Friday 22 May 2009

JOHN LUNAN ON DRUMS

This is Dundee drummer, John Lunan, in action at the groovy looking Fairmuir Social Club in the 70's.
He has, however, been drumming in Dundee for over 4 decades, ever since he got his first kit out of Watt's in the old Wellgate.
His first gig was a residency along at the Station Hotel in Carnoustie in the mid 60's, and from then on he has been hitting the skins for a variety bands over the years.
Some of his local groups in the 60's & 70's were The Jacques, Third Edition, Hunters Key (with Jim Kelly) and Kookie & co.
It wasn't only locally he played though, he has also toured around the UK and beyond. One fabulous job he had was when he joined, Joint Effort, and found himself on a 2 year cruise around the Mediterranean.
The amount of local bands are too numerous to recall, but it's not only local acts he has performed with, some of the more famous names he has worked with include - Billy Connolly - Lonnie Donegan - Mike & Bernie Winters - The Troggs - Chris Barbers Jazz Band - The Swinging Blue Jeans - Mike Berry - Freddie & The Dreamers - The Glitter Band - Dave Berry - The Bachelors - Wayne Fontana & The Mindbenders, and a good few more.
Latterly, he was in Ringer, who played regularly at Tramps nightclub and who went on to perform at The Cavern in Liverpool for a Beatles convention.
And so his drumming came full circle, ending with the sound of the 60's that kick-started his career in the first place. Only as recently as last year has he had to call it a day because of a knee problem.
Just a few years short of a half a century in the biz, which is pretty good going by anyones standard, and as a consequence he knows just about every musician from the Dundee area personally!
Needless to say, I've had quite a lot of my Retro music info from him!!

8 comments:

  1. I'm sure my old pal, Grant Roberts, was in Joint Effort - am I right?

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  2. Don't know off the top of my head but I'll try and get in touch with John over the weekend and find out.

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  3. I don't remember him in Ringer I always thought Ian was the drummer having worked with the band many times. Craig saw you mentioned Grant, he was in Ringer when I did a lot of work with them when DJ-ing. My favourite line-up of Ringer has always been Ian, Willie Hastie, Steve McDonald and of course Grant. On the subject of Ringer still got their single 'Come Together' a tribute to John Lennon with Grant mentioned as the tea boy. Also I was the DJ in Dexter's when Steve went away to Canada for a time and there was big party, he signed the single with a message and a little picture he drew. I think the last time I saw Grant was at the Dundee Rocks weekend in Deja Vu a couple of years ago at the after show party and they were playing.

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  4. John says - Grant WAS in Joint Effort and is currently in Tripper with Steve and Robin.
    Ian was/is drummer with Ringer, but John played drums with them at The Beatles convention and Ian was on guitar and vocals.GG

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  5. Now here's the tie-up between punk and clubbie band. Grant was in a group with me at school and we sung the song "When I'm Dead and Gone" (McGuinness Flint) for a school concert. I went round to Grant's house - must've been about age twelve and wrote one or two songs with him - one called (er) "Oh Woesome Me" (sorry).

    We both went off to secondary - Craigie High - lost touch and then I remember seeing Grant in the middle of the toon just after the Scrotum Poles ep came out. I had a chat with him in his car where there were a load of Joint Effort costumes/outfits hanging up in the car. He said he was about to do a cruise. I remember telling him about my band and him saying that he wished that he'd persevered with writing songs, etc. I, for my part, said to him that I wished I'd tried to be better musically.

    Haven't seem him for nearly thirty years. Sigh.

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  6. With a title like "Oh Woesome Me", for some reason I can envisage Johnny Cash singing that..!!
    Sounds like a Country & Western classic!

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  7. I honestly didn't know Ian Murdoch played the guitar at the first beatle conventions. I did see the presentation photograph that Ringer got last year in Ian's shop at last year's convention in Liverpool. Need the old haircut so will have a chat with Ian sometime this week. It's from School I originally knew Grant but didn't see him again until I was DJ in Dexter's. I knew he was in Tripper with Steve.

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  8. It's a pity this site isn't still going because someone gave me a couple of cracking photos of Grant from Tripper and previously Ringer of his days in Joint Effort when he still had hair :)

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