Foreigners in Meadowside, was one of those pubs where you'd pop in for a pint, then end up staying there for the rest of the night!I put up a photo of the exterior of Foreigners in July 2008, but here is a wee glimpse of the pub from inside.
The picture has Jo Doll, Jo Jo, Steevo & Trotsky downing a pint (or ten) of Stella no doubt!
In the background you can catch sight of one of Roger Kettle's many cartoons they had covering the walls.
The photo is from around the 1983 period.
Foreigners is responsible for me knowing a large chunk of AC/DC tunes, a band I'm not too keen on and have no records of, but they blasted out AC/DC with such frequency that the rowdy rockers managed to drill their way into my head! AAAAAARRGH!! Actually, such was the good vibe in the pub their choice of records was accepted like part of the decor!
However, around 1980/81, I decided to compile a homemade tape for Foreigners, to see if they were open to playing some alternative sounds.
I handed the C90 cassette over...the lassie serving had a glimpse at the playlist - Cabaret Voltaire, Josef K, Magazine, Mikey Dread, Scars, The Fall etc... she then put the tape on the shelf beside the sound system rather than return it, which I thought was a good sign.
Did they play it? Did they f*ck!!
Hats off to them for sticking to their guns (n' roses).
I can also remember them playing Jeff Wayne's "War Of The Worlds" album over the sound system one time, which was a bit weird because Richard Burton did narration on it in-between tracks, but it sounded as if he was behind the bar doing a pub quiz!
Thanks to Joe Ogilvie for the snap.
.
ReplyDeleteAh! Trotsky!
Maybe a future feature on Poison Streak? After all, they did start in the late 80s.
R.I.P. Rat...
Wasn't Trotsky a punk? What's he doing in amongst this bunch o hairies? Punks didn't go to that pub either did they?
ReplyDeleteEverybody went to Foreigners, JJ.
ReplyDeleteBRING BACK FOREIGNERS!!
ReplyDeleteDU DU DU DU DU DU DU...ANGUS!!
ReplyDeleteNo punk would be seen dead in Foreigners. The name says it all...
ReplyDeleteTrotsky's career - Probably better starting with Plastic Surgery !!
ReplyDeleteas a "punk" in early 80's I NEVER went to Foreigners it was indeed a "Hippie" pub that me and my friends avoided , we drank in the hawkhill , frews etc.. but , I remember the younger "punks" who used to sit outside "Boots the chemist" drinking cider and beer on a saturday lunchtime frequented this pub to my disgust ! Billy glover , Mike Duffy , Joe Reilly and Plastic Surgery !! you have been named and shamed !!
all became good friends of mine.
mike kane
p.s.....Plastic Surgery ...Poison streak..I remember they all had PS written on there leather jackets so the new name had to be PS..they may have had PS Tattoo's ?! (not to sure about this) then PSV ? I remember asking sean the drummer if they were named after PSV Eindhoven and he was totally confused about this not being a football fan, I drove for them a few times and were a great bunch of guys , saw Steve (bass player) recently who along with Gary Robertson is in the soon to be famous Dundee band CUNDEEZ , pity they are Arabs !!!
ReplyDelete(they tell me they are playing that UTD connection down now to just be a hardcore band)
Have to look out my old plastic surgery T shirt - art by Sean
mike kane
Well said Mike. A pub for hippies/heavy rockers. Cider, studs, mohicans, sh*t music and hanging out with the enemy was not punk rock.
ReplyDelete.
ReplyDeleteIn 1989, I started DJing in Jaspers and Craig, the Tay Hotel duty manager who looked after Jaspers, and I used to go up to Foreigners and the Cafe Club around 9pm on Fridays and Saturdays to give out money off flyers.
We'd start with a pint in Foreigners then cross the road for one in Cafe Club. There was an almost continuous stream of bodies crossing between the two pubs. If you were looking for somebody and they weren't in one, odds on they'd be in the other. Jaspers' crowd at that time consisted of 'rockers', Goths, Punks, Psychobillies and Satan's Slaves - and that's who we found in the two pubs!
I went in with Joe Reilly and Chi who handed the barman a tape to play - Extreme Noise Terror, the poor guy didn't know what to make of it he left it on for about 10minutes expecting a tune to appear then removed it and threw it on the bar like a huffy bairn, my how we laughed but that could've been the mushies:))))
ReplyDeleteJoe used a lot of pachulie because he refused to wash but did't want to smell bad, my how we laughed etc.
I was led to believe that the PSV version of Poison Streak was down to it being the fifth incarnation of Poison Streak. May be wrong however...
ReplyDeletePSV were still playing last year as far as I know. Around the time PSV came into being, they featured on vocals 'Hairy' Dave Marshall, also known as Giz who was DJ in the Cafe Club.
Ah, Foreigners,
ReplyDeleteBrings back memories of my good buddy John Mcleod (Rat) & Trotsky of course. yes they were suspicious of people with an individual musical nature, very conservative rock format, I have to agree with Bear, the place was best enjoyed high with Rat, Joe R, & Billy Glover........
First place i tried draught Stella !!!!!!!! and huge salad rolls, and to be fair to the place you totaly knew the music you were going to hear. no point in grumpin' you punks are still a bunch of snobs, nout wrong with being a punk, but being one for the sake of being different is a bit sad .
ReplyDeletetalking of willy glover (vince)Trotsky and willie and a few other red heads formed a guitar based combo called GINGER the were of course utter shite as you would expect but not as bad as one of willies later bands RTD(related through drink) shockin'
ReplyDeleteTrotsky had hair !
ReplyDeleteginger hair!! at least four of them.
ReplyDeleteYou have to laugh at the criticism of the you lot werna cool mob. Ironic how they seem to know everyone and obvious they all spent a lot of time there,yet so uncool.Probably the knob -ends the true Foreigners crowd used to laugh at.Incidentally Brian wilson paints a truer picture.I Know most indivduals mentioned ,all good people,still miss Rat.Nae mention for JIM CIDER HENDERSON? god rest
ReplyDeleteI am a punk (and I don't care). I'm not trying to be 'oh so cool'. I simply never stepped inside that particular pub because I knew the music would not be to my liking. Pretty much the same way I never went to bars like Sinatras or clubs like the Fairmuir club etc. Simples?
ReplyDeleteFriday 11.00pm Michelin the back shift has just ended the race has just started,run to the car park into the cars and race down to foreigners a ritual every three weeks for about three years(thirsty work making tyres)
ReplyDeleteForeigners - big hair,big rolls,big squads of headbangers,punks,slaves and others.....big egos,strange smells,dodgy toilets stools to fall off unless you managed to squash into the booth type seating. Good banter, good mates and many characters no longer with us many a weekend and much money spent....
ReplyDeleteLoved foreigners and spent a good deal of my youth drinking in the ambiance!! happy memories.
ReplyDeleteCan i just state that Rat and his friends did frequent foreigner's , it was not their Pub of choice they were normally seen at the Ladywell Tav or various stops up the Perth road, but contrary to whats been said they had quite a few hippy mates, i should know i was, happy to be counted as one of Rats friends, and did know trotsky, they were all very much liked in foreigner's i know cos when my mate Rat died it was me and my friend wo started the collection for his family there were very few people who refused to give money to it coz we all knew im sorry guy's i know u's were cool but u forgot about yir hippy pals, some memories you lot have.RUTH and SHIRLEY
ReplyDeleteGrew up in Foreigners, The Cafe Club and Jaspers.
ReplyDeleteRecognise a few names from the posts.
Good to see Brian Wilson, used to pester you for music at Jaspers every week. These were the days. :)
Vince P? If so thanks for the Lou Reed t-shirt. ;)
Ruth and Shirley, legends of Billy Glover's T- shirt shop in the Market Hall.
Miss John McLeod a lot, one of the best mates I ever had. He drunk in Foreigners one hell of a lot btw, as did Trotsky. These guys were never "too cool" to go there.
RIP Rat
RIP Jim Henderson
Well; said Craig.....Check oot Poison StreaK here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9-neHPiR00 Thanx for the memories ;-)
ReplyDeleteGreat upload mate, Crucified was a decent song. Pretty sad lyrics at the time tho.
ReplyDeleteAnyone able to upload any of the Erattica demo recorded at BY's.
Brilliant version of Took Your Soul on that.
Would settle for Son of Man :)
Trotsky has lots of poison streak videos
DeleteEh'll get roond ti puttin them sangs up sometime :-)
ReplyDeleteForeigners bar class boozer great tunes loadsa nutters then down to junction 9 great way to spend your saturdays .
ReplyDeleteJust read all these comments brilliant takes me back xxx
ReplyDeleteMushies hahaha
ReplyDeleteThis is chi mushies indeed bear
ReplyDeleteChi, he's doing great these days.
ReplyDeleteand thebear wrong about RTD....they rocked 🤥😉🙄🙄
ReplyDeleteI didnt start drinking there until 1992,but it will always have a place in my heart.Wasnt the same after they did it up in 93.
ReplyDelete