As the recent music theme on Retro nears an end, this is the perfect time to inform you of a new book that's about to hit the shelves, on the same subject.It goes under the funky title of "Take It To The Bridge" and covers the history of Dundee's music scene from the 1960's to the present.
It documents quite a broad spectrum - for example, the various styles of music the locals indulged in - pop, rock, soul, punk, jazz, alternative, folk and so on, with plenty of name-checks, interviews and anecdotes from some of the musicians involved. It also gives the lowdown on the variety of venues around town, as well as touching on other aspects such as the record shops and music stores. The book will also provide lots of images and memorabilia too - all part of the local infotainment!
Those of you who fancy a copy, better take note of the official release date - 12th October 2011.
There will no doubt be ample publicity about it nearer the time, so keep your peepers on the local press and book shops.
Those of you who want to avoid the mad rush or now live out of town, can get the book via the usual Internet outlets - Amazon, EBay etc.
Well worth grabbing a copy, and you should be able to pick one up for around a tenner.
You'll also be pleased to know the book was written by someone who knows what they are doing - Lorraine Wilson, who has been connected to all things journalistic for the past 25 years or so.
As well as an author, she has also been an editor, radio broadcaster, scriptwriter, lecturer, to name just a few.
Music has also played a major part in her life, from working on teen music magazines, to being one of the Beaver Sisters, up to more recent projects such as organising the Beatles Weekends in Dundee.
Thanks so much for that. My website needs a bit of updating - been busy with other things! Publisher putting the publication date back to October 12 now. If anyone would like an invitation to the launch, e-mail lorraine@lorrainewilson.net with name and address and the publishers will send one out. Cheers.
ReplyDeleteAre The Junkies mentioned in this "history"? Did we exist? Must be a dream. Fact. The Junkies were the support band for the planned Associates British tour in the 80's......no mean feat
ReplyDeleteThe Junkies are mentioned in this "history" Vince. Cheers.
ReplyDeleteHi Retro are there things about the Dundee music scene that Lorraine the author didn't know much about until she read it here? So, Retro Dundee kind of played a part in the publication or was this a sole effort from Lorraine? I for one cannot wait to read it as it must cover the current scene as wellas it has The View on the cover. Here's hoping it's as good as the Retro Dundee local band coverage Good luck with it.
ReplyDeleteGG at Retro has been incredibly helpful and supportive, but the bulk of the material comes from almost 70 interviews with people from the late 1950s until the present day. Cheers.
ReplyDeleteThe cover tells me its gonna be the same old same old, rolled out yet again. Let's hope that's not the case.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous, within the limits of the word count, there is a good representation across the board. You can't write a book like this and ignore the widely known bands. If it was full of bands that no one outside Dundee had ever heard of, it wouldn't sell any copies. The hope is that if people buy it for the bands they have heard of, then they can learn more about those they haven't. Can I just roll out the cliche of not judging a book by its cover?
ReplyDelete...and besides, an image of Dean & Dawn would just scare everybody away..!!
ReplyDeleteThat's the next book... or maybe a rock opera using the songs of Dean and Dawn.
ReplyDeletethe cover saddens me
ReplyDeleteVEX
I could've bet my house on that VEX. Doesn't surprise me in the slightest.
ReplyDeleteVex, you really need to lighten up...
ReplyDeleteWhat!!...it was a fair and truthful comment !! I am allowed an opinion, and I also wish Lorraine the best and success on her book...and look forward to reading it ...but i did not like the cover ..jeez.!!
ReplyDeleteyes you are right Smiley miley cos i know fuck all about music in Dundee
ReplyDeleteThis book has Missed out too much to mention here. The same old what you already know. Some key DUNDEE based music people missing here as well. I suppose the cover said it all in the end.
ReplyDeleteThey are missing from your comment too..!!
ReplyDeleteWell, Nevermindthe....etc, I'm still waiting for your list of "key" players so I can do some swotting up on them.
ReplyDeleteUnless you were meaning Hunters Key?!
Be good to know who are among the crucial players you believer are missing NMTB. There was no way of pleasing everyone with such a limited word count but if there are any genuinely crucial players who are missing I'd like to correct it for future editions... It sounds like you may have your own story to tell, and if that's the case I look forward to reading it.
ReplyDeleteLorraine ..you will never please everyone..it all comes down to opinion and perspective and there is a lot of that in Dundee ! I imagine every bugger who ever played in a band in Dundee may feel they were "crucial players" ( hate that term by the way !) from a wee band called "lets Evolve" made way for Spare Snare...a schoolboy band called Elegy...eventually Danny Wilson..my point is that THIS is my perspective I knew these people but I could not write about ...say Mafia..aware of them but not of interest to me..anyway, as crucial players we were all important but in different ways and , as you say, you can't document every music sub-culture in one book , still not read it , will do soon , sorry about the cover comment really did not mean any disrespect apart from I did not like it....see opinionated but cant put it in perspective :)
ReplyDeleteMike Kane
In addition to Lorraines top notch book, I think there is plenty scope for a book on Dundee's counter culture, after all the alternative scene did generally keep itself detached from mainstream music, that being the point of it, so a separate book covering it makes sense.
ReplyDeleteSo I nominate Mike Kane for the job!
Very knowledgeable about Dundee's underground, has written plenty in the past on the subject, has loads of material and is still as enthusiastic about it as always.
It's good to get the lowdown from those who were involved, and I can't think of anyone better for the task!
A wee project for when you retire Mike!
I'll also use this opportunity to remind folk that after 30 years, AAGA have released an album and is available from here...
http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/aaga
I'll give it a proper plug on Retro once the CD version comes out.
I think both sides are right, the "alternative" & "mainstream" did not artistically mingle much although Al & myself did corrupt Mr Benedetti for a period (he actually loved being The Junkies main horn man) Just got a call from a Colin Staplehurst from SW1 Radio in London who has read the book, he says he was a Junkies gig in London (The Whisky a GoGo in Soho). He said whilst reading the book it seems that those reading are meant to know who The Junkies are....maybe a more in dpth book is needed. Good work though. I dig.
ReplyDeletep.s. Mike's right about that cover, though
Read the book and for me not much I didn't know. Room for a 'Take It Under The Bridge(TM)' for sure.
ReplyDeletePerfect title, Historian
ReplyDeletePerfect title but different author (for obvious reasons).
ReplyDeleteWe're all in the gutter but some of us are looking at the pavement
ReplyDelete