ANDY LOTHIAN ORCHESTRA - LIVE - 1960'S

In March 2009, I put a record up on Retro Dundee by Andy Lothian. This was a traditional Scottish tune that featured his violin skills.

Andy, however, was equally known for his big band sound, his orchestra being the resident band at the Palais for over 3 decades. In fact, he ended up owning the venue!

We are talking ballroom dancing music styles here, the orchestra supplying the tempo for the dancefloor with a mixture of latin, jazz and pop.

In 1946, his band was heard all around the UK when his orchestra was broadcast live from the Palais on BBC radio a few times.

Andy kept the big band going in the Palais up to around 1970, then bowed out to make way for the start of the disco era.

Below is a rare recording live at the Palais itself, from the mid 60's and showcasing the full orchestra sound - no lead violin.

The line-up includes - J. Couper - D. Gold - J. Croft - R. Bronson - G. Cully - B. Cooper - C. Fotheringham and C. Coats.

So go grab your partner and swirl around the room to this track below - Duke's classic..."The A Train".

Many thanks to Carolyn.

ALP RECORD ADVERTS - 1966

These 3 ads for Andy Lothian's ALP Records were all published around summer / autumn in 1966.
The releases were kind of split into 2 categories - the pop/blues/folk/jazz stuff and the traditional Scottish material.
Some Dundee acts were involved needless to say - The Poor Souls, Peter & Alison, John Huband and Andy Lothian too.
ALP hooked up with Polydor Records and got a good deal with them running the behind the scenes activity - management, promotion, publicity, advertising, distribution etc.
The first record put out on ALP was by The Red Hawks which got to number 1 in Radio Scotland's pop chart, and it also made it into Radio London's top 40.
At the time of the adverts, the latest ALP release was by trendy Glasgow band, Studio Six.