TAYSIDE CASSETTE CENTRE AD - 1973

In '73, the Tayside Cassette Centre were in 73...Perth Road.

So they specialised in music tapes, both cassette format and 8 track - definitely no vinyl.

Why then do they have a gramophone in their ad?

Duhhh!!!!

2 DUNDEE BUS ADS - 1970'S

Me not being a motorist meant that buses were my main mode of transport back then for getting from A to B.

These 2 ads are from the 70's

The top one is for Alexander's, the rural service who's yellow buses were based at Seagate Bus Station.

Something I can remember about the bus station when I was schoolboy aged was using the grubby photo booth a few times. One such session was in 1972 when me and my mate (both Slade fans) went in and got our photo's taken, pushing our fists up close to the camera with our thumbs out sideways, copying the "SLAYED" album cover!

I also have a memory of there being a Nestles chocolate vending machine that was always empty!

 

The other ad is for the local Council bus service who had a depot in Dock Street and an office in Barrack Street.

The 70's was when they changed from green coloured Corporation buses to blue Tayside Regional Council buses.

Does anyone know what product it is advertised on the side of the bus in the picture? The slogan is "Make Your Pins Look Sharper", but I haven't the foggiest what they are referring to!!

You may need to enlarge the image.

AAGA CASSETTE - EARLY 80'S

AAGA were another Dundee band who brought out cassettes of their work in the early 80's.
This one here is their "Secret Pleasures" release, featuring 8 tracks.
Dipping into the darker side of post punk, the lads sound a little sinister on this cover version of "Hard Day's Night", reminding me of the band Magazine a wee bit. Rather eerie, but rather good!
And a reminder that you can catch AAGA in action on video performing live at the Tayside Bar in the early 80's in my January 2009 Archives. Lots of new comments on that one too.

 

4 DUNDEE GIG REVIEWS - 1982

Before Simple Minds played their December Caird Hall show, a few months earlier some members of the band, along with Lenny Love, were in town to catch a gig down at the Tayside Bar. The act we were all there to see was Hey! Elastica, the trash-pop new wave outfit from Edinburgh.
You can read all about this gig, and 3 others that took place around the same time (mid '82) in the above review page out of Cranked Up.
Starting at the top it's...
Junkies at The Windmill.
Junkies at Dundee University.
Hey! Elastica at Tayside Bar.
Little Wolves at Tayside Bar.
I attended the 2 Tayside Bar offerings, although it seems most of the fun was to be had at the Junkies gigs.!!
All the write-ups were the work of our very own secret agent on location, Jock Ferguson.
To read it, you'll need to click onto the image to enlarge it.

AWA' AT THE BERRIES

Have to hang my head in shame at this point and admit I never went to the berries. Looking back, I can't think why I didn't go because all my mates went, all my neighbours and all my cousins too, but for some reason it just didn't make my agenda. Perhaps it seemed too much like hard work! I can remember my mates coming back with their arms & hands all scratched, their clothes stained and then rattling all the dosh they made. Sometimes during the 7 weekies I'd go to a mates house and the mother would reply saying "He's awa at the berries" and so off I went to try somebody else.
In the 70's, the "Berry Bus" was used a lot as a derisive term for an old bus in general. For example, if you went on a bus to Blackpool or travelled to an away match and the bus you were on was shooglin' along at a crawl or if it broke down during the journey, you'd describe it as "like being on a berry bus!". So at least I can claim to having been on a few of those anyway..!!
Below is some footage of local pickers getting stuck in.
Photo by The Scotsman.Tints by GG

MID 70'S AIR SHOT - CITY CENTRE

In the mid 70's, my brother went on a flight around Dundee. Luckily for us he had his camera with him and managed to capture quite a lot of the city, some of which looks much different to how it is now. I must have around 40 aerial shots from the session but I'll just put up 6 over the coming days to give you a reminder of how the toon looked back in the day.
So settle down in your seats and get ready for take off...
Starting off bang in the centre of town, where you can see by all the workers huts around it that they were still putting the finishing touches to the new Tayside House at the bottom right of the picture. The most obvious observation though is the giant gap where they demolished the old Wellgate and South side of Victoria Road.
The fact that the photos were taken out of the plane's window means they are not going to be high definition clarity but they are still good enough to make out where you are and what's what, so I recommend for those who would like to do a kind of Retro Google Earth on them, to click on the image to get the large version, then right click to "save picture as" and save it onto you pc, and then you can use your zoom & pan to have a wee nosey around.

THE GRIP'S TAYSIDE BAR FLYER

From the early 80's - this flyer for a gig taking place in August may very well be the one The Grip used to advertise their gig featured in yesterday's post.
Everyone in the photo is wearing summer shirts anyway!!
Thanks to DD.

THE GRIP - TAYSIDE BAR - EARLY 80'S

Here's The Grip dropping some live reggae & dub down at the Tayside Bar in the Seagate in the early 80's. A place where I saw them play a couple of times myself.

The crowd participation on this occasion would appear to involve the use of Rizla papers and filling the room with herbal aromas..!!

For a reminder of the The Grip in full flow, you can backtrack to the March 2009 Archives and give them a wee blast.

Thanks to DD.

WHO'S ON THE TAYSIDE BAR?

A nice wee snapshot of the Tayside Bar noticeboard taken in Feb 1983. Not a particularly hectic week on this occasion but local electronic whizz-kids, Altres, were performing on stage that week, as were Portable People the following night.
Altres, as I'm sure most of you will know by now, are still going strong, gigging and recording regularly. Don't forget to check out the Altres website for more info and goodies, including original Tayside Bar recordings & photos - http://www.altres.co.uk/

Big thanks to Kevin & Brian.

CRANKED UP - A DUNDEE FANZINE - 80'S

This is the cover of the very first issue of Dundee music fanzine, Cranked Up. It wasn't the cities first fanzine, with the likes of "Men from Soya" and "Le Sinistre" being very short-lived attempts earlier. Cranked Up, however, kept it going for 18 issues, so they had a good run.
The mag hit the scene in 1981 and managed to capture the start of the "New Wave" bands that were springing up locally, although a variety of other music categories were given plenty fanzine space too.
Performers and places that get a mention in ISSUE 1 are - SCROTUM POLES - BLIND PEW - TAYSIDE BAR - UPSTAIRS DOWNSTAIRS - THE GRIP - TIFFANY'S - NO FIXED ABODE - MEGAZONES - BARRACUDA - ASGARD - ST. ANDREW & THE WOOLEN MILL.
The main man behind Cranked Up was, Jock Ferguson, who nowadays makes a living acting, specialising in Scottish characters. Check out his website to see what he's up to http://www.thesonsofscotland.co.uk/jockferguson.htm

TAYSIDE BAR - SEAGATE - 1980'S

Located at 176 Seagate ( the building no longer exists ), the Tayside Bar was a pub you may well have passed in the street without giving it a second glance. It was really an old man's pub, as basic and as spartan as they get. However, in the early '80's, Dundee's trendy youth hijacked it and used it as a live music venue.
Most of the time it was a showcase for the "alternative" music scene...and on the nights there were no bands playing, there would often be a DJ - the Cranked Up Disco!.
Local bands who gigged there were acts such as Altres, The Grip, AAGA, Waiter Waiter, Junkies, Scrotum Poles, The Blush etc etc...but as the venue became more known, acts from out of town would come in and perform too.
There always seemed to be something going on inside which is why it was such a good place to have a drink. I remember Billy Mackenzie used to hang out there as well.
The top photo shows the long narrow lounge area of the pub...where it all happened!!
Under it, is a photo of the pubs main man, Brian Sinclair, the guy who brought all the bands in.
One of the many acts I saw play there was AAGA, and I was in the crowd at one of their gigs they captured on film. Below is that very gig. Filmed in March 1984. AAGA live at the Tayside Bar with a track called "Back in the 60's".
Many thanks to Kevin, Mike, Brian and co from AAGA & Altres for the excellent footage and photo.
Meanwhile, enjoy the blast from the past, on the video below...
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Tayside Bar now has its own website - go visit Tayside Bar