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.

 

ROD STEWART IN DUNDEE - 1974

The picture here shows part of the crowd outside Bruce's record shop in Reform Street, waiting to catch sight of Rod Stewart opening the store on 14th Dec 1974.

I'm somewhere in the crowd too, wearing my Dundee FC scarf, because the team were playing Celtic that day.

Incidentally, Rod didn't have a gig in town, he was actually playing at the Glasgow Apollo that night, so he did travel through especially to do the biz at Bruces.

However, because Rod turned up late for the shop opening, I, along with many others, had to make a last minute mad dash up to Dens Park to catch kick-off.

Rod also made that same dash up to Dens for the game, getting the V.I.P. treatment in the directors box. Unfortunately, Rod didn't get to see the Dee on a good day - Kenny Dalglish was in scintillating form that afternoon and Dundee were hammered 6-0!

Kenny got a hat-trick and the footage below captures 2 of his goals from the match.

Rod & Bruce then had to scarper quickly back to Glasgow to make it in time for the start of his concert!

Yes things were pretty hectic the day Rod came to town in '74.

 

Photo by DC Thomson.

ROD STEWART AT BRUCE'S RECORD SHOP - 1974

On a cold Saturday afternoon on 14th December 1974, Rod Stewart made a special appearance at Bruce's Record Shop in Reform Street to officially open the store.
As you might imagine, the event did cause a bit of a commotion inside & outside the shop as the crowd gathered to catch a glimpse of him. The police were even present outside the shop, trying to keep control of the crowd and I should know, I was there in amongst it all!
The photo is of Rod inside the shop.
Scottish comedian, Bill Barclay was also supposed to be present but don't know what happened to him that day!
Anyway, it was a great way to introduce Bruce's shop to the city and I became a regular for many years to follow.
The shop then moved into the Wellgate Centre in August 1979.

Photo by DC Thomson.