RETRO ADVERT ARCHIVES

I've put dozens & dozens of local ads up on Retro over the years which have been really useful when referring to a place I don't have any photos of.

There are quite a lot of old publications you can find ads from the past in, obvious ones like a Courier, Tele, football programme, What's On mag, theatre programme, school mag and so on, but the 2 sources I have probably raided the most are Gladmags and Official Dundee Guides.

Above are a sample of some of the 60's to 80's ones I've been dipping into.

CRAIGIE HIGH SCHOOL MAGAZINE - 1981

Now some pages from a 1981 Craigie High School magazine.

This issue covers the period from the end of 1980 to the beginning of 1981, and because 1980 was the 10th anniversary of the school, the first couple of pages take a look back over the decade. It refers to things like the first 300 pupils to attend CHS back in '70 (my mob) and also has a reminder of the 4 Houses that were set up in the early 70's. However, for some reason, CHS didn't retain the House system for very long.

Also news about new teacher arrivals and a couple of retirements, including Mr Higgins, the art teacher who designed the school badge.

The next couple of pages are an interview with Radio Tay DJ, Graham Stuart, the chit chat conducted by Mandy McQuire & Karen Conway.

Lastly, it's party time at CHS - 3 different parties in fact - first being a Fancy Dress Disco for Hallowe'en, followed by their Christmas Masquerade Ball, complete with visit from Santa, and finally another good night was had at the St Valentines Day Disco.

A few photos of the pupils in costume too - just click onto the pages to view the larger size.

I can tell the DJ played The Gap Band's "Oops Upside Your Head" anyway!!

Thanks to Neale Elder.

LINLATHEN'S HIGH TIMES - 1989

A few more pages to read from the 1989 Linlathen's High Times mag.

Some of the contents include a visit to Gordonstoun, word about art classes, a new photo club, charity walks, a Shakespeare class, a Christmas Fayre, tree week, and many other bits & pieces.

Also a few adverts such as for - Clep-pers, Lilibets, Hotpot, Parky's, and plenty more - including a den that sold Opium!

Give the pages a click to enlarge.

Many thanks to Dave.

LINLATHEN'S HIGH TIMES - 1988

A little glimpse into what was going on at Linlathen High School in November 1988 with a dip into a few pages of their school publication, High Times.
Front page headline tells of a major flood in school caused by a fire hose that "mysteriously burst"!
Other contents include school prizewinners, a teacher retirement, an interview with a band called Love Cats, notice of a visit to France, and a basketball match between pupils and the teachies.
The bottom image is a poster for a charity Christmas Fayre that took place at LHS in December 1988 - with guest, DJ Graeme Adamson from Radio Tay.
Click onto the pages to read the enlarged version.
Big thanks to Dave.

SWEET TV TIMES - 1982

This kinky wee publication called "Sweet TV Times" was given out at gigs when The Junkies were entertaining the masses.

Needless to say, it has a fair smattering of Junkies related items in amongst a large dollop of SM fetish kinda material.

Bypassing the rubber and whips for now though, I've plucked out this item above - The Junkies Family Tree - covering the time of their inception in mid 1978 up to the time of the mag, summer 1982.

The very first line-up of the band consisted of - Alison Burns, Al Hendrickx, Vince Piggot and Mike Kane - after that it branches off into 7 different variants.

It's easy to follow the sequence of changes, during which saw Vince and Alison leave - then return again. Drummers in particular didn't appear to have a very long shelf life it seems, and by the time we get to line-up #7 even Alan McGlone was getting in on the act!

Just give it a click to enlarge.

Thanks again to Jock.

ON THE STREET GUIDE - 1989

I've already raided this magazine for its content on quite a few previous posts, and so this is me just getting round to putting the front cover up on view now.

From 1989 - it's "On The Street" - a local what's-on guide given away free.

Jock Ferguson was the main contributor at the time, with some assistance from P.Ireland, D.Ireland & Paul Clementsmith, the publication being designed and produced by The Graphix Studio in West Port.

It was stuffed with theatre reviews, gig reviews, cinema listings, humour, events, the usual kind of thing you'd expect in a local entertainments mag - and of course, lots of adverts.

Many thanx to Jock.

VIEW MAGAZINE - 1978

This is the very first issue of View magazine, a free Dundee arts guide, published in 1978.

I've put up the foreword to give you the general gist of the mag content that outlines their coverage of local exhibitions and plans for the future.

Along with reviews of the main art centres in town, it also gives the lowdown on the 2 galleries shown above - the Dudhope Arts Centre and the Forebank Studios.

The Dudhope Arts Centre in St. Mary Place had workshop facilities for drawing, print making, painting etc, as well as it being a place putting on exhibitions, concerts, dance performances, that kind of thing. In addition, their coffee-bar area would be used for one-man shows.

The Forebank Studios in the Hilltown started up in 1976 when a group of local artists moved into what was an empty school at the time, and with a little help from the Scottish Arts Council, the Dundee Group (Artists) came into being.

The studios were both an artists workplace and exhibition space.

The exhibition advert for Forebank Studios was published in the Scottish press in Feb 1978.

There is also mention in View about a new film theatre that was due to open in 1979.

That was the Steps Theatre, which as we all know, opened AND closed down, ironically, because of the DCA springing up!

DEADBEAT - FIRST ISSUE - 1982

It's good fun looking back at "first issues" to get a reminder of how they once looked before they became more established, and so here's #1 of Deadbeat fanzine, given away free in August 1982.

The mag's debut was printed out of just one A3 sized sheet folded into quarters, but eventually it became available in a 20 page A5 sized magazine format, which later would cost a whopping 10p!

It's lifespan was 1982 - 1986.

Although it was distributed around the country, the mag's content was generally based around the Scottish alternative music scene, with Dundee getting sizeable coverage.

One reason why Dundee was represented so often was because Deadbeat's main contributors, Alan McEwan (aka Vinny Bee) was at St.Andrew's University and so would often socialise in Dundee and Hilary Smart (previously featured on Retro), went to Art College and lived in town.

They still had to do plenty of whizzing around Scotland to collect material mind you!

An example of how well known Deadbeat had become around the UK, was the time when it was runner-up to Viz on the John Peel show in a feature on alternative publications!

So getting back to the first issue, one Dundee related item in it was the article above announcing the cancellation of The Associates tour. The piece didn't quite fit the xerox machine properly as you can see, but these wee teething problems were soon sorted and later they went on to have one issue which gave away a free flexi-disc, then afterwards there was a series of compilation cassettes featuring demo recordings made by Scottish bands.

Alan has quite recently started up a blog documenting Deadbeat which can be found at this link - http://www.deadbeatfanzine.blogspot.com/

The blog's content is accompanied by lots of amusing "behind the scenes" stories, with, needless to say, Dundee getting a mention quite a lot.

He's also gonna put all those rare recordings that appeared on the cassettes, up on Youtube, so's we can all catch up with them after all that time.

There is even talk of a Deadbeat party later this year to celebrate 25 years of it's death!!

So plenty to keep your eye on throughout 2011.

The good news for Retro is that Alan sent over a few original issues of Deadbeat, so watch out for some more past items on the local music scene cropping up here too!

Big thanks to Al.

A YEAR IN MUSIC - 1987

At the start of 1988, Street Life magazine published this review about some of the bands who played in Dundee during 1987.
Acts who performed at various venues around town featured the likes of, Hipsway, Doctor & The Medics, The Proclaimers, Mighty Lemon Drops, Beat Poets...........and plenty of others mentioned on their list of favourites.
The photos in the article are of local act Joe Public, the Hue & Cry gig at the Dance Factory and The Communards at the Caird Hall.
You'll need to click onto the review to read or download the large version.

CHRISTMAS CRACKERS FANZINE - 1980'S

Don't know much about this Christmas Crackers publication, the issue here which cropped up in the early 80's, being the only example I have.

The content isn't the usual youth fanzine subject matter - no music, no theatre, no fashion, no cinema, instead it takes a dip into local politics using a mixture of satirical humour and seedy tabloid style tittle tattle. Dundee Council type personalities get the boot put into them, eg Gowans, Fagan, Bowman, Wilson, just some of the charming characters who get a mention.

They touch on topics like Nablus and Thatcher, the topical talk at the time.

Not very Christmassy come to think of it!

The team who put it together were - Archie Smibert, Tommy Dees, Dan Dare and Nick Duncan.

One of the quirkier items in this particular issue was a parody episode of Oor Wullie.

The wee man runs out of dosh and so decides to open a sex shop to try get a bit of cash for himself. Not all goes to plan however- but it is quite funny!

You'll need to click onto the image to read the large version.

Perhaps Oor Poly, Craig, may be able to give us the lowdown on the rag, he being who supplied this one.

SAVAGE PENCIL v VOCIFEROUS BIRO - 1980

Following on from yesterdays Scrotum Poles poster where I mentioned the work of Savage Pencil (Edwin Pouncey) - I managed to track down an example of his cartoon strip in an old Sounds mag I have from 1980. It was based around the weekly antics of his weird music biz creatures and was called "Rock N Roll Zoo".

Below it, however, is a parody of the strip by mystery cartoonist Vociferous Biro, also drawn in 1980, and appeared in the very first issue of Dundee fanzine, Cranked Up. This one was called "Rotten Roll Zoo", and in it, exposes the strange goings-on along at Radio Tay!!!

Click on images to enlarge.

MORGAN MAGAZINE - LYNN GRANT - 1970

I really like the minimalist cover of this 1970 edition of Morgan Magazine. It certainly has visual impact.

The same high standards are maintained in the magazine's creative content - poems, short stories, graphics, photos and so on.

I spotted this nice full page illustration which I thought I'd showcase as an example of what's going on inside the 78 page mag. It's drawn by Lynn Grant and was used to accompany a poem by John Nicoll called "Sitting In The Park". Great pen work on the gnarled trees.

There were 2 Art Editors involved on this issue, Gordon Mill, and Gordon MacDonald, the pupil who designed the cool cover!

BRIAN HILL CARTOONS - 1988

Dundee's What's On guide, Street Life magazine, used to run a series of cartoons drawn by Brian Hill.

Signing them "Hilly", his surreal sense of humour was an eye catcher, and a rib-tickler.

Here's 3 silly Hilly's from 1988...

L'eau et l'eau - a gendarme getting himself in a hat/pot muddle. There is a clever wee wordplay bonus. The British police cliched phrase of "'ello, 'ello" is rephrased into French as "et l'eau".

It also reminds me of a cartoon I did of a magician who cooked his rabbit inside his top hat on the stove!

Barbecue - how to make good use of all that junk that gets chucked through our letterbox.

Self control - the best thing on telly is the off switch.

I remember a kids tv show from the 70's/80's called "Why Don't You". The words to it's theme tune went - "Why don't you just switch off your television set and go and do something less boring instead".

Always good advice I thought.

EVELYN SMALL - MORGAN MAGAZINE - 1974

I have a few arty items I thought I'd cobble together over the next few days to present a wee showcase of amateur and professional art associated with Dundee.

So to get the exhibition started, here is the 1974 Morgan Magazine, a school publication made by the pupils. The mag's content is an assortment of poems, graphics, short stories and academic updates. Although there is a wide variety of work to choose from, I've plucked out one contributor as an example to use here, namely, Evelyn Small, who as well as being the mag's Art Editor, also designed the cover and supplied many of the illustrations inside. Her graphic above, of an abstract burst of ink accompanies a neat little piece of creative writing by Alan Stewart.

The magazine's material does display a surprising maturity for school kids, so much so, it got me wondering if any of the pupils from this era went on to make a living as artists or writers?

You may need to click on the bottom image to read the large version.

SHOOT LEAGUE LADDERS - 1969/70

Getting the Football League Ladders free with "Shoot" magazine each summer was always something to look forward to as a schoolboy in the late 60's/early 70's. It fired you up with enthusiasm for the start of the new football season ahead.
However, once the League Ladders board was pinned onto the bedroom wall above the bed, it didn't take long for all that pre-season excitement to ebb away.
The first two or three weeks were fine, the fun of rearranging all the team tabs into position after a couple of opening games. Then, because the tabs were a bit fiddly, tabs would get knocked off the board while changing them, and down the back of the bed they'd fall. Not so bad if they were from lower English Leagues, but after a few weeks passed, lots of other tabs joined them down below. So it would be at this point I'd give up on them, remove the board from the wall and chuck it in the cupboard!
Not once did I ever complete a full season, and yet I'd get all excited again the following summer when it was time to get another batch of Shoot League Ladders, only to go through the same sequence one more time!!

CRANKED UP COVERS - 1981/82

I already have the first & final issue of Cranked Up on Retro, so thought I'd show you the rest of the covers in between. There are too many to put each one up individually, so I've stitched them together and made a wee video with all 18, in numerical order, below.
Thanks to The Major, Craig, Mike, Kevin & DD.

DANNY WILSON INTERVIEW - 1988

From the pages of yet another Street Life comes this interview with local lads, Danny Wilson, who were back in Dundee after a busy schedule of touring, tv and recording, during which their single "Mary's Prayer" went mega!!

All 3 members, Ged, Kit & Gary have a say and talk about their time in the recording studio, life on the road, the local music scene, fame, and so on.

One of their comments, however, did turn out to be a bit premature - with Ged saying Danny Wilson wouldn't play the Caird Hall because a seated audience was too inhibiting. You may recall though that the band did perform there shortly after!

Ahhh the pressure of the biz!!

Click on items to read the large versions.

Thanx to the Bear

STREET LIFE MAGAZINE - LATE 80'S

I've already posted quite a few articles up on Retro taken from Street Life magazine, so thought it was time to give the mag itself a wee mention.
This was Dundee's free "What's On" guide for the late 80's, and as you'd expect, covered the local music scene, theatre, style, art exhibitions, cinema and generally showcasing the most interesting entertainment on the go at the time.
The main Editorial team were - John Harding and Andrew Martin - who had a good squad of contributors to work with, such as Pete Hood doing music, Joe Jordan doing photography, and a few others in the mix.
As well as the info inside vying for your attention, the covers were pretty eye-catching too, with their distinctive red, black & white graphics.
Here's 4 examples plucked out at random - top left was the 1st anniversary issue and featured a few of the previous years covers, on the cover. Top right has local band Joe Public. Bottom left was a May Week special and bottom right features The Rainmates. All from 1988.
Big thanks to the Bear

AWB ARE SUPERSTARS - OFFICIAL!

March 1975 was the month Average White Band became superstars!

The front page of the Melody Maker documented the moment with their WHITE HEAT headline, along with a picture of Dundee Horns - Molly Duncan & Roger Ball.

The story that declared AWB such hot property was the fact that they had just reached No1 in both the singles & albums charts, in the same week, over in the USA.

As a consequence, however, because of this surge of popularity in the States, the band decided to leave UK to set up a home base in America.

THE VOICE - ISSUE 1 - 1982

This is the first issue of Dundee fanzine, The Voice.

It started up after the demise of Cranked Up. In fact, this was supposed to be Cranked Up #19, but when Jock Ferguson stepped down as ed of Cranked Up at #18, he took the name with him, and so leading to the birth of The Voice.

It covered similar subject matter as Cranked Up, the local music scene, theatre, poetry, politics and so on.
However, the content of this first issue does solve one mystery which has cropped up on a few of Retro's comments in the past - "When did Club Feet open?". The answer - 1982.

I did wonder why Club Feet never got a mention in any of the Cranked Up's...but now I know...Club Feet appeared just as Cranked Up disappeared!

By the way, the TSB is the Tayside Bar - not the local bank!!

Big thanx to The Bear