SAMANTHAS ADS - LATE 70's

Samantha's in South Tay Street was quite a short lived discotheque, on the go from 1976 to 78, so these ads above are a bit of a rare sight.

The first 2 are from the Dundee Telegraph and are dated December 1977.

The top one is a general ad emphasising their weekend disco action.

It also mentions the Stage Door Bar - that was the pub at the back of Samantha's in the Marketgait that had a connecting doorway taking you to the disco. It saved trekking around the block to the main entrance.

The second ad is for a midweek event, the visitor being Richard Searling.

I remember Richard's name cropping up every week back then in music mags such as Black Echoes and Blues & Soul. He was a DJ specialising in soul music, both the Northern Soul variety and the more up-to-the-minute dance tracks. In fact he was quite an influential DJ, not only was he a Wigan Casino regular, but he was the guy who brought the original "Tainted Love" to the attention of clubbers.
Another well know disc-jockey who appeared here was Radio 1 DJ, Paul Burnett. This was on 15 January 1978.

Just a bit of general background info to give you an idea of the entertainment on offer at the time.

An example of the kind of bands that performed here are shown in the next 3 items.

Firstly an ad that appeared in NME in October 1978 featuring tour dates for punk band, 999, who had Samantha's as a venue on 22 October. To go with it is a gig guide showing the same date, with Simple Minds also on the bill.

The last item shows that Ultravox played at Samantha's a couple of weeks earlier on 8 October '78.

Many thanks to Yvonne for the Telegraph ads.

SOUTH TAY STREET IN THE 80'S

This was the bonnie mess in the 80's that was South Tay Street, although I seem to remember it was just this certain part in particular that had the slum look. This is the area nearest the Westport/Marketgait car park, with the old Palais doorway on the right. The Palais, obviously having gone through it's Samanthas and Bloomers phase by this time. It was also the sight we saw every time we went in and out of Slickers across the road.
The whole of this block has survived and is now looking spick & span after its overhaul a few years later.

BLOOMERS IN 1979

Bloomers nightclub opened its doors in October 1978, 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 1978/79 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.
Bloomers closed its doors in August 1979, and 6 months later, the building was destroyed by fire.