SHIRLEY BASSEY'S DUNDEE DATA



"A magnificent audience. A magnificent hall & magnificent acoustics.

My first time here. I hope it will not be the last"

This is what Shirley Bassey wrote in the Caird Hall visitors book on 19th May 1972.

Then on the next page we have...

"Here I am again as promised" - yes Shirley returned the following year and signed the book once more on 20th November 1973.

Shirley Bassey also has a creative connection with Dundee, when back in the 80's, Associates singer, Billy MacKenzie composed a song for her.

The recording was called "The Rhythm Divine".

This was a classy slow moody groove with a polished production and was made in Switzerland by Yello.

DUDHOPE PARK FESTIVAL - 1980'S

Just wondering if David Cook had a hand in the stage set for this outdoor do up at Dudhope Park around 1987, give or take a year? Painted brollies! It always rains at Glastonbury, but seems like it was decent weather for this one.
That looks like Alain Breitenbach AKA Legrand on stage. Can't quite make out the other guy with him.
I do know that a couple of members of Joe Public are strolling by. The guy with his sleeves rolled up, and the blonde lass, Caragh Mackay, the band's singer.
The guy on the left with the hat played on stage with Caragh's father, Joe Mackay, also on the bill.
Photo by The Bear.

DAVID BOWIE IN DUNDEE - 1973

Here's a good close-up of David Bowie performing live on stage at the Caird Hall on 17th May 1973.

That's Mick Ronson in the background.

This was a period when he already had a bucket load of classic tracks to choose from and a locker load of costumes to match!
Under it is a music mag ad with the tour dates.
At the start of this tour, the Bowie roadshow was accompanied by music journalists who reviewed the first 3 Scottish dates - Aberdeen, Dundee and Glasgow.
The snippet above is the Dundee section which gets a rave review!
There are also a couple of amusing after gig stories, one of which is discovering that Bowie & co had to get meals from the Bangladesh in the Nethergate because the Angus Hotel shut shop!
Click to enlarge.

For those of you who haven't yet found time to trawl through the Retro archives, there are more photos from this gig to be found in the November 2008 section...and in colour!

Photo by DC Thomson.

DEAN AND DAWN LIVE - 1982

Entertainment in Crieff back in 1982...

First there is a Friday night disco - £1:00 to get in.

Four days later, Dundee's TV and Radio stars Dean & Dawn are performing live in concert.

They also remind everyone that the duo are International Recording Artistes.

Wow...impressive.!

Wonder how much it was to go to that event?

Oh... 50p.

DON CHERRY - WHITEHALL THEATRE - 1987

From Street Life magazine, here's a review of Don Cherry's NU gig at the Whitehall Theatre on 22nd October 1987, organised by Dundee jazz promoters, Platform.

Although Cherry's mainstay was jazz, having worked with big hitters like Ornette Coleman, Sun Ra, Albert Ayler and many others, his lifelong global travels with his wee pocket trumpet saw him become one of the innovators of World Music, fusing various cultures along the way, and so this show had a bit of both.

His band in Dundee were - Mark Helias, bass - Ed Blackwell, drums - Carlos Ward, sax and the peerless percussionist Nana Vasconcelos.

My brother was at this gig and managed to get a signed copy of a cassette called "Garden Of Music" - that's Don Cherry's autograph in gold ink!

As well as being a highly regarded trumpeter, Don was also genuinely "cool", and remained young and hip to new musical trends right up to his death in the mid 90's.

Click the review to read the large version.

NANA MOUSKOURI - DUNDEE - 1973

Exactly 37 years ago, singer, Nana Mouskouri, brought along her Athenians to the Caird Hall to entertain the masses with her cosy brand of easy listening.
Although she had her own TV show, and guested on many TV variety shows back in the early 70's, I can't recall off the top of my head, any records she had in the singles charts back then, so I think her popularity stemmed from her regular appearances on the telly rather than any particular musical contribution at the time.
She had a pleasant enough personality mind you, and although I wasn't at this concert, I've been told she allowed some of her Dundee fans to meet her backstage for a chat and to sign autographs. All harmless fun I suppose!
Talk about popular - Nana has since gone on to sell 300 million records along the way. She must be loaded! About time she dipped in to help out Greece's current financial crisis!!!
Thanks to Gillian

ROD STEWART - CAIRD HALL - 1977

Rod Stewart was back in town for a 2 night performance on 7 & 8 January 1977.
The Caird Hall looked as if it had been freshly whitewashed for the concerts, with the large white backdrop drapery, white stage, white piano and PA system to match!
It made the colourful chiffon and satin of the band's outfits stand out even more so.
As you can see in the photos, which were taken on the 8th, Rod certainly seems to be enjoying himself.
Incidentally, the impressive drum-kit belongs to well known rock musician, Carmine Appice.
And don't worry, the guitarist in the last shot hasn't been airbrushed out, he is in fact hiding behind the drapes!

Photos by Derek High.

ROCK-IT TRAVEL AD - 1981

In the 70's, Cathie McCabe's was the main shop in town to visit to get concert tickets for gigs in Edinburgh & Glasgow.
By the time we reached the 80's, other outlets in town were getting in on the act and this 1981 ad for Rock-It Travel reveals that they were also becoming a wee bit more adventurous, with buses running to shows in Leeds & Birmingham.
Advance bookings for the 1982 World Cup in Spain were up for grabs too, which I'm sure many of Dundee's Tartan Army members took advantage of!

FACES - CAIRD HALL - 1972

 

Here's a couple of items about a gig Rod Stewart and the Faces played in Dundee on 7th December 1972.
The top cutting is the announcement of the tour with Dundee getting a mention, and the other 2 were published after the Dundee gig.
The reason the show grabbed the attention of the national music press was because the Caird Hall was the first venue that started off this particular tour and so generated a lot of media interest.
Dundee didn't disappoint either, with a large enthusiastic turnout that helped create a great buzz on the night.
In fact, the crowd got a bit carried away because by the end of the show, the audience who rushed to the front stage area, ended up destroying the first 3 rows of seats!
Anyway, after a bit of a dodgy start with sound problems, it didn't take too long for the Faces to get going in full flow and keep the good vibes going for the rest of the night.
The music was a mix of raunchy r&b album tracks and melodic pop hits, with the likes of "Maggie May", "Stay With Me" and "Angel" being the more familiar chart singles that got the crowd singing along.
And being Rod Stewart of course, there was a lot of clowning about on stage which ended up with him kicking footballs into the audience!
You can get a good sense of how the concert went by reading the gig review above - give it a click to bring up the large version.
Incidentally, Scottish rock singer, Maggie Bell was also present at the gig, she being one of the VIP's who attended.
The support act was a band called Stumble.
I was 14 years old in 1972, and although I had 2 Rod Stewart albums in my collection, my going to gigs had still not begun yet, so unfortunately, it's not a show I was at.
I do, however, have a recording of the gig, and so below you can have a listen to their well known hit  "Stay With Me" - featuring a bit of vocal interaction with the Dundee crowd!

 

POPARAMA - ICE RINK - 1968

 

The Poparama shows were the brainchild of Andy Lothian Jr.

He put on quite a few of these events around Scotland in the late 60's.

This advert here is for the one held at Kingsway Ice Rink in November 1968.

The Love Affair were top of the bill, with Jimmy James & The Vagabonds, Procession and The Herd being the other acts.

Stuart Henry was DJ for the evening too, which would have been an attraction in itself.

So a great night out I'd imagine.

Of course, some of us know that the Love Affair had a special someone who influenced Dundee's youth big time.

Namely, Steve Ellis, who inspired the Dundee gang jersey designs.

These jersey's were referred to as your "Stevie Ellis".

The photo was taken in Hawkhill and shows the Poparama poster for this event, alongside some Shimmy graffiti.

The 2 go together perfectly.

Click onto the images to enlarge.

CAIRD HALL PACKAGE TOURS - 1960'S

 

Back in the 60's, when well known music acts played live, the main attraction would often be accompanied by a bundle of other acts as part of the show, as opposed to just having one supporting act which is how most standard tours turned out from the 70's onwards.
Even when famous names such as The Beatles and The Rolling Stones visited back then, many other acts shared the stage with them on the night, which sometimes included a compere too.
These were known as "Package Tours".
So for example - November 1963, Gerry & The Pacemakers were top of the bill at the Caird Hall, and along with them on the package tour were, Cilla Black, Kathy Kirby, Tommy Quickly, Malcolm Clarke & The Cresters, Tommy Dene & The Tremors, and Mark Peters & The Silhouettes.
In March 1964, singer Joe Brown was the headline act, and with him were, The Crystals, Johnny Kidd & The Pirates, Heinz & The Saints, Daryl Quist, Mike Preston, Manfred Mann, and Kevin Kirk.
March 1965 had Del Shannon as the main act, accompanied by Wayne Fontana & The Mindbenders, Herman's Hermits, Just Four Men, The Dollies, Jerry Stevens, The Soul Savages, and Dodie West.
1966 saw The Walker Brothers hit town as the headline act, and on the show they also had The Troggs, Clodagh Rodgers, The Quotations, Dave Dee Dozy Beaky Mick & Tich, and, The Quotations.
So you can see, music acts did their live thing a bit differently back then when touring the UK.
Seems good value for money obviously, but increasing costs was probably the reason the large package tour concept then fizzled out!

STREET LEVEL ON STAGE - 1980

Dundee band, Street Level, played plenty of gigs on their home turf of course, but here's a snapshot that captured the band in action when they were playing in Crieff High School.
This was their second performance in Crieff in a month.
They were so popular first time out, they were asked backed, and when they did, it was reported as being a "triumphant return"!
Not an exaggeration - at the end of the performances, the locals mobbed the band, wanting autographs & photos, and the gigs made headline news too!
These 2 gigs took place in October & November 1980.

SIMPLE MINDS - CAIRD HALL - 1982

Simple Minds were in town a week before Christmas 1982, playing at the Caird Hall on 17th December. A gig I was at. In fact this was the second time I had seen them live as I caught the band a couple of years earlier at Edinburgh Nite Club. This visit was the New Gold Dream tour, an album that was hardly off my turntable back then. I also remember it being a favourite down at the Tayside Bar for a while too.

For some reason, I no longer have my ticket stub for this concert, but I do have this old NME from December 82 with Jim Kerr on the front. Belts worn outside shirts were a bit of a fad at the time!

As a reminder of the show itself, here below is a recording taken from the Caird Hall gig. A track called "I Travel" (I've still got the original 7 inch vinyl of this). Also on the bill that night were China Crisis.

WHEN DUNDEE BANNED HAWKWIND - 1972

37 years ago this month, 29 July 1972 to be exact, Hawkwind played a gig at the Caird Hall which resulted in them being banned from Dundee straight after the show!

What caused the commotion was not so much the band, but their female dancer, Stacia, who liked to perform naked on stage.

Predictably, the concert made the local headlines next day and revealed a rather amusing sideshow.

It turns out that they had actual procedures in place at Caird Hall to prevent such an "incident" occurring, but it didn't go to plan on the night.

It was Dundee Lord Provost Fitzgerald who announced the ban next day, then went on to state what the emergency procedure should have entailed.

The strategy was this - someone in charge would be on standby for any controversial event that took place on stage, at which point the lights would be switched off, the police would be called and those responsible would be charged. However, when the time came to put it into practice, the person in charge wasn't present and the instruction was never carried out!

I don't have a ticket stub to display but I do have an NME guide showing the gig date, an ad published in the local press and a magazine called "Words" also from 1972 with Hawkwind on the cover (that's Stacia in the insert). The article inside says that "Stacia has been delighting rock audiences with her free-form dancing. She believes in complete freedom of expression, even down to taking her clothes off on stage, if and when she feels like it".

So there you have it, when she was in Dundee, she just felt like it.!!

I was 14 when all this was stirring, and although I wasn't at this gig, I did at least have their "Silver Machine" single in my collection!

ROLLING STONES - CAIRD HALL - 1965

44 years ago today, The Rolling Stones were on stage at the Caird Hall.

Not once but twice, playing 2 shows on the day. The ticket here being for the 2nd performance.

Stones gigs were pretty notorious back then as a result of their frenzied fans causing damage to the halls. I know Edinburgh's Usher Hall got smashed up on the same tour, although I'm not too sure how the Caird Hall fared on this particular visit.
I do know, however, and as you can read in the cutting, that the Marryat Hall was used as an improvised medical centre to treat all the lassies who fainted!

The band were on a roll in '65 with hit singles such as "The Last Time", "Satisfaction" and "Get Off Of My Cloud" all released that year.

And it was 15 shillings to get in - 75p..!!!

ROKOTTO SCRAPBOOK - LE PALACE - 1978

This full page spread comes from the Black Echoes music paper dated January 1979 and is another account of the same gig as the previous item - at Le Palace in Paris.
Among the entourage was a team from the Barracuda who travelled with the band along with several journalists.
Not all went to plan however, they had a set back before they even left the UK. Keyboardist Stewart Garden fell ill and was rushed to hospital with pleurisy, so when the band arrived in Paris one of the first things they had to do was find a stand-in keyboard player!
You can read all about the weekend voyage by clicking the image to view the large version.
The group called it a day in 1982.
And there ends my Rokotto scrapbook.
Fin.

ROKOTTO SCRAPBOOK - HAMMERSMITH ODEON - 1978

A review of a gig at London Hammersmith Odeon that appeared in the NME - June 1978.
Rokotto sharing the stage this time with original New York funksters, Brass Construction, and by all accounts, both acts working the crowd up into a party frenzy!!
Click on the image to read the large version.

THE DOOMED IN DUNDEE - 1978

When The Damned re-formed in late '78 after having split earlier in the year, they not only had a change of line-up, they also tried out a couple of band name changes. They went from Dimmed to Doomed and back to Damned again.
This gig at Dundee College of Art in December 1978 took place during their Doomed phase with Gary Holton (ex Heavy Metal Kids) involved.
The Doomed and the Dundee crowd didn't get on very well. Lots of provocation from the crowd and similar goading from the band until finally it resulted in one of the crowd (Gerry Mitchell of Boo Hooray) jumping up on stage and having a bit of a scuffle with Rat Scabies!
All this rammy was captured on tape too - but I've chosen a track (below) that has The Doomed state at the end of it "It's the last time we ever play in Dundee!".
It's a rather fuzzy recording and probably best listened to with headphones on, but through the distortion they play "She's No Angel".

 

 

THE SMITHS - DUNDEE UNIVERSITY - 1984

The recording below is from a gig by The Smiths who were playing at Dundee University on 3rd March 1984.

Morrissey gets a bit stroppy on this as a result of someone in the audience splashing the stage with beer. The song "This Charming Man" was stopped and we pick it up as Morrissey gives the culprit a ticking off, and it being 1984, finishes by saying "The world is watching you, Dundee!" before giving the song a 2nd go.

So there, be on your best behaviour next time!

Incidentally, the Smiths badge of mine is just my wee joke, it has nothing to do with The Smiths.

Having said that, the track is a nice crisp recording!!

GENESIS IN DUNDEE - 1977 & 1980

2 tickets - same band - same place - different dates.
Starting with the 13th January 1977 gig...
When the tickets went on sale for this show around November '76, a photo of the queue at the Caird Hall made it into the local papers. Fans started to form the queue around 9.00pm the night before, and the image of them with their sleeping bags, flasks and good humour was used along with the story of this rare sight.
The concert sold out within a couple of hours next morning.
This was the Genesis "Wind & Wuthering" tour, and like most prog rock bands in the 70's, the light show became part of the act, so there were plenty of lasers, strobes, dry ice and so on.
The photos were taken at this '77 gig, right from the front of the stage.
There is a recording of this show doing the rounds too....unofficially like!
The movie ad under the photos dates back to March that year and is from an old Evening Telegraph I have. This was another time I saw Genesis in Dundee in 1977, as the ABC were showing a double film feature on this occasion - "White Rock", which had a soundtrack by Rick Wakeman, and to accompany it, "Genesis In Concert".
I had to be alert to catch it mind you, as it was on for only one day!
On 24th April 1980, 29 years ago today, the band were here again, this time on their "Duke" tour and introduced 2 new band members, Daryl Stuermer who replaced Steve Hackett on guitar, and Roland....the drum machine! The new Genesis sound by this time was more lightweight as they ditched the idea of the 10 minute track in favour of the 3 minute pop-rock tune. As a result, they featured in the singles charts rather a lot in the 80's. On stage though, they still managed to squeeze in the occasional old classic from their back catalogue.
I remember Phil Collins name-dropped "Keiller's" during the intro to one of their songs! 

Photos by Alan Weston