not sure but rings a bell somewhere lol.
ReplyDeleteJust had another thought about Tindalls. One of my favourite sayings when dj-ing there was "Spinning the records on spindles here in Tindalls" when I think bacl how cheesy and Tony Blackburn-ish.
ReplyDeleteTom Berry was the manager or assistant manager in there if I remember rightly and he also DJ'd in the pub under the Angus for many years.
Just found out that after Tindalls it was renamed Ben Gunn. However,it only lasted a very short period under this name before it went back to Tindalls again.
ReplyDeleteTindalls was originally called the United Bar when I started drinking in the late 70's. It then changed it's name to the Ben Gunn for a while and then became Tindalls. It was one of only a couple of pubs in Dundee that had table Space Invaders machine where you could play it sitting down with your pint. It was also one of the first pubs to open later on a Saturday til 4 o'clock. We used to run from the Stage Door Bar which closed at half two to Tindalls for another couple of pints. The Cactusville was called the George for a long time. It was a working man's pub full of whore's and comic-singers. We used to frequent it on a Friday after work for a beer and darts. It then became Cactusville and The Penny Farthing.
ReplyDeleteha ha spot on Rob
DeleteTindalls was a Dundee pub early 80's, remember the Tindalls Barmy Army ha ha !!
ReplyDelete