AAGA CD - NOW AVAILABLE

Now that Christmas time is closing in on us all once again, some of you will no doubt be wondering what to buy off the record tokens you get. Problem solved - treat yourself to this AAGA CD.

The compilation called "The World Makes Me Sad Sometimes", on Rightback Records, is the first time a collection of AAGA's original 80's material has been given an official release, and so a good opportunity to hear for yourself why Factory Records wanted to showcase the band in Manchester at the time.

You'll know by now that I have featured many of  AAGA's cassettes on Retro, all displaying their homemade covers, well keeping the self assembly process going, here above is the CD cover when it was still work in progress at the design stage. The cover visuals were a joint effort by Mike Kane's daughter & son, with the AAGA logo the work of Dundee graphic artist, Nick Wright.

It will of course be available on iTunes and so on.

Finally, below is another reminder of the band's sound, this time from a gig at the Tayside Bar in 1984 -  catching AAGA in one of their more mellow moods.

A gig I was at too!

Thanks to Craig and Brian.

DUNDEE COMPILATION CASSETTE - 1982

Well I've raided just about every tune from this cassette during the course of doing Retro Dundee, but I haven't actually done a feature on the tape itself - so better late than never.

Here is then the extremely rare Dundee Compilation Cassette which was made available locally in the early 80's, and was put together by AAGA Productions.

Musically it consisted of a mixture of alternative, pop, rock, new wave, electronic and experimental - and stating the rather obvious, all the acts were from Dundee.

Rockpile and the Tayside Bar were the places to go to grab a copy.

A review of the cassette was published in local fanzine, The Voice, in 1982, which is the 2nd item above and was given a track-by-track assessment. If you want to read the large version, just give it a click.

While I'm here, I'll squeeze one more track out of it.

Here below is Waiter Waiter with a catchy wee song called "Discipline". 

CHECKING OUT THE SCROTUM POLES

One of the local account holders at the bank featured in yesterdays item, was The Scrotum Poles.

They may not have had much money to burn at the time mind you, but 30 years on their music is still creating interest..!!

Just this year they have been played on Gideon Coe's show on Radio 6 and I even heard them get an airing on WFMU in New York this summer. Also had write-ups in The Word magazine and Record Collector magazine this year.

Anyway, a good time to include this rare photo of the band caught in rehearsals up at the Coffin Mill, with a couple of mysterious onlookers dressed in black.

Were The Stranglers in town?

Big thanks to Craig.

BOO-HOORAY - G.I.G.O McGURK - 1984

Boo Hooray have made a couple of appearances on Retro already, those tracks having been taken from the early 80's Dundee Compilation Cassette, a local unofficial homemade product.

This record here however, called "G.I.G.O McGurk", was the bands official release, recorded at Wilf Smarties studio in Edinburgh and brought out as a 12 inch single in 1984.
Boo Hooray didn't exactly pander to pop chart formulas mind you, so this is probably the band at their most commercial.
Line-up on this recording were - Gerry Mitchell, bass + talk - Alison Mitchell, singing - Scott Gowans, guitars - Brem, sax - and the drums were of the programmed variety.
Quite an offbeat mixture stirring around in the blender - Magic Band style guitar - Manhattan Transfer sounding harmonies and Byrne "Once In A Lifetime" fashion talkover.
A captivating little cocktail!!
Boo Hooray were also collaborators on a variety of projects that became part of Dundee's Attic Archive. Included in the Archive are Boo Hooray live recordings, Erasmic Superfoam audios and various Mike Kane related artifacts, all of which have recently been passed on to the Dundee Central Library Social History Dept.
In fact, this record came courtesy of the Attic Archive, more of which will be dipped into over the next few days.

THE DUNDEE MUSIC BOOK

As the recent music theme on Retro nears an end, this is the perfect time to inform you of a new book that's about to hit the shelves, on the same subject.
It goes under the funky title of "Take It To The Bridge" and covers the history of Dundee's music scene from the 1960's to the present.
It documents quite a broad spectrum - for example, the various styles of music the locals indulged in - pop, rock, soul, punk, jazz, alternative, folk and so on, with plenty of name-checks, interviews and anecdotes from some of the musicians involved. It also gives the lowdown on the variety of venues around town, as well as touching on other aspects such as the record shops and music stores. The book will also provide lots of images and memorabilia too - all part of the local infotainment!
Those of you who fancy a copy, better take note of the official release date - 12th October 2011.
There will no doubt be ample publicity about it nearer the time, so keep your peepers on the local press and book shops.
Those of you who want to avoid the mad rush or now live out of town, can get the book via the usual Internet outlets - Amazon, EBay etc.
Well worth grabbing a copy, and you should be able to pick one up for around a tenner.
You'll also be pleased to know the book was written by someone who knows what they are doing - Lorraine Wilson, who has been connected to all things journalistic for the past 25 years or so.
As well as an author, she has also been an editor, radio broadcaster, scriptwriter, lecturer, to name just a few.
Music has also played a major part in her life, from working on teen music magazines, to being one of the Beaver Sisters, up to more recent projects such as organising the Beatles Weekends in Dundee.

STREET LEVEL - SAMPLE TRACK - 1981

Street Level were a band who emerged on the local music scene at the start of the 80's.
Their style of energetic pop combined with a good sense of humour had the band generally well liked. They certainly played plenty gigs around town anyway, as well as do their fair share of shows elsewhere around the country.
Line-up was - Callum McHardy, guitar - Jackie McPherson, vocal and occasional keyboard - Murray Tosh, bass - Bob Butler, drums.
After a good run, they called a halt in summer '81, with Jackie cropping up a short while later in an act called Just Little Boys, before she then went on to become more well known as the TV presenter/newsreader AKA Jackie Bird.
Meanwhile, Murray headed off for life down in Oz around that time too - and both Callum & Bob have since gone on to play in an ABBA tribute band.
Reversing back to the 1981 period, the photo above is of Jackie doing her thang on stage, and you can just catch a glimpse of Murray as well.
Also around this time, Street Level managed to get some tracks down on cassette, a sample of which you can hear below.
The track is called "Security City", a lively wee tune that may very well take some of you back to the old Tayside Bar & Galleon days!
Big thanks to Derek.

MIDNITE MASQUE - DEMO TRACK - 1983

This is a good example of the transformation that can take place when a person not only departs from a band, but makes a total departure from a music genre.
When singer, Gordon Band, exited Dundee prog-rockers Colossus in the early 80's, he joined another bunch of rockers called Hologram, an Edinburgh band who ironically were managed by former Colossus manager, John Maguire, for a period. Anyway, although they had a record deal and recorded a full album, as is what often happens with bands, they split soon after.
Gordon, by this time however, was losing interest in rock, especially the way the scene was going with its spandex & hairspray look, and his musical leanings were becoming influenced more and more by sounds from such bands as The Cocteau Twins, The Associates, acts in that kind of alternative territory.
So in 1983, Gordon formed a band called Midnite Masque, which included bassist, Keith Grant, who used to be in punk band, The Freeze.
Below is a demo track from a cassette they made back then, a song called "Back To The Flame", a rather luscious creation with a memorable hook - and quite a giant leap from Colossus!
Big thanks to Gordon Band.

FRICTION - AIRCRASH - 1979

Friction weren't a full-on ska band, as their previous track up on Retro Dundee demonstrates, but on some of their songs, they definitely had one foot in ska while keeping the other one firmly in indie.
However, this amusing track below - "Aircrash" - which was recorded in November 1979, has the band almost in total 2-Tone mode. It also throws some light on why they were often categorised as a ska band.
So make sure you don't envisage Friction bopping about wearing pork-pie hats and braces - they weren't like that at all!
Big thanks to Scott.

STONE THE CROWS - CAIRD HALL - 1971

On the 17th March 1971, this budget-priced concert was on offer at the Caird Hall for 50p.
The bands involved were prog rockers, Beggars's Opera - Arc, who were another prog rock outfit - and top of the bill, Stone The Crows, who were more blues rock based.

YES - CAIRD HALL - 1971

Prog rockers, Yes, were on stage at the Caird Hall on 10th October 1971 - along with support act Jonathan Swift.
The artwork on the poster would appear to confirm that this would be before they teamed up with their long time collaborator, graphic designer, Roger Dean.

SPARKS - CAIRD HALL - 1974

Here's an ad for Sparks tour dates which includes a visit to the Caird Hall on 20th November 1974.
No idea what happened, but I missed out on this gig - gutted!
The 2 Sparks albums released that year ("Kimono My House" & "Propaganda") were two of the best albums of 1974 - I played them to death!
Anyway, a wee side note - Billy MacKenzie & Steve Aungle recorded one of their songs later in life - "Never Turn Your Back On Mother Earth" off Propaganda.

SUPERTRAMP - CAIRD HALL - 1975

The unique sounds of Supertramp were to be heard in the Caird Hall at a gig that took place on 25th November 1975.

Special guest was Joan Armatrading.

SHOWADDYWADDY - CAIRD HALL - 1977

I didn't even realise Showaddywaddy were still on the go in 1977, but here's an ad for a gig they did at the Caird Hall on 2nd December that year.
I've absolutely no idea who Tickle was!
Thanks to Yvonne

DARTS - CAIRD HALL - 1979

Darts were in town, throwing down a bit of doo-wop at the Caird Hall on 9th October 1979.
Did they have a No1 hit? I was just thinking, that is the lowest score you can get on a dartboard!

SYD LAWRENCE - CAIRD HALL - 1981

Maybe an evening your parents went to. The Syd Lawrence Orchestra on stage at the Caird Hall on 15th August 1981.
Syd's lot were basically a Glen Miller tribute band!

THE PRIMITIVES ON FILM - 1969

Elsewhere on Retro Dundee I have mentioned the various musical escapades of 2 local musicians who often worked together - keyboard player, Mike Fraser, and drummer Robbie McIntosh.

Well R&B pop outfit, The Primitives, was one such band in which Mike & Robbie teamed up with, this being after their stint in The Senate. Although The Primitives were a British act, it was in Italy where they were best known and where oor twa spent their time with them, the band having an alternating residency at the fab & famous Piper Club in Rome, a venue visited by top name bands.

It was during this groovy time in their life that Mike & Robbie ended up in a movie, an Italian film made in 1969 called "Pensiero d'amore", footage of which I have below.

But before that, a quick word on the above photos...

Top one is a film shot of The Primitives.

Next one down with all the dancers is another film shot.

Third image was taken at a live gig.

And the last picture is a general publicity shot.

So, settle down, cut yourself a slice of pizza and enjoy this rare movie scene below.

To see Mike on keyboards and Robbie on drums, you'll need to ignore singer Mal, all the dolly birds, as well as the Mafia, and just concentrate on the background action!

I don't recall this movie showing at The Gaumont!!

Big thanks to Mike Fraser and Mac.

LIST-D IN THE PRESS ... AND IN COURT

List-D cropped up on the local music scene in the late 70's.

The band kinda started off as teenage punks music-wise, and as a result their gigs had a bit of a reputation for often ending in fights!

Later in 1980, they tried to develop a more mature sound.

They played locally at venues such as the Junction 9 & Marryat Hall, and sometimes ventured out of town too.

The above photo was taken in 1980 in the spare grounds near the Grey Lodge in the Hilltown area. The Grey Lodge being where they rehearsed. Spot the nifty piece of graffiti in the background!

Line-up, L to R...

Jim Grieves (Sykes), drums.

Mark Stuart (deceased), guitar.

Eddie Harrington, bass.

Dek McHugh aka Zippy, vocals.

This was the band's strongest line-up but a couple of other members came & went - Colin Ramsay, Gordon "Fanta" Walker for example.

Zippy was only 17 at the time of the photo, and left Dundee before he was 18.

The photo was published in the Dundee Standard, and while they were at it, Dek was asked to supply his Top 5 records.

The 3rd article is a report from the time List-D ended up in court.

This was in summer 1979 when they were supporting London band, Beggar, who were doing a mini-tour of East Scotland & Highlands.

After Peely gave the band a shout-out on radio, both bands over-did the celebrations and it all went wrong.

You can read about it yourselves.

Click onto it to bring up the large version.

Many thanks to Dek.

MISBEHAVIN' - PUB BAND - 1980'S

I've scoured every page of every issue of Cranked Up looking for a live review or some other article about pub rockers, Misbehavin', but to no avail. They did get a couple of name-checks in the passing, but the band's brand of rock covers didn't invoke anything substantial written about them when they were doing the pub/club circuit in the early 80's.
In the line-up we have - Bill Higgins - Chris Taylor - Nigel Brodie - Pete Sillars - Scott Martin.
Chris Taylor, who was a painter, illustrator & caricaturist, died earlier this year.

SUPERCHARGE - BOWLING ALLEY - 1978

Below, is a rare live recording of a gig that took place at the Bowling Alley - AKA the Students Union in Marketgait.
This was the first of 4 visits by Supercharge, captured on reel to reel on 21st April 1978.
Supercharge were a decent funky disco band, but this track here called "She Moved The Dishes First" is something completely different to the rest of their musical output.
For some reason they thought it a good idea to include a comedy cabaret routine into their set, but I really don't think they did themselves any favours with this mix of soul doo-wop, laced with student rag mag humour. I suppose after 12 pints it might have been amusing - it seems to have gone down well with the crowd anyway - and the band did return to the venue 3 more times after this.
Anyway, after playing all those shows here , there's bound to be someone who can recall something of their visits to Dundee.
We'll wait and see..!!
Thanx to Brian Wilson - Bowling Alley DJ.

4 MYSTERY ACTS - 1980's

Here we have a sequence of photos that were taken at various venues in town around the mid/late 80's period, the acts of which managed to slip through the net undocumented. So I thought I'd throw this one open to you lot out there to see if you can identify any of the above - whether from memory or by research.

The top one featuring somebody sporting the cowgirl look - both the act and the venue needs to be known. Any ideas?

Next one down with the female trio, was taken at Sessions. Were they backing singers or the main act?

Third image is also at Sessions, this time featuring a jazz quartet. Recognise any of the musicians?

Lastly, this picture of another group of jazz musicians was snapped at The Rep. Difficult to tell from the back but I was wondering if the saxophonist on the left might be a young Tommy Smith? Can't say for certain though because of the camera position. Do you know who's in the line-up?

See how you get on anyway.

Photos by The Bear.