THE ALTERNATORS - NO ANSWERS - 1978

The Alternators formed in 1976 and had in their line-up ; Martin Geldart (bass) - Wayne Hutton (drums) - Colin Warnock (guitar/vocal) - Louis O'Neil (keyboards).

Their punk based material got them supporting bands such as The Ramones, Skids, The Stranglers...and on one infamous occasion when they were the support for The Rezillos at the Marryat Hall, an altercation took place between the 2 bands during rehearsals resulting in Colin Warnock decking Rezillos singer Fay Fyfe, and so needless to say, no home gig for the guys that night!!

The Alternators did come close to signing a major record deal in London, but it fell through, and shortly after that they split.

Incidentally, Billy MacKenzie once had a short spell singing in the band in their early days.

There does seem to be a slight Stranglers influence on the track below, with a touch of the Dave Greenfield keyboard sound, but it does have a chorus which was typical of the kind of punky records from that era.

You can see the poster for this single (released in January 1978) in the photo above, and it also completes the trio of records released on the Dundee NRG label, all of which are now up on Retro Dundee.

 

THE DRIVE - JERKIN' - 1977

"Jerkin" was the debut single release by local act, The Drive, which came out on Dundee's NRG record label in 1977.

Although the single sold well in Bruce's record shop, the only place I can remember hearing it played back then was on the jukebox in the Oriental pub.

The same single was also chosen for a compilation album that came out on Beggars Banquet record label in '77, the front and back cover of which is shown above.

This is the 2nd NRG track on Retro Dundee, and if you want a reminder, you can listen to a track by The Visitors in my July 2009 Archives.

Meanwhile, here's a blast of The Drive single below.

THE VISITORS ON NRG RECORDS - 1978

Formed in Dundee in the late 70's, The Visitors released this track below "Take It Or Leave It" which came out in 1978. Although it's not a full-on punk track, it does have a rawness that was becoming more popular in the pop charts back then, and it did get a thumbs up on the John Peel show too.
The label - NRG Records - was also Dundee based, at 17 Union Street to be exact.