DUNDEE'S ENTERTAINMENT DUO

Here's a couple of Dundee big shots who were responsible for organising much of the entertainment in town during the retro decades.

Top one is Murdie Wallace, who, in the 60's when this photo was taken, owned the JM Ballroom, which later in the 70's became the Barracuda and then the Coconut Grove into the 80's.

Meanwhile back in the mid 70's, the Wallace family took over the Palais transforming it into Samanthas disco before it then changed into Bloomers.

So although we rarely saw the man himself, lots of us did spend quite a bit of dosh in Wallace owned nightclubs.

The other photo was taken in the 80's and is John McGuire, manager of the Caird Hall. So again, he would have been working away behind the scenes out of the publics gaze, booking all the acts who we all queued up to see perform live on stage.

He also managed a few local bands, Colossus being one I can recall, and I guess this must be the same John McGuire who showed up as one of the judges in a local talent contest that became known as the "Tiffany's Farce", which I've already mentioned on Retro in April 2009.

Incidentally, that's a photo of Doris Collins on Big J's notice board, and her act back then was "contacting the other side".

I can think of one or two bands who have died on stage!!

MW photo by DC Thomson.

JMcG photo by The Bear.

TIFFANY'S AD - 1970'S

Here's a typical ad for Tiffany's, the kind that would crop up in the Entertainment pages of the Tele regularly back then, this one here being from 1972.

I see their Tuesday private function was on till 1 o'clock in the morning, while their normal weekend business hours stopped at midnight or earlier. Strange!

And who were Force 6 - a local band?

DUNDEE'S DANCING YEARS - 1989

Many of you will be familiar with the work of Maureen Reynolds who has written lots of Dundee based books since the 90's.

What we have here is an early example of Maureen's writing, published in the Scots Magazine in February 1989.

It's entitled "Dundee's Dancing Years" and is all about the dancehalls & ballrooms that were scattered around town, covering quite a few decades.

Just about every-place gets a mention - Robbies (West End Palais) - Continentale - Palais - J.M. - Empress - Locarno - Kidd's - Chalet - Star... and she tells stories like when locals had to take their gas masks with them when they went dancing during the war years, then goes on to recall her own dancing days at the Palais where the lassies had a perfume machine!

It goes right up to the 70's & 80's with the Barracuda - Sands - Samantha's & Buddies being name-checked, an era when they changed from old style ballrooms to discos for the "strobe light generation" as she describes it. Yeah, that sound like us lot!

Plenty photos and adverts to accompany the article too.

I've scanned in all 9 pages actual size - so if you fancy a wee read, just click onto the items to view the large versions.

BUDDIES - BROUGHTY FERRY - 1985

When the Sands changed to Buddies in the mid 80's, my regular Sunday funk sessions stopped not long after it opened. Just wasn't the same as the Sands at it's peak - circa late 70's/early 80's.

I did try Buddies on a few occasions though before eventually waving goodbye to it all, with my last visit being in 1985, the same year these 2 photos were taken.

The exterior shot is dated October 85 and the cocktail bar is June 85.

I remember one Sunday evening, me and a couple of mates were walking along the Esplanade and we stopped to chat to a lassie who had her horse with her on the beach. After a wee blether, I jokingly asked if there was any chance of a lift along to Buddies - but she actually said OK! I was about to mount the horse when I had a sudden flashback of a scary incident I had on a horse a few years earlier, so I backed off. I wish now I had got on, because there can't be that many people who can say they have gone along to a disco on horseback!

Sometimes you've just got to seize the moment!

A reminder that there is a photo of Buddies dancefloor in the April 2009 archives.

Images by DC Thomson

WHAT'S ON IN DUNDEE - 1988

Rewinding back to October 1988, and a little glimpse into what was on offer in town music-wise. This schedule is taken from Street Life magazine, the local what's on guide for then.
Venues listed are - Fat Sams - Bonar Hall - Cafe Club - Chamber Music Club - Bar Chevrolet - Caird Hall and De Stihl's.
Music provided by - The Silencers - Frank Chickens - Pasadena Roof Orchestra - Love & The Gun - Hanson String Quartet - Quad - Le Hot Club - Barbara Dickson - Deacon Blue - Beaver Sisters and New Tinian.
Spark any memories?
Incidentally, I put "plop plop dada" into Google search and got nowt!
Click image to enlarge if blind as a bat!

THE FOUNTAIN - BROWN STREET - 1980'S

The Fountain Disco opened in November 1983, not long before rivals Fat Sams opened in fact.
It was a bit of a trendy place playing new wave, pop and disco.
This was the first club in Dundee to have lasers as part of the lightshow, and together with over-active dry-ice and bubble machines, made the dancefloor area a real visual treat when in full flow.
One of the DJ's was, Quincey McAdam, who used to DJ down at Londons Camden Palace.
Large video screens were up around the place, and with this being the era of over-the-top pop promo vids, they would show the likes of Duran Duran, Michael Jackson and Frankie Goes To Hollywood.
There were 2 lounges and 3 bars which meant there were areas other than the dancefloor to indulge in.
It put on the odd live act too. I remember seeing the brilliant Bristol reggae band Black Roots play here in 1984.

The ad under the photo is for when The Fall were also due to play here in '84, but the gig venue was changed to rivals Fat Sams!

The other ad is just a general one showing their extended weekend action and is from summer 1984.
It had a "No Jeans" rule on certain nights, and I recall on one unplanned visit, I was the only one in my crowd who was wearing jeans and so wasn't expecting to get in. I queued up anyway, and when the time came for me to step through the door the bouncer did his "Sorry, no jeans" routine. Improvising off the top of my head, I found myself saying "They're not denim, they're blue canvas". He stood staring at them bamboozled for a couple of seconds and said "Aye OK, in ye go!".
And that's how to outsmart the smart dress code..!!

COCONUT GROVE - 1980's

Another well known Dundee flamingo was this neon one above the entrance to Coconut Grove.

The 2 palm trees were actually on a back wall about 30ft away from the main sign above the door, although you wouldn't think it from the top night shot.

This "Coconut Grove" logo design was repeated throughout the interior of the disco - having it stenciled in black on the white walls like urban graffiti.

After a couple of years they decided to ditch the word "Coconut" and opted to just call it "The Grove".

In the advert above dated November 1984, Tarzan is letting it be known that admission is free before 11.00 pm, only, it's not Jane he's talking to, it's Fiona..!!??

But how would he manage to get in dressed like that?

I mean, he's not wearing a tie..!!

They occasionally had celebs visit the disco, and one such example is well known DJ, David Jensen, who was guest there in January 1986.

He was more commonly known as Kid Jensen when he was with Radio 1, but he ditched Kid in favour of David just before he moved to Capital Radio.

JUNCTION 9 ACTION - LATE 70'S

Here's a couple of photos recalling the kind of entertainment that was available at Junction 9 (Tay Centre Hotel disco) in the late 70's.
Top image is DJ Andy Pearson, who had been spinning his rock music discs since it's former Ferry Bar days.
The live band in shot is the Gordon Douglas Band, who were formerly known as The Heroes.

Thanks to Brian Wilson.

THEATRE ROYAL - NETHERGATE - 1960'S

There were 3 "Theatre Royal's" in Dundee.

The first 2 being 19th century affairs in the main, means they won't get a mention on Retro.

The 3rd one being active in the 60's, means it will get a mention.

The building itself (located in the Nethergate) was originally called the People's Palace and had gone through quite a few changes over the decades. However, in 1965, Scottish entertainer, Calum Kennedy, became the new owner and it was he who gave it the Theatre Royal name.

It was rather short-lived under this name mind you, the theatre closing down around 1970. Then in 1977 the building was destroyed by fire and so was eventually demolished.

The first ad above was published in the local press in November 1965 and is for well known entertainer, Norman Vaughan.

Remember he had the short "ooh!" catchphrase.

Second is dated February 1966 and is for a show by famous comedian, Tony Hancock.

It snowed when Tony was in Dundee and he said it was so cold he had to run from the dressing room to the stage to get some heat from the lights..!!

April 1966 is the date of the third ad and on that occasion, crooner, Frankie Vaughan, was the entertainment on offer.

The fourth ad was published in November 1969 when Billy Fury was the main attraction.

THE ORIENTAL - EXCHANGE STREET CORNER

This was a great wee pub, and probably the only Dundee drinking den I could say was "surreal"!!.

On the go in the late 70's - early 80's and situated on the corner of Commercial Street/Exchange street.

It was quite deceptive in appearance because it looked like an old-timer's pub from the outside, but one step indoors and it transported you to a completely different world.

The crazy interior reflected the owner's madcap outlook. They had a "gorilla" theme running throughout the place. Try and envisage this - there were lots of apes hanging from the ceiling from chains, each one wearing the pubs own t-shirt design (King Kong wrecking the Tay bridge) and all had flashing eyes that were synchronised in time with the music!

As if that wasn't zany enough, the walls had an outer space mural that not only had stuff like rockets and planets scattered about it but also included many cartoon characters!!

The music was sometimes played from cassettes chosen by the bar staff and sometimes picked from the jukebox by us who drank there, but both sources were always played at FULL volume and was a mix of punk, rock & pop.

Always a place to have a really good laugh.

The short clip below is a wee visual recreation of their ape theme.

Photo by DC Thomson.

 

THE SANDS - BROUGHTY FERRY

Sunday nights were the best nights to pop along to Broughty Ferry hotspot "The Sands" in the late 70's & early 80's musically speaking, because their choice of sounds on Sundays were of a more specialist variety.

So being black based music in the main meant there was a lot of serious funk going down, plenty of hot soul imports spinning and a fair amount of Northern Soul belted out too. They did drop a dollop of chart pop stuff along the way but it was in much smaller portions than you'd get on Fridays & Saturdays.
The atmosphere was better on Sundays too which made it a great way to finish off a weekend's clubbing.

As well as DJ's blasting out the latest dancefloor goodies, The Sands also hosted jazz events on Sunday afternoons and anyone wanting to jam alongside Dundee's top jazz musician, Jimmy Deuchar, were welcome to.

The photos above show The Sands in 2 different phases - the first 2 are its late 70's look with a circular dancefloor - the other 2 are from the early 80's when they extended the dancefloor out to the seating areas and added more lights around the joint.

Combining both the dancefloor and jazz elements of The Sands, below is a track I always associate with my Sunday's spent there. Its a great jazz-funk groove that dates back to 1980 - and I still have my original 12 inch copy of it too!

Photos by DC Thomson.

 

 

THE GROVE - MARKETGAIT - 1980's

This well known disco location became the Coconut Grove in March 1984. Previously the Barracuda, it was renamed this when it came under new ownership and a £1/4 million face-lift.
After a couple of years they opted to drop the name "coconut" and it became known just as "The Grove", as in the above picture.
Photo by DC Thomson.Tints by GG.

DA VINCI'S - WESTPORT - 1980'S

Da  Vinci's in Westport was often viewed as a "posers" pub in the 80's, but I didn't find it too bad at all, it was quite trendy I'd say.

As the name suggests, they were referring to Leonardo da Vinci and so they had an artists palette as part of their logo as well as examples of his artwork on the walls (prints, not originals of course!).

The ground floor had a bar and a small lounge area on a raised floor.

Upstairs was the main attraction though, with it's small dancefloor with DJ's playing regularly. It could get really crowded at times, but there were some great lively nights to be had there.

A lot of revellers often ended up having it as the last pub on their pub crawl before hitting the nearby discos!.

The colour shot above shows the location of Da Vinci's - the double-roofed white building in the corner of the car-park. Pic taken in 1982.

The black & white images were both taken in the upstairs area in 1981.

Photos by DC Thomson.

THE FAT SAM'S SWIZZLE-STICK

Here is one of the original Fat Sam's Swizzle-sticks that we used back in the 80's when cocktails were on the increase in nightclubs.
Not that I needed one for my pints of lager mind you!

BAY CITY ROLLERS - J.M. BALLROOM - 1970-74

 

The top cutting is from a "What's On" page in the Dundee Courier  - an ad for the Bay City Rollers playing at the J.M. Ballroom in the Marketgait on Sunday 12th April '70.
Interesting to see they were gigging in Dundee 4 years before they became famous. In fact The Rollers actually made a promo film in the J.M. in 1970, complete with hired screaming girls! I wonder what has happened to that footage?
The 2nd cutting is from an NME and they continue to be playing at the J.M. This one dated Monday 18th December 1972.
The 3rd cutting is from a Melody Maker music paper and in the gig guide section it has the Bay City Rollers playing at the JM on Monday 29th April '74.
So the band were still active in Dundee even in the year they hit the big time!
Other acts on in 1970 were, The Camera and Pat'r 4 + Three.