GENNAS - GELLATLY STREET - 1980'S

Can't say I was a regular at Gennas in Gellatly Street, but I do remember popping along there from time to time on Thursday's, and reading again this 1984 advert above, now I realise why - it was half price night!

The place was on the same lines as Da Vinci's - bar downstairs, dancefloor upstairs.

Someone who chose to have their 21st at Gennas was Craig Methven. That's his original ticket from 1981.

Many of those who got a ticket were involved in the local music scene, so in attendance were the likes of Ricky Ross, one of the McGlone's, Mike Kane, Jock Ferguson, Drew Ramsay, various members of Street Level, Alien Culture, Megazones, The Grip, Scrotum Poles, The Hurricanes, and of course a few friends and family members.

Cranked Up fanzine gave the party a mention too, which is where the other items above are taken from. It reported that one of the local bands seen in the crowd was Gypsy Joe & The High Cheekers. Not being familiar with this act, I asked Craig who they were - and he doesn't know either! Celeb gatecrashers!!

Also in Cranked Up, it mentions a bit about the....er....strange gifts Craig received. My fave is the Popeye Bop Bag!

And what better way to end an evening of intermingling with the local alternative scene, than having the last record be "Atmosphere".

That would be the Joy Division one...not Russ Abbot's!

Big thanks to Craig.

UPSTAIRS DOWNSTAIRS - 1981

Broughty Ferry wanted a piece of the action, live band action that is, and so Upstairs Downstairs cropped up on the scene to provide such a venue.
I have no images or ads of their place in Erskine Street, but I do have these 2 articles from a 1981 Cranked Up.
Top piece is a short review of Upstairs Downstairs, describing the sewing machine tables they had.
The one below it tells of the time The Grip played there, and in particular the moment the van carrying the band's gear crashed into the canopy above the main door!
Luckily the landlord wasn't there to witness it!!
You should be able to read it ok as it is, but if you're struggling, just click it to get the large version.

TOMB JAZZ CELLAR - 1961



 

The top article reveals the moment the opening of Dundee's Tomb Jazz Cellar was announced - the item dating from August 1961.

It sounds like a place I'd have liked to have hung out had I been around, but being only 3 years old at the time means I wasn't quite ready to wear a beret and black polo-neck like the rest of the cool beatniks back then!

Main man, Andy Lothian, had the residency spot with his East Coast Jazzmen, while the Forrie Cairns Band were the first act to kick-start the guest sessions on 6 Aug 1961.

The second item dates from October 1961, and now the Tomb Jazz Cellar is in full flow with a number of guest appearances in the line-up to fill October's programme.

DUNDEE'S DANCING YEARS - 1989

Many of you will be familiar with the work of Maureen Reynolds who has written lots of Dundee based books since the 90's.

What we have here is an early example of Maureen's writing, published in the Scots Magazine in February 1989.

It's entitled "Dundee's Dancing Years" and is all about the dancehalls & ballrooms that were scattered around town, covering quite a few decades.

Just about every-place gets a mention - Robbies (West End Palais) - Continentale - Palais - J.M. - Empress - Locarno - Kidd's - Chalet - Star... and she tells stories like when locals had to take their gas masks with them when they went dancing during the war years, then goes on to recall her own dancing days at the Palais where the lassies had a perfume machine!

It goes right up to the 70's & 80's with the Barracuda - Sands - Samantha's & Buddies being name-checked, an era when they changed from old style ballrooms to discos for the "strobe light generation" as she describes it. Yeah, that sound like us lot!

Plenty photos and adverts to accompany the article too.

I've scanned in all 9 pages actual size - so if you fancy a wee read, just click onto the items to view the large versions.

DUNDEE DISCO ACTION - '77 STYLE!

A nice reminder of the kind of local mobile disco action that was going on around town during a typical random week back in March 1977.

Starting at the top - with the I.E. Discotheque getting in the groove up at the Ferry Lounge in the Tay Centre Hotel.

Next up we have the Sweeney's who managed to break loose from the Sands for an evening and take their Venus Ultra Disco for a spin along at the Invercarse Hotel - in the appropriately named Spinney bar!

Dancing around the edge of town, the Scenic 7 Disco were pumping out their beats across at the Longhaugh Hotel.

Off to the Golden Pheasant now to sample the ample sounds of the Deepwater Disco, who were normally to be heard along at the Bowling Alley each week.

The Nine Maidens had an over 20's night when the Neoteric Disco stopped off to spin their selection of vinyl in the Silver Cage.

From silver to chrome and it's back into the city centre we go to boogie on down to the Gemini Disco at the Chrome Rail.

The good thing about mobile disco's was it meant you didn't always have to dress smart and go queue up at the Barracuda every weekend just to have some fun on the dancefloor - the DJ's brought the dancefloor to you sometimes too!

The last item, however, has got me wondering - just how many of the Disc Jockeys who were on the road this particular week, decided to take part in the DJ competition held in Tiffany's the same week?

And who ended up the vinyl victor?!



CHEVY'S AND YOGI'S - 1988

Bar Chevrolet (AKA Chevy's), and Yogi's, were both linked to Fat Sams.

Chevy's and Fat Sams were next door to each other, with both places putting on gigs under the Dance Factory banner.

The top ad dates from June '88 and gives some general information about the food, drink, music & games they had on offer at Chevy's.

The middle ad is from November '88 and lists a few of the bands who were playing at Chevy's that month, including a reminder that the pub also had Sunday jazz sessions - with the late, great, Jimmy Deuchar performing on this occasion.

The Yogi's ad is dated March '88. This was a new club night that started up that year and was to be found at Wee Sams ( Fat Sams diner).

They specialised in dance music - hip hop & house with a touch of retro 70's funk in the mix.

There was free admission for those in Yogi Bears (flares)!

DUNDEE STREET FREAKS - LATE 70'S

Here's the Dundee Street Freaks out on one of their cruises through the city centre.
The picture was taken around the 1978/79 period.
Dundee Street Freaks was a local car club for those who liked to indulge in customising their motors.
This fine example above was owned by Ralph Seiffert from Muirhead. It's an old 50's model Ford Popular which had been impressively modified. As well as it's eye-catching bodywork, it had a 2.5 litre Daimler v8 engine, Vauxhall front suspension & steering, and Jaguar rear suspension. It has also been exhibited at numerous custom car shows around Britain.
The Vauxhall coming into shot from the left was driven by Stuart Clumpas, who was a student at the time. He later went on to run the Dance Factory gigs at Fat Sam's in the 80's, and more recently, organise the T In The Park festivals.
Big thanks to Angus.

THE VOICE - ISSUE 1 - 1982

This is the first issue of Dundee fanzine, The Voice.

It started up after the demise of Cranked Up. In fact, this was supposed to be Cranked Up #19, but when Jock Ferguson stepped down as ed of Cranked Up at #18, he took the name with him, and so leading to the birth of The Voice.

It covered similar subject matter as Cranked Up, the local music scene, theatre, poetry, politics and so on.
However, the content of this first issue does solve one mystery which has cropped up on a few of Retro's comments in the past - "When did Club Feet open?". The answer - 1982.

I did wonder why Club Feet never got a mention in any of the Cranked Up's...but now I know...Club Feet appeared just as Cranked Up disappeared!

By the way, the TSB is the Tayside Bar - not the local bank!!

Big thanx to The Bear

PSYCHOBILLY GIGS - CLUB FEET - 1984

 

Around 1980, the music scene spawned a new mongrel breed - Psychobilly - the result of punk mating with rockabilly!!
The Cramps were brilliant at it. The Meteors were UK's top exponents of it, but King Kurt actually managed to get a hit record into the pop charts with it. Quite a feat because it was pretty much kept an underground scene till then. But yep, their track "Destination Zululand" did get into the top 40 in 1983.
Live psychobilly gigs were wild, sweaty, messy affairs, with lots of diving onto & off the stage, beer getting chucked about, shambolic behaviour in general - the bands as well as the crowd. Always great fun though!
And of course, who could forget those magnificent hairstyles!!
Anyway, the scene was fully formed by the time King Kurt and The Meteors performed at Club Feet in 1984.
2 separate gigs, the top item being a local flyer for King Kurt, and the cutting under it being tour dates for The Meteors taken from an old Melody Maker music paper I have.
Incidentally, a couple of years earlier, I saw The Meteors play in Edinburgh. They were the support act to The Cramps. A great night it was too. But not only that, it just so happens that The Meteors were staying at the same B&B as me, and next morning after the show we all had breakfast together in the wee dining room!

CLUB FEET FASHION - EARLY 80'S

These photos were put up on display at the Rep Theatre last year when the play about Billy Mackenzie "Balgay Hill" was running.

They were taken at Club Feet in the early 80's and were sent to the Rep by Tony Cochrane who used to DJ there.

The images above are a bit on the fuzzy side because they were just taken in the passing from the Rep wall using a mobile, so it's not the original photos that are blurry. They do give you a good reminder though of the kind of gear that was worn to the club.

At least some people made an effort!

That's Billy's bruv on the dancefloor in the top picture.

THE GRIP - CLUB FEET AD

An ad from 1983 for The Grip playing at Club Feet.
Club Feet was part of the Tay Centre set up in Dock Street and was the upstairs nightclub previously called Junction 9, with the Club Feet transformation taking place in 1982.
Talking about 9 and looking at The Grip ad - 9 on stage must have been a bit of a squeeze!
Thanks to DD

TOP TEN CLUB - 1960'S





The Palais ad at the top is dated Feb 1964 and displays a typical couple of months of acts that played at the Top Ten Club.
The Top Ten Club attracted some of the UK's best bands in the swinging 60's with the likes of Manfred Mann, The Kinks, Bee Gees, Yardbirds, Spencer Davis Group, Fortunes, and so on.
You may even be surprised to know that in 1966, David Bowie played the Top Ten Club too with his newly formed band The Buzz!
Along with well known visiting acts such as the ones featured in the ad (The Hollies, Dave Berry, The Paramounts etc) the venue also hosted resident bands, the ones showcased here being - Tommy Dene & The Tremors, Mark Dayton & The Honours and Johnny Hudson's Hi-Four.
The Top Ten Club was also the venue that was used when it was Dundee's turn to present Radio Scotland's Clan Ball. The photo above was taken at one such Clan Ball in May 1966, and captures the enthusiasm the locals had for the rave up.
It's not just Dundonians who had a good time at the Top Ten Club, the bands too thoroughly enjoyed their visits.
The snippet under the photo is taken from a 1966 interview with Ric Rothwell of The Mindbenders, who rated it as the best place in Scotland!
Going back to its early days, in 1963, Rolf Harris performed at the Top Ten Club, this being the date of the final item above.
It would have been very early in his career too, so not quite sure what his show would have consisted of, but for Dundee lass, Ann Jaskluska - she was sent!
Strange to see the word "sent" being used for Rolf. This was a hip jazz term similar to the hippies "far out" expression.
Perhaps it was the hypnotic drone of his didgeridoo that did it!!

THE BROUGH BROTHERS

This is Mike Brough in the middle, with his brother Rich, on the right of the picture. These guys entertained regularly around the Dundee pubs & social clubs - 1970's/80's. They also sometimes worked with other local acts, helping out at weddings, private functions and so on.
If any of you can identify who the guitarist on the left is, or/and the venue, drop the info into the comments.

COCONUT GROVE AT NIGHT

Another well known Dundee flamingo was this neon one above the entrance to Coconut Grove.

The 2 palm trees were actually on a back wall about 30ft away from the main sign above the door, although you wouldn't think it from the top night shot.

This "Coconut Grove" logo design was repeated throughout the interior of the disco - they had it stencilled in black on the white walls like urban graffiti.

After a couple of years they decided to ditch the word "Coconut" and opted to just call it "The Grove".

You can see the outside palm tree layout and the different "Grove" logo in my September 2008 Archives, for comparison.

BLOOMERS IN 1979



Bloomers nightclub opened its doors in early '79, following on from its short-lived predecessor, Samantha's, in South Tay Street.
Although it was a disco in the main, it also hosted a decent batch of gigs in 1979 when punk & new wave music were coming on strong.
Examples of some acts who have performed there are - The Scars, Valves, Monos, Skids, Shake, UK Subs, Radio Stars, Pallas, etc.
Other bands who have played there are the 3 mentioned in the items above, who cropped up in fanzines in summer '79.
July saw local outfit, The Visitors, perform. Unfortunately, although the band got a good review, the guy who came through from Edinburgh to see them was a bit disappointed with the Dundee crowd!
Also in July, Glasgow act, Zones, visited Bloomers. They had done a couple of radio sessions on John Peel's show by this time and had released singles too.
August then had London Zoo play there. They were an English band who were signed to Scottish record label, Zoom. They were on the same bill as Angelic Upstarts for this gig.
The demise of Bloomers as a club and venue came in Feb 1980, when the place was destroyed by a fire!

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!!

GRIPPING YOUTH REGGAE CLUB - BLAZERS

Blazers reggae disco was located in a wee Pend in Victoria Road, quite near to the Vic cinema in the early 80's.
I can remember being at this very gig in 1982, because before there were any reggae clubs in Dundee, I used to visit the Ital Club in Edinburgh regularly, and Papa Swi was the DJ.!
Papa Swi's girlfriend used to be on the door there, and when I visited I used to keep asking her when they were going to bring their Sound System to Dundee.
And so after a couple of years passed, they did indeed eventually visit Blazers - this of course was organised by Dundee's Gripping Youth rather than me, and once again the same lassie was on the door!!
Papa Swi had a fantastic record collection and one mighty Sound System, and often during his sessions he'd mix in an array of sound effects to enhance the dub sequences, such as echo machines, sirens, ricochet drum loops and so on. Wicked.!!...as we used to say back then. Right up my street in fact...or in Blazers case...Pendie!!
Thanks to DD for the ticket.

THE FALL IN DUNDEE - 1984

The Fall were in Dundee twice in 1984.
Their visit in March was for a gig at Teazers (the night club at the Royal Hotel in Union Street).
Local music journalist, Bob Flynn was there to cover the show for Melody Maker, resulting in this excellent review above.
The Fall were, and are still considered to this day, one of the best bands ever to hit the alternative/indie scene back in the 70's, and their no compromise attitude to the music industry since has been just as inspiring as their creative output.
They then came back a few months later in October to play another gig, this time at Fat Sams. The gig was originally supposed to be at The Fountain, but they switched it to Fatties.
I have an original recording of the Fat Sams gig, and a wee reminder that local band, AAGA were the support.
You can click onto the Teazers review to read the enlarged version.

CHRISTMAS CARD FROM PETER GABRIEL

Back in the 70's, when I used to get music papers every week, one of the things that cropped up regularly in the small ads were addresses to Fan Clubs. That said, I didn't really have any notion to join any because I didn't devote myself to any band in particular or even any music genre - I was open to all.

However, I still had the curiosity niggling away at me thinking about what kind of correspondence I would get if I did join one.

So in 1977, I decided to subscribe to a new club on the scene that I spotted called 'Friends Of Peter Gabriel', which sounded a bit more intimate than the usual fan club. In return I got regular newsletters containing tour date info, recording updates, special offers, merchandise, that kind of thing, which I rather liked because much of stuff was way before music papers got hold of it, and so it was fun to be one step ahead of the media!
One item I got which was a nice surprise was a Christmas card from Peter himself.
Here it is above - a rather surreal kind of illustration with "Here Comes The Flood" on it, referring to one of his tracks.
Inside, of course, it has his hand written greeting.
Much of the correspondence I got also came with an ink rubber stamp of the postal address - as on the record sleeve of a single I purchased shown above.
So it was all quite enjoyable at the end of the day, but now that my curiosity had been satisfied, I didn't feel the need to re-subscribe the following year.
It was just a one-off thing.

It's probably a good bet that I was the only one in Dundee who got a card from Peter that year!

PAUL HAIG - FAT SAM'S - 1986

This is an NME review of Paul Haig's gig at Fat Sams - the gig taken place on 10th August 1986.

I was at this one, me already being familiar with Paul live, having seen him play with Josef K in Edinburgh a few years before.

I can't recall too much from the Fatties set list other than he did perform all my favourite tracks from "The warp of pure fun" album (which I've still got on vinyl).

Staying on the fun theme...although this was a Paul Haig gig and NOT a Haig/Mackenzie gig, needless to say Billy Mackenzie did make an appearance and sang a couple of tunes. In between tracks, Billy pointed to Pauls fluffy cropped hairstyle and commented "He's got a head like a squeaky ba'" then pretended to squeeze it. Pure fun...and a good night had by all.

To read the review, click on the image to enlarge or download.