THE WEE RED BOOK - 1973

They still do the Wee Red Book every year as far as I know, but here is one I kept from the 1973 season. It's stuffed with all things to do with Scottish football, but I reckon the reason most people buy one is because they have the forthcoming season's fixtures list.
Why I still have this one as a souvenir is because '73 was the year Dundee FC won the Scottish League Cup. It's fair to say though, I've had no need to keep any since!
The 2 Scottish football legends on the cover also have Dundee links.
Jimmy Johnstone, who was absolutely brilliant for Celtic, joined Dundee in the mid/late 70's. He was however past his peak by then and only played a couple of games for the Dee.
The other Johnstone is Derek, who was actually brought up in Dundee and went on to become a bit of a Rangers superstar. He supported Dundee United as a kid and even had a short stint at Tannadice in the mid 80's. Like wee Jinky though, his best years were behind him by then.

LEES MACAROON BAR THEME TUNE - 1967

I searched and searched the Internet but couldn't find any commercials from the 60's for Lees Macaroon Bars.
Just like Ricicles, Milky Bars, plus a few others, the tunes used on these kids ads were drilled into our childhood psyche and have since gone on to become fond memories many decades later.
Well I'm pleased to say I had the Lees theme tune in my own collection, and after discovering it's non appearance on the net, I thought I'd do the honours.
The recording below is from May 1967 and is a radio ad for Macaroon Bars using the same tune they had for their TV ads.
Not only will most of you (my age group) recognise the tune, some of you may even be able to sing along to it - "Lees, Lees, more if you please..."
The radio version doesn't actually have the TV ad lyrics because back then Radio Scotland's DJ's still read out the product ads live on air themselves, but you do at least get the same tune along with the DJ's sales pitch.
The image above of the cheery chap pointing to the Lees products is the piccaninny who was referred to in the TV version.
You wont need me to remind you that Lees also made the scrumptious Snowballs, which would then be put into a Squasher (or Skwaashir) and made it so messy as a kid with most of it ending up all over your face. (Cue - tongue trying to clean face, but not long enough to reach the remnants stuck too far away!)
Anyway, possibly for the first time in over 40 years for some of you, here's the original Lees Macaroon Bar theme tune.

SUMMER SANDALS IN THE SIXTIES

Every kid in the 60's knew when summer had arrived - when your parents told you it was time to put on your sandals. As you can see, they were as common as muck! I think I wore a pair the same style every summer up till I was about 10.
The photo was taken in June 1962 when I was 4. That's me (GG) on the right with my wee brother on the opposite side. The star of the picture though is the little cutie-pie in the middle, Susan, looking dead Scottish in her tartan troosers. She also had ginger hair, completing the - dolly from a tartan souvenir shop in the Royal Mile look!
We are sitting on the kerb in the culdee of Kemnay Gardens by the way.
Another amusing aspect is - see the togs I've got on, well if you forward-wind 20 years to the early 80's, I was wearing similar shirts fastened at the neck without a tie along with similar shabby breeks, when it was a post-punk kind of fad. Then I'd be sitting on the pavie outside the Tayside Bar 10 o'clock at night, lighting up a joint!!
A case of fashion going full-circle!
Changing the subject for a moment, an additional observation in the photo is that the 2 doors in shot are their original dark brown colour they'd have been when Craigie was first built. However, later on in the 60's, a team of council decorators came along to repaint the entire scheme. Some of the lucky ones had their doors painted pale blue, but we were one of the unfortunate ones who got theirs done in pink!
Anyway, got lots of Dundee related fashion items to pop up over the next few days. Some toppers in fact!

MORE PLEASE!

Some of you may think that just before I tucked into my meal on Christmas day, I snapped this picture of it on my mobile, but no, this spread of Scottish cuisine dates back to 1984.
Tasty treats on offer include Keillers marmalade, butterscotch sweets, OVD rum, pies plus a few other delights in the mix.
This leads nicely into the fact that it's time once again for me to whet your appetite and serve up a feast of goodies on Retro, with lots of Dundee morsels placed tantalizingly before you to chew over! Some of the items on show may make you want a second helping and the odd one might induce bile, but at least there will be the usual variety brought over to you on the Retro platter.
Having said that, 2011 will be my final year dishing up the local fare. Fun that it is, I haven't actually got a bottomless pit of material to delve into, and having made a recent assessment, I reckon that the quantity I have remaining will run out this year. I definitely do have loads of stuff to keep going for many months and will likely go beyond summer before I reach the end of the line.
Retro Dundee will of course remain on the net, so all the items that are on will stay on for you to rewind over, as and when you fancy.
For now though, better get back into the time machine and set forth on another weird & wonderful journey into our past!!

Happy New YEEEEEEEEAAAaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr....... (enter time warp portal for 1980's).

PLASTIC FLIES - DUNDEE UNIVERSITY - 1982

Sid Gripple gets in a wee tizzy after going to see Glasgow band, The Plastic Flies, along at the University sometime back in 82.
In this Cranked Up review, he can't quite make his mind up whether he likes this band of Clash clones, or not. There are pros & cons all the way through the write-up.
After doing battle with himself, he seems to have settled for giving The Plastic Flies a tentative thumbs up.
You may need to click on the image to read the large version.

THE SCOTTISH FOOTBALL "SCRAP" BOOK

Back in the good old, bad old, ugly old days of football in Scotland (referring mostly to the 70's here), battles inside grounds were commonplace. There was often no segregation, drink was allowed in which meant cans & bottles were chucked about willy-nilly, and bovver boy culture was in full flow. All these ingredients in the mix went on to create the matchday scrap! Although much of it was pretty horrendous, most fans just kind of took it for granted that battles would break out and it was all part of the spectator experience. For those of us who survived it all, we can sometimes look back at the trouble with a dark sense of humour, finding certain aspects of it rather amusing now, the opposite of how it was at the time! "Shit happens" as the saying goes, and retaining a sense of humour can help you get through it.
So having a look back at the pickle the human race got itself into over a game of futba, I've taken my cue from the guy in the photo above, collapsing, as if hit in the back by an arrow, and have given the slideshow below a light-hearted "Wild West" theme.
This kind of thing happened at Dens & Tannadice for years, but the images on show are from other locations around Scotland.
The final picture in the sequence is quite surreal, which brings to mind a surrealist proverb that goes - "When reason is away, smiles will play" - and that's why absurdity can induce laughter!
Photos by the Scotsman

SCOTLAND - 1974 WORLD CUP - #4

The Wonderful World Of Soccer Stars "World Cup 1974" picture stamp book, was an alternative to the packs of football cards with bubbly.

You got packets of 8 for 3p out of newsagents and the players photos were referred to as "stamps" - glossy paper rather than card.

There should have only been the 16 qualifying teams represented in the book, but as the book went to press, the Spain v Yugoslavia play-off had not yet taken place, so both teams got in the book, ending up with 17 in total. (Yugoslavia won)

This is actually my wee brother's book who gave it to me for safekeeping, and he did pretty well collecting the stamps, with only a few missing. The good news is he managed to get the full set of Scotland squad stamps. So if you want a reminder who some of our star players were back then, click on the team picture to view the large version, and I'm sure you'll spot a few legends in there!

The 1974 tournament has been Scotland's most successful World Cup to date, returning home undefeated, on goal difference only.

West Germany won it 2-1 v Holland.

SCOTLAND - 1974 WORLD CUP - #3

Germany was still divided back in 1974, but all of Scotland was united when we travelled over to the West to take on Brazil, Yugoslavia and Zaire.

Roaring us on, was the official Scotland mascot, as shown on an original patch in the top picture. I think it may have been nicknamed "Roary", but I really can't remember now.

To hold some of your essential knick-knacks for the trip, you might have had a bag designed like the one above. Very popular they were in the early 70's. We used similar styled ones at school, usually with football team crests on them. The one in the photo, however, shows the Scottish Bus Group logo, which would have been doing a roaring trade back then, shifting Scotland supporters to airports.

And below, you can view a very short film clip from 74, of Scottish fans greeting the team at an airport in Germany.

 

SCOTLAND - 1974 WORLD CUP - #2

Remember Larg's in Whitehall Street used to sell sheet music downstairs? Well here's 2 from 1974.

The Scotland World Cup Squad with "Easy! Easy!" and "Scotland! Scotland!".

Words and music by Bill Martin & Phil Coulter, who composed quite a few hits for the Bay City Rollers around this period.

SCOTLAND - 1974 WORLD CUP - #1

The 1974 World Cup in Germany was the first time Scotland had qualified for the tournament since 1958, and so for those who were in my age group (16) it was the first time we were involved in the event too.

There was also the added bonus of there being local interest, with Dundee lad Peter Lorimer a regular in the team. In fact by this stage in his career he had become a bit of a Scottish superstar! Then there was Dundee FC goalkeeper, Thomson Allan, who was also in the squad.

There was a good buzz in town when all this was going on. Most folk had colour TV by this time and the team were getting plenty of coverage. It wasn't just the telly and the newspaper sports pages they were making themselves known, they were also heard blasting out of Radio 1..!!

The Scotland Squad released an album to coincide with the tournament, which not only included the voices of the players but featured a hotchpotch of Scotch talent - Gallagher & Lyle, Lulu, Bay City Rollers, JSD Band, Middle Of The Road and Junior Campbell.

From it, there were 2 tracks which were released as a single - A-side was "Easy Easy" and the B-side was "Scotland Scotland".

However, the LP also presented one of the unlikeliest offerings you're likely to encounter in music ...Denis Law sings Jimi Hendrix!!

Actually, the track itself is fine, the Hendrix track being "Angel" which was a hit for Rod Stewart a couple of years earlier. This version has Rod singing along with Denis and contains a lot of banter which kind of captures the fun the World Cup was having on the Scots.

Top picture is the album cover. The cover opens up into a gatefold centre spread, as seen underneath it, and below is "Angel" by Rod Stewart & Denis Law.

 

SCOOBY DOO DEMO - 1971

Back in April 2009, I posted an item to do with a Scooby Doo protest that took place in Dundee in the early 70's.
I put it up as a pretend April Fool, but revealed it was an actual real event.
Although it generated lots of comments, all of us were a bit hazy as to how it came about and when it took place.
Now I have a few details about it.
February 1971 is when the city square / Tay bridge demo started up, organised by Jimmy Brown and his schoolmates.
It wasn't just Dundee either, word soon got out to the youngsters of Scotland and not only did big cities like Glasgow join in, many of the smaller towns got involved too, places such as Fort William, Keith and Lochaber.
The protests all ended the same way - sending petitions with hundreds of signatures, into the BBC.
2 months later, Dundee's Jimmy gets a message from the BBC - Scooby Doo will now be returning to the screens.
A rather satisfying victory for those pesky kids!
The article above was published on 8 April 1971.

DEADBEAT FANZINE - 1982

Early 80's fanzine, Deadbeat, covered the alternative Scottish music scene in the main, so the Dundee stuff was competing with Edinburgh, Glasgow & Aberdeen for mag space, although our local bands and gigs were well represented.

The wee mag was loaded with music articles, gig dates, gig reviews, band interviews, record releases, nightclub details, and so on. In fact Deadbeat is a great reminder of just how much Scotland was buzzing with homegrown talent back then.

When it came to bands from down South visiting Scotland however, Dundee didn't always get the cream of the crop, which is why a bit of an effort was needed to catch the acts perform in other cities. I didn't do too bad as I was a member of Edinburgh's Nite Club for a few years, so saw heaps of acts live there that never set foot in oor toon!

I just loved going through to the Nite Club - one of my favourite places ever!

Thanks to DD

BRAIN DAMAGE CASSETTE - 1983

Dundee band, Brain Damage, recorded this cassette called "Death To Timmy Pop" in 1983.
Drummer, Cody, has the actual original master recording on reel but it hasn't been digitised yet.
So from the 7 tracks on the audio tape, I've plucked out a tune called "Believe In Me".
A brash breakneck speed hardcore punk sizzler!

THE GREAT SCOTS MUSICOGRAPHY BOOK

This is a fairly recent book, published in 2002.

Written by Martin C Strong, the chunky encyclopedia does it's best to cover the entire history of Scottish music & performers, ranging from Rabbie Burns to Rave, and every music genre in-between.

All the artists are in alphabetical order, and where possible, gives the town of origin, band line-up and discography.

So for Retro Dundee purposes, I'll just give a couple of wee examples from the 60's, 70's & 80's.

For instance, the obvious big hitters like Average White Band, Michael Marra, Danny Wilson etc get substantial coverage. A few of the smaller bands such as Poor Souls, Rokotto, Scrotum Poles, Wilderness Children and so on, also get a mention.

Although the book is presented in an encyclopedic format, the content isn't too formal, for example, it describes Gerils as sounding like "Sonic Youth having a fight with The Fall!". It's loaded with wee quips like that.

A select few are also represented in caricature, these being the work of Stuart Murray. Above is an excellent one of Billy Mackenzie, showing his look, his whippets and his town.

Check out the top notch book cover!!

An added bonus is that there are also many pages on the output of Scotland's record labels.

John Peel described the book as an "Extraordinary work of scholarship".

Well worth looking out for.

WAITER WAITER CASSETTE - EARLY 80'S

Dundee indie band, Waiter Waiter, brought out a cassette in the early 80's called "That's No Way To Go-Go", featuring 6 tracks of their own material. None of the song titles were supplied on the cover so the track below will just have to be referred to as track 1. Obviously, because it is an old homemade tape, it is a bit hissy, but it is a good reminder of how they sounded, a sort of cross between the Fire Engines & XTC.
Oh yeah, and they were yet another Tayside Bar band.

MOTHERS PRIDE IN THE 60'S

IT'S OFTEN SAID, ABOUT THE BREAD
THAT BE INSIDE THE PACKS
IS IT PAN, OR IS IT PLAIN
THE LOAVES ON SHELVING RACKS
LOOK INSIDE A MOTHERS PRIDE
AND IT IS PLAIN TO SEE
CRUST ON TOP AND CRUST BELOW
THAT SOLVES THE MYSTERY!

Seeing this Mothers Pride packaging again reminds me of being a bairn in the 60's. Not just jam pieces, but there was Gales Lemon Curd, Condensed Milk, Lyons Golden Syrup and gooey treacle. All nice and messy for kids!
Nowadays the red stripes on the wrapping have disappeared and have been replaced with the official "Mothers Pride Tartan".
Plain plaid..!!

THE WALLY DUGS ROAD TO DUNDEE

I thought I'd end the Tay Road Bridge sequence by having a wee sing-song!

Dundee folk band, The Wally Dugs, were on the go in the 70's and 80's.

The band line-up was - Pat Finnigan - George Getty & Neil McLeod.

All 3 sang and played a variety of traditional instruments including guitars, mandolin, bagpipes, banjo & whistle.

The band had a stint as resident band at the Nine Maidens in Downfield - the ad above dated March 1977.

They also released an album in the 80's, with the dramatic cover of Dundee painted by band member Neil McLeod.

And so to play us out, here's a stirring bagpipe version of well known title track "The Road To Dundee", which I'm sure you'll all be able to sing along to..!!

LUCKY TATTIES IN THE 60'S

Made in Scotland, Lucky Tatties were a prized sweet for us kids back in the 60's. They were quite a size, solid white fondant covered in cinnamon powder. A bit more expensive than your average penny tray items, around threepence each, which meant you could be faced with a bit of a dilemma - do you buy 3 items from the penny tray or 1 Lucky Tattie?! What swayed the occasional Lucky Tattie purchase was that they had wee charms inside, usually a plastic animal or something like that, so they would be a long lasting sweet with a small reward for your efforts!
My local sweet shop/newsagent, Stan's, sold them back then but I doubt if you'll be able to find them in your corner shop nowadays. I don't know when shops stopped selling them, but I can't recall ever buying any in the 70's, or anytime after. The good news is that there are specialist shops on the net you can buy them from, although they don't make them with the charms anymore.

END OF THE ROAD

Well I told you a month ago I had loads of music related items to put up, and although I've still got plenty more, I'm going to fade the music theme out for now in order to crack on with other Dundee stuff.

So, to play us out in the traditional way, here is a pipe band my brother captured in the mid 70's. They have just reached the end of the Nethergate and are about to negotiate the Marketgait roundabout.

His memory is blank as to what the occasion was unfortunately!

SENSATIONAL ALEX HARVEY BAND POSTER - 1975

Welcome to my bedroom in Craigie in the year 1975. As you can see, I paid a visit to the SAHB merchandise counter at the Caird Hall gig. Came back with this poster and a programme which I no longer have, but at least the photo survived. The SAHB logo above the poster was my own piece of artwork, getting a bit of cartoon drawing practise done....although it has to be said, I wouldn't win any prizes for interior design!!