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.

RICKY ROSS IN DUNDEE

Ricky Ross's music career took off when he moved to Glasgow and formed Deacon Blue. There is plenty of information about Deacon Blue's history on the net already, but not quite so much about Ricky's early Dundee days, so I thought I'd drop a few bits & pieces of the lesser known stuff about him.
RR actually lived near Dawson Park I recall (my old roll delivery patch) and was a Dundee High School kid. He then went to Dundee College of Education to become an English teacher.
Ricky was also involved in the local music scene around this time too (late 70's) - one aspect of which was playing in a band called Cahoots. Another connection with the Dundee music scene was his friendship with the Scrotum Poles, going to all their early gigs and helping them out behind the scenes, which included travelling to London with the the band, sharing driving duties on the way down, when it was time for the Scrotum Poles to cut their "Revelations" EP.
RR also ran a youth club in town called The Other Door Cafe, in a city centre church. A place where local bands could play and teenagers could grab a few soft drinks.
He even dabbled in a bit of acting on stage, along with Scrote, Craig Methven. There is photographic evidence for that one!!
Anyway, these wee snippets of his youth spent in Dundee, all eventually lead up to him going west in the early/mid 80's - and the rest is well documented.
I had a sift through some old music papers I have and found the above item in an NME from June 1987, an early tour schedule which shows a Deacon Blue gig at Dundee's Dance Factory (Fat Sams) on 5th July that year.
2 years later, the band put on a show at the Whitehall Theatre, and as if by magic, I have a track from this gig, below, the concert having taken place on 1st March 1989.
Apart from a bit of sax near the end, it's pretty much a Ricky Ross solo spot. A track called "Thunder Road".