DC THOMSON'S XMAS PARTIES - 1976

Another 2 DC Thomson Xmas parties, this time a decade later in 1976.

The top one captures some of the throng at the festivities at Kingsway.

Still wearing tank tops in 76?!

Underneath are the Xmas celebrations going on at their West Ward Works.

Looks like they even made a grotto for that one. 

MUSIC CELEBS WITH DCT MAGS #4

In 1964, pop group, The Hollies, invaded the editorial room of DC Thomson's girl magazine "Romeo".

The band were in town for a gig at the Top Ten Club at the Palais, so this would have been a bit of PR during their free time.

The 3 Dundee lassies in the picture from West Ward Works are - Irene Colville, Mina Duncan & Evelyn Porter.

Talking about The Hollies, in 1967 the group's lead singer, Allan Clarke, was back in Dundee to perform the opening ceremony of a new shop that was launched in the Overgate.

It was half fashion boutique and half discotheque.

Called "Scene One", the front part of the store sold the latest designer gear brought in directly from Carnaby Street in London. This then lead to a door that took you to the other half of the premises at the back - the disco area.

Unfortunately, Scene One only lasted around a year.

MUSIC AT DE STIHL'S - 1988 - WILDERNESS CHILDREN

In the late 80's when DJ's, rather than band's, ruled the music world, "live" music at nightclubs would often have to take a back seat, but De Stihl's in South Ward Road, as you can see, managed to accommodate both.
This is a review of Dundee band Wilderness Children who performed there in October 1988, the same month as the previous acid ad.
You may need to click the image for the large version, to read it.
You can also rewind back to the July Archives to get a couple of other items on the band, including a music sample.

MUSIC AT DE STIHL'S - 1988 - ACID HOUSE

An ad from October 1988 inviting you along to De Stihl's acid night.

This was at the height of the rave scene, with acid house being a particularly intoxicating brew of dance beats & synth patterns.

It wasn't just great music to dance to, it was also great to cycle to.

I remember being out on my bike regularly during this era and would be plugged into my Walkman with acid house pounding in my ears. It could be so mesmerizing, I often ended up going much further than I had planned without realising because I was so immersed in it.

I just kept going and going and going.

I could have won the Tour De France on that stuff!!

I'm still a bit like that today with Chicago Footwork tracks!

LE MIRAGE RESTAURANT - 1970'S

A 70's ad for "Le Mirage", an upmarket style restaurant which was situated on the corner of Ward Road & Constitution Road.
I don't actually recall ever being in the Mirage so don't know that much about it personally, but I do know that on opening night in 1974, the cabaret act was a Spanish dancer called Karin Karina, and this was her first performance in Scotland. 

REP THEATRE LEAFLET #2 - 1963

On the flip side of the Rep Theatre leaflet is the list of plays that were on offer during April & June 1963. However, because of the fire in May that year, the 2 June plays wouldn't have taken place, and I'm not sure if the May plays fared any better.
So in date order we have -
9 April - LORD ARTHUR SAVILE'S CRIME by Oscar Wilde.
23 April - PHOTO FINISH by Peter Ustinov.
7 May - PICNIC by William Inge.
21 May - THE REHEARSAL by Jean Anouilh.
4 June - THE ASPERN PAPERS by Michael Redgrave.
18 June - THE CARETAKER by Harold Pinter.
Incidentally, one of the assistant stage managers for the 2 April plays was a young Dundee chap some of you may have heard of - yes, it was Brian Cox. Still learning his craft back then!
Click the image to enlarge.

REP THEATRE LEAFLET #1 - 1963

The Rep Theatre was based in Nicoll Street (off Ward Road) when this leaflet was printed. It has general info about the theatre on this side and on the other side it contains the plays that were scheduled for the period between April & June 1963.
There is an additional poignant historical aspect to the leaflet - this would have been the very last such item of literature advertising the Nicoll St Rep because in May that year the theatre was destroyed by a fire and the company had to find new premises. To add insult to injury, earlier in 1963 the theatre had just been given a facelift with the wallpaper, staircase and hangings all specially designed for its new look, and in the foyer they had a mural painted by Scottish artist, Richard Demarco. The whole lot going up in flames only a few months later.
In the mid 80's, the premises reopened as a college annexe, and I think it still is to this day.
You can click the image to read it.

No1 - WARD ROAD - 1980's

More arches with No1 on...(re previous post).

The popular No1 pub was in Ward Road.

It changed it's name from Pullmans to No1 in the mid 80's but remained basically the same inside apart from a colour change from plum to green.

This shot of it is the Ward Road side of the pub, but it also had an entrance in Constitution Road.

Did it use "It's No1 - it's top of the pubs!" as an advertising slogan, or have I just made that up?!

Anyway, there is a photo of the interior when it was the Pullman Lounge in my February 2009 Archives.

THE PULLMAN LOUNGE - WARD ROAD

Pullman's was for a while, the city centre pub that me and my mates used to arrange to meet in before hitting the rest of town, so my recollections of it are mostly being there only in the early evenings for a couple of pints to get the night started.
It attracted a young crowd at weekends, even if it did only have a basic wall jukebox.
Lunchtimes, however, saw more of a mixed age group because their pub lunches were popular.
To get your bearings in the photo, the windows faced onto Ward Road which is also where the main doorway was (centre area of the shot).
There was also another entrance on Constitution Road out of view behind the photographer.
The above image was captured on 21st April 1982.
The decor was at first done in a plum/wine colour, then a few years later it had a makeover and was transformed into a green coloured drinking den called No1.
In it's older pre Pullman's life, this building was Le Mirage restaurant.

Photo by DC Thomson.

TELEPHONE HOUSE MURAL - 1976

I was always impressed with this piece of work every time I saw it.
The 30ft long Dundee Panorama Mural was made from cut-out copper panels and hung in the foyer area of Telephone House in Ward Road.
It was created by John Shields and Joe Millar who were lecturers in Design at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art.
These 2 images, taken on 7th April 1976, show the full panorama in the top picture and a close-up of the central section below it.