AMBASSADOR ADS - 1977

Here's some of the entertainment that was going on at the Ambassador during the course of 1977.
March saw ex Ivy League singer, Paul Edison, doing a 2 night stint one weekend, and was supported by a band called McDonalds Farm.
In stark contrast, November had punk band, Eater, who were no doubt creating a more chaotic scene in the hotel rather supplying an evening of cabaret!
December in the Cabaret Suite featured local band, Mafia - a pretty familiar act with Dundonians by then.
But Samantha Shay? Glamorous recording star?? Who she???!!

 

Thanks to Yvonne.

THIS IS THE END

Year - 1977.

Venue - The Ambassador.

Band - The End.

Not sure how much of a crowd was there but what they were seeing was not just another local gig, but the early stages of Dundee's "alternative" scene starting to shape up.

The End had Dennis on guitar, Colin doing vocals, Andy on bass, and an unknown drummer.

The Alternators were one of the other bands playing that night and there's a poster on the wall for their single that was released in January '78.

The details of the event are a bit sketchy but The End & The Alternators may have possibly been sharing the bill with Bread Poultice & The Running Sores.

Should be able to sort that out in the comments.

It was at this gig too that Colin met the members of Quick Spurts and later ended up joining them in addition to having a short stint playing bass in List-D.

And for these visual gems we have Colin Ramsay to thank.

AVERAGE WHITE BAND IN 1979

Exactly 30 years ago, I, along with a big squad fae Dundee, hired a bus to go through to Glasgow to see Average White Band do their thing live on stage at the Apollo.
And a funky night had by all, with a full house dancing the night away in the theatre!
Dundonians like to claim AWB as their own of course, but the fact is they are from all over Scotland, with only 2 of the original members hailing from Dundee when they formed in 1972. Robbie MacIntosh, the Dundee drummer, died in 1974 so that just left Roger Ball, from Broughty Ferry, as Dundee's representative, birth-wise. Molly Duncan and Alan Gorrie went to Dundee Art College with Roger, but Molly was born in Montrose and Alan, Perth, the others, Hamish & Onnie are from the Glasgow area.
Dundee trivia-wise - AWB once played at The Ambassador in Clepington Road.!!
Their mate, Dougie Martin, whose band Mafia, were playing there that night, and needless to say, by the end of the evening both acts ended up jamming together on stage.
This Ambassador event was also captured on film by a BBC tv crew who were doing a documentary on AWB at the time, following the band around, showing how the group spent their time when back home, away from life in USA.
The programme (see above) was broadcast on 31 March 1979.
The footage below is not from the documentary but is from the 1979 tour, although not the Glasgow gig.
The track is "I'm The One", a song of theirs that, along with a bucket load of other AWB tunes, has since gone on to be sampled by dozens of hip hop acts!