SHAM 69 & DENNIS THE MENACE - 1978

 

In 1978, Sham 69 released their well known single, "If The Kids Are United..." and the music press advert they had for it was presented like a comic page.

They used some of the song lyrics to form the storyboard, and in the centre panel it had Dennis The Menace & Gnasher.

If you look closely at the bottom panel too, a couple of other Dundee comic characters make a guest appearance in the crowd.

Click image to enlarge.

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.

DESPERATE DAN x JAMES BROWN - 1984

It's Desperate Dan again, this time with a front row seat at a gig.
Others in the crowd are members of The Broons, Oor Wullie and funky legend, James Brown, who is doing his thang in the aisle.
This is the album cover artwork of a recording by Dundee musician, Ken Hyder.
The LP is called "Under The Influence" and was released in 1984.

THE LOCHEE SWING - 1981

Here's a humorous slice of satire from the 80's.
A variety of aspirations centre around the simple concept of installing a kids swing - with a very real kinda punchline!
It's all rather self explanatory.
Click to enlarge.

CLARKS COMMANDOS ADVERT - 1972

This comic strip is actually an advert.
It's for Clarks Commandos, a range of shoes made by Clark, and was published in 1972.
They are described as "action shoes for tough assignments" and the various styles came with added extras such as a mock ammunition box, Commando I.D. card, wall charts, badges etc.
The shoes also had a little recognition symbol in the heel.
Kids like all that kinda stuff of course, and no doubt, many mock battles were fought around town wearing them - just like Kit Carter and chums in the advert strip.
A small group of Dundonians, however, took it a step further a few years later, when in 1980, a band cropped up on the local music scene and were called, yep you guessed it - Clarks Commandos..!!
Give it a click to read the large version.