In 1985, The Sands in the Ferry was transformed into Buddies.
No change to the outside of the building but as you can see from the photo, the interior decor was modified. Out went the bright curvy spacious look of the Sands and in came a dark monochromatic claustrophobic replacement!
However, Buddies did win Scotland's New Club Of The Year in 1986, as the advert reminds us.
The date of the ad is June 1986 and it also mentions Buddies were hosting a couple of heats of the annual World Dance Championship that same year.
Photo by DC Thomson.
One of the first DJ's when Buddies was on the go was Bill Butchart, who went on to be the DJ at the award winning Flick's in Brechin when it opened. Can't remember if Bill did The Sands before that. There's actually a very young looking pic of Bill on his Bebo page with the Buddies neon sign behind him. Visible in the picture also is a 12inch copy of the The Rah Band The Crunch 85. One of the other DJ's I remember working in there from this era would be Ian Menzies.
ReplyDeleteThe first Dj at Buddies was DJ Brian Carnegie from Arbroath who also played in the Jackie o in Kirkcaldy and also played in De Stills and Fat Sam’s
DeleteAfraid not, myself and a guy from Sheffield went through the auditions and were selected as the first DJs along with the fulltime lighting Jock. Dave Silver was the lead DJ and Alex Sweeney still did a couple of nights. Never heard of Brian Carnegie.
DeleteIan Menzies was the lightning guy, Dave Silver was the guest Dj every week, Alex Sweeney was the resident when it was the sands, I was Alex’s guest on every second Sunday and also played for him when he opened up his own club in near Kirkcaldy, Ron Duncan was the manager of Buddies and used to own the Sands, I also played at coconut grove, the fountain and regular with my good friend Ned at fat Sam’s, loved my time in Scotland and at the ripe old age of 61 proud to say I am playing in Dundee and Arbroath next year xx
DeleteIf in doubt just ask Ian Menzies, Roy Duncan, Tony Cochran, or get in touch with kingsway entertainment in Kirkcaldy who opened Buddies after the Sands?
DeleteBuddies DJ Bill Butchart circa 1985 does any of the old Buddies regulars recognise him, sorry for the long url.
ReplyDeletehttp://file011b.bebo.com/1/original/2007/09/02/21/2890071248a5449788094o.jpg
thankyo thankyou thankyou iv been looking for a pic of that for ages we spent every fri, sat and sun in that place that was my mispent youth thanx for that xxxxx
ReplyDeleteThanx for this pic-me n my mates Mandie n Heather spent every weekend there-Buddies rokked!!! Luvd Ray Hollis n Ian Menzies,the Cocktail Bar,the Burger Bar-rem bouncers like-Tony McCabe,Danny Mckay,Brian ?....please post more Buddies pics people!
ReplyDeleteLorraine Dolan xxx
Hey thanks for the complimentm its nice to be remembered.
ReplyDeleteMost of the old staff are on Facebook and thinkking of a reunion.
I loved working here before going off to Ibiza and the big clubs of England.
It always had a great atmosphere.
Ian Menzies who was the Light Jockey now DJ's in Arbroath.
DJ Dean Adamson is out in Bahrain and we are trying to find DJ Ian St John.
I retired from club dj'ing but still have a Dance Radio show on Internet radio.
Just realised thats me standing in the DJ Booth in this picture
ReplyDeleteSorry mate but that's Alex Sweeny in the booth.
DeleteSorry ray but you were never that slim.☺☺ oops.
DeleteBill butchart was my boyfriend while he was at Buddies and when he moved to Flicks. Dean Adamson is my cousin haha. Oh yeh I worked on the bar at Buddies for a while too
ReplyDeleteDid Ian St John not go through to Kircaldy?
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ReplyDeleteIan St John is alive & well!
ReplyDeleteWent all over after Buddies, Edinburgh, Kirkcaldy, Aberdeen, Glasgow, Hong Kong...
Hope you#re all well, especially Ray & Ian M!!
Hi Ian, sorry I don’t know you but I used to play in Buddies and all over like yourself, I was also in Hong Kong from 94 to 97 I was one of the resident DJs in the big apple with Christian and Lee , when were you there?
DeleteI did, yeah!
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