HANGING OUT AT LITTLEWOODS - 80'S

"Oh great, a windee seat"... now we get to look down from Littlewoods cafe and see what's going on outside.

Well when the top photo was taken around the mid 80's, there was a group of punkettes gathered at one of the benches. You can't make out their faces but you can see their hairstyles. A couple of the lassies have the peroxide look (one a Mohican) and another has a full head of green hair that resembles Hilary a bit, not sure if it is her though.

The other photo outside Littlewoods taken on the same day has a different flock of females on display - these ones dressed smart, but casual.

Bird spotting courtesy of The Bear.

DUNDEE LASSIES MEET AMEN CORNER - 1968

Here's a cosy wee scene from 1968 - pop group, Amen Corner, are cornered by 3 Dundee fans, Sheena Doig, Pat Brown and Dorothy Patterson.
The band were regulars in the charts in the late 60's, but this photo was taken a year before their only #1 hit "If Paradise is...", a classic piece of pop in my opinion.
Amen Corner were in town in March 1968 for a gig at the Top Ten Club. 
Despite the group's success, they split around 1970ish and vocalist Andy Fairweather Low (far left) went solo. 

RAG WEEK GLAMOUR - 1968

Adding a touch of glamour to Rag Week 1968 were these 6 finalists in the University beauty contest.
They are - Gillian Pairman - Jeannie Alexander - Muriel Harris - Eileen Walker - Ann Keillar and Robin Swanney.
Not sure if there was one eventual overall winner, or all 6 shared the limelight!

THE NOLANS - CAIRD HALL - 1981

Here's a cute wee review from the pages of Cranked Up featuring The Nolan Sisters at the Caird Hall in 1981, and was written by local lass, Lorna McCulloch, aged 12.
3 lucky lassies were plucked out of the audience and got to go up on stage to sing along with the group. I'd imagine the trio knew all their songs and dance routines off by heart, like most girls that age seem to with pop music!

MENZIESHILL WATER POLO TEAM - 1984

It wasn't only Dundee United and Dundee Rockets doing the biz in the early/mid 80's. One of the lesser known local sports teams also on a winning streak back then were the Menzieshill Ladies Water Polo team, who in 1984 were crowned British Champions. In fact throughout most of the 80's they pretty much dominated the Scottish water polo scene.
Unfortunately, I have no names to go with this photo of the squad with their '84 trophy, so if anyone can supply the details, feel free to drop the info in the comments.
The lassie, bottom right, looks fairly familiar to me. Just wondering if she went to Slickers & Da Vinci's around that era?

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 CELEBS WITH DCT MAGS #2

Before he went on stage to sing in front of his screaming teeny-bopper fans, a DC Thomson photographer grabbed David Cassidy for a photo session during which he settled down to read all about himself in the Jackie. As you can see, his mugshot is on the front cover!

The concert took place in 1974 in Glasgow.

The year before, Jackie gave away the above free flexi-disc with David recording "a special message to all Jackie readers", along with a couple of tracks from his new album, "Daydream".

So this was the day DC met DC..!!

DOLL PRICES IN 1973

From the same Sunday Post as yesterdays books advert comes this price comparison test featuring 4 of the top selling dolls of 1973.
The dollies involved were - TRING A LING TRUDY - ACTION GIRL - WANDA - BUSY MISSY.
The 3 Dundee shops on trial were Cairds, Arnotts and Boots, with Boots offering the cheapest prices and Cairds being the expensive store to avoid!
Click image to enlarge.

BOOKS FOR GIRLS - CHRISTMAS 1973

This advert for DC Thomson products appeared in the Sunday Post on 16th December 1973.
The four 1974 annuals are - DIANA - BUNTY - MANDY - JUDY.
And I didn't get any of these in my stocking that Christmas!

WOOLWORTH'S BABY DOLL ADS - LATE 60'S

 

This ad, which is in 2 parts, appeared in a pop magazine in August 1968.
It's for a range of cosmetics by Baby Doll, on sale at Woolies.
The 1st part of the ad is for their "Sun Shiny" range and features eye liner, lipstick and face shaders.
The fact that this was the age of psychedelia and flower power is reflected in the colourful graphics with the hippy girl in the dressing table mirror. However, because it is a Woolies ad, it would indicate that hippy culture had become more mainstream by then.
The 2nd part of the ad is for the "Moon Shiny" product and features sheeners, nail polish and mascara.
Not that I'm an expert in cosmetics, but I think it's plain to see that the Baby Doll range was aimed at the teenager rather than the sophisticated lady the likes of Coty were targeting in Draffens.
Dundee's main Woolworth store was in the Murraygate in the 60's and below is another wee reminder of this period. It's a radio commercial for Baby Doll which was transmitted in 1969.

Click the ads to enlarge if you want to read the details.