CRAIGIEBANK POST OFFICE - 1983

This image of Craigiebank Post Office in Arbroath Road appeared in the local press in February 1983.
The reason it was receiving attention back then was because the place was robbed.
I have a hazy memory of this and think this may have been the time when a guy was hiding in a recess around the back of the shops, then when the owner was letting himself in - he leapt out and did his "Get the loot out of the safe" introduction.
Looks like the robber also made off with the "EM" from the chemist and the "I" from the chip shop - then possibly started up a mediocre record company!
I'm pretty sure this P.O. has been done more than once during its history.

Photo by DC Thomson.

THE PRINCIPAL PLAYER - EARLY 80'S

[THE PRINCIPAL PLAYER
Throughout the ten-year DATA project, Pete Horobin used several names - Principal Player, Acrobat, Monty Cantsin and Karen Eliot. The Principal Player was the first born and performed many actions – publicly and privately – in Dundee. These actions invariably examined the ordinariness of everyday activities – politics – improvisation and experimentation. Actions were scripted so that anyone could act out the role of the Principal Player. Scripts were sent through the post to correspondents and put up in Willie Frew’s pub on the Hawkhill.]

Shown above are 3 of the scripts the intro caption refers to.
These were put up on display in Willie Frew's for all to read - or in the case of the top example - scribble over!
Below is a recording Pete made when in Principal Player mode.
It was done at 3.00 a.m in the DATA Attic, using tape machines, a radio and various timpani.
It's called "Star Chant" and he adopts a Robert Wyatt style of vocal on this one while the wheezing, whirring and purring melodious machinery sets the hypnotic ambiance!

Courtesy of The Attic Archive

COLD, FRANKING SENSE & MIRTH

3 local ads from the 70's.

Top one is dated 1973 and is for Drydens, the frozen food specialists. They were located in Allan Street at the time, which now no longer exists, it being the A991 these days, connecting Seagate to Dock Street where Allan St used to be.

In the middle is an advert for the Post Office from 1979, telling you all about how they can put a package deal together for your business requirements. Expresspost - Direct Bag Service - Datapost and so on.

And so what can I say about the final ad in their defence?

Well it's dated 1978 and this was still the era of non PC jokes, Carry On films & Benny Hill, so I suppose it reflects the times!

Harrison & Reeve down in East Dock Street was a wholesale fruit market - veg, flowers and fruit - juicy pears and ripe melons a speciality it seems!

VEX/DEATH CULT - TAYSIDE BAR - 1982

This rather clear-headed account of a Vex gig, appeared in an issue of Voice fanzine in 1982.

You may recall in an earlier item when they played in Newport they decided to call themselves Mass on the night, well for this do down at the Tayside Bar they opted to be The Death Cult.

The line-up had Ewan on violin, Gary Kidgell and Gail doing vocals, Mike Kane playing bass, and the good old drum machine providing the beats.

There seems to have been a touch of performance art type of behaviour to their show, some of which didn't go down very well!

Anyway, still sounds like a better evening than Tiffanys!

Unfortunately, as you can see by the grainy images, the Xerox machine was a bit hit & miss for this issue, and manages to cut off the final sentence in the review.

It reads - "Last word goes to Al of Waiter Waiter who said it's still one of........." then it fades out at that bit, which is annoying.

In fact, maybe it wasn't the Xerox machine, it might have been the work of Vex!!

BOO HOORAY - FOR EXAMPLE - EARLY 80'S

This is the time of year a lot of oldies go for their winter jab, so I thought I'd get involved and inject a Boo Hooray track into your circulatory system!

Boo Hooray were sonic fidgets. Personnel-wise and music-wise. There was never really a settled band line-up. There was main man Gerry Mitchell, and a cluster of others who weaved in and out.

This cool image above is Scott Gowans, one of the guitarists who teamed up with them for a spell. The photo would have been taken around 1981ish, roughly the same era as the record.

I suppose whether you like Boo Hooray's output or not, could depend on how musically aware you are. If, for example, your taste lies solely in the Top 40 Pop Charts and your record collection was purchased in ASDA, then there is a good chance the track will go in one ear and out the other.

Should you be the more adventurous type who liked to delve into music's more vibrant underground scene, then you may be able to identify a few influences in the mix.

The guitar intro on their track "For Example" attacks you like a bout of pins & needles, but as it subsides it then administers a fragmented funky groove into your body, which, providing you're not one of the living dead, ought to give you a good wee buzz!

Much better for you than any corporate rock placebo..!!

Thanks to MK & GM.

 

SEVERED ARM - OPEN & CLOSED - 1982

Back to Dundee's post punk days we go and to a band whose sound reflected the era very well, Severed Arm.
The line-up was - JIM LOW, vocals - DAVE McDONALD, guitar - JOHN ANDERSON, bass and CASS on drums.
Severed Arm played locally at venues such as the Tayside Bar, Marryat Hall and even the Baxter Park Fest.
The band also used to play up at Ardler Community Centre, and during one of those sessions, around 1982, they had their tape recorder running and managed to get a few tracks down on cassette. From it, below, is a song called "Open & Closed", a tune which captures that typical early 80's alternative pop template of jangly guitar and youthful angst!
Big thanks to Dave.

PIGS ARE CUTE - TAIWAN - 1981

When Pigs Are Cute recorded 3 tracks down at Inner City Sound studios in 1981, 2 of them ended up on the Dundee Compilation Cassette the following year.
This song below called "Taiwan" was the missing 3rd track and hasn't been heard since it was recorded.
There is a kind of uneasy feel to the song, a hint that someone evil is looming over you - just the same as when countries don't get on.
This was also the big track the band used to close their set with.
So see what you reckon to this rare moody PAC opus.
Many thanks to Craig

GREY APPROACH - 1980

Around 1980, local band, Grey Approach, started to make inroads into the Dundee music scene. The original trio of Jim Low, Colin Warden and Cresta, were generally described as sounding like a synthy Joy Division.
Although the photo is a tad overdone on the Xerox machine, the band posing in amongst the Dundee debris does reflect the kind of imagery those Manchester bands were so good at conjuring up back then. Sombre cityscapes made trendy!
One notable gig they did was at the Art College, along with Dundee's most cutting edge acts, the evening's line-up being Grey Approach - Strange News - Boo Hooray - Erasmic Superfoam. That sounds like a good night!
Even though later members included Ray Manston, Dave Fehilly, Guy Gayford and Marion Achfeld, the band didn't seem to last very long. In fact I think they may have reached a dead end before 1982.

AAGA - THE NEW SAINTS... CASSETTE

The final AAGA cassette I have in my collection is this one here from around the 1983/84 period - "The New Saints Of Drab Intensity".

There are 4 tunes on it, 2 are live recordings, 1 was done on 16 track and the one here below "Patience Is Virtue" was done on 4 track.

This is probably the most tuneful thing AAGA have ever done. It's even, dare I say, commercial sounding! Quite a sensitive touch to it too.

Thanks once again to Mike Kane.

 

FLUX - DESTROY ALL SYSTEMS - 1987

You may remember I put a track by Flux up last year which turned out to be a rare example of a tune connected to Mike Kane which everyone who commented seemed to like! It was a dreamy ambient chill-out track.
In the caption back then I said I would pick out a contrasting tune from the 1987 "In Flux" cassette and post it later. Now's the time, and so here is a little ditty of theirs called "Destroy All Systems(2)"
I think you can guess by the title that it's Flux in a tuffer mood and with the volume turned up! A dizzying wall of sound out on a mission to subvert the masses with it's relentless chants and slogans pile-driving their way through it all.
Well you didn't think they were gonna let you get comfy in your bean bags, did you?!!

AAGA - WHATALIFE CASSETTE - 1982

The AAGA "Whatalife" cassette dates from 1982 and only contains 2 tracks - "Illness" and the title song.
I can't help chuckle at some of the lyrics in "Whatalife", which are basically saying there is more to life than just going boozing and watching telly. The only song ever to mention the Lea Rig and Harry O..!!
Me being a bit of a dubologist (makey up word!) also gives the echoed phrase weaving in & out, the GG seal of approval!
Thanks to MK

AAGA - THE UNHEARD CASSETTE - 1983

I've still got quite a few items of Mike Kane based material I haven't delved into yet, so ploughing on with a few more post punk goodies, here's a 4 track cassette by AAGA called "The Unheard", done in 1983.
Get a load of the gruff, grimy, gritty, grunge guitar powering it's way through. WOWEE!!
The basic drum machine rhythm along with Steve Grimmond's distant vocal is really all it needed.
All the tracks are untitled, so this is just referred to as "Track 4".
Thanks to MK

STRANGE NEWS - HUNGRY LOOK - 1980

Although The Associates had only been in existence for a year or so at the time, in 1980 Billy MacKenzie got involved in a little side project with a few friends that ended up a short-lived outfit called Strange News.
Billy, vocals - Steve Reid, guitar - Andy Sturrock, bass - Gavin (surname?), drums.
They must have liked the sound they were making because it lead to them recording a couple of tracks in Edinburgh.
Here's a wee blast of one below, a song called "Hungry Look".
Check out Steve's guitar in it. Wicked! The driving chords of the main tune sounding like John McGeoch of Magazine, while a 2nd layer of plinky plonky notes are sprinkled about randomly in the background.
This tune also appears to be a precursor to Club Country, lyrically at least.
I don't have a photo of the Strange News line-up, but I do have this rather strange news item (above) from the same year - 29th April 1980, to be exact. A quirky wee feature from the Record Mirror telling of the time when Billy missed out on getting a cut of Howard Hughes billions!
Bit of a strange picture of him too as a matter of fact...bathing with his beret?!!

THE SOUNDS OF R.T. RIPPER

It all started back in 1977 when young tearaway, RT Ripper aka Rat The Ripper aka Ewen, walked out of school aged 15, and never went back. He teamed up with Mike Kane (who was still at school) and formed The Bastards. Rat had no interest in playing instruments in the conventional way, instead opting to explore the sounds they made by bashing them about, mutilating the tuning and generally deconstructing their original use.
This approach fitted in perfectly with Dundee noise guru's, Vex, Flux and Novus, of which he was a member.
I have 2 tracks of RT Ripper's solo work from the early 80's below - both, nuggets of darkness!
The 1st track called "Asterisk" is a spooky wee beastie, who's haunting drone lasts 2.40 minutes. Swiftly followed by "Return From The Land Of The Dead", a scary shrieking monster with a really menacing voice. Some of you may be glad it lasts only around a minute - I would have liked more!
If Jack The Ripper had been a musician, he may very well have sounded a little like this..!!

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.

RAG WEEK - FIRST DAY COVER - 1968

This First Day Cover was issued on 15th April 1968 to mark the start of the Dundee Students Charities Campaign - or "Rag Week" as it is known as.

I remember we went along as a family to the ones in the 60's (when I was primary school age) with our chosen location to view the procession being Princes Street. All the floats and students in fancy dress, rattling their cans collecting pennies from those of us who lined the streets. It was quite entertaining for a young school kid, but trying to chuck coins onto the passing floats was a bit hit & miss, although there were always plenty of student foot soldiers nearby to do the mopping up!

ERASMIC SUPERFOAM - DONKEY RIDING

Formed in 1981, Erasmic Superfoam had a base above the Tav in Hawkhill where they practiced their post punk mash-ups of well known tunes.
After their debut gig at Art College, and a couple of tweaks to the band line-up, they got themselves over to Wilf Smarties studios in Edinburgh to lay down this track "Donkey Riding", the traditional kids song. It doesn't sound anything like how we used to sing it in primary school mind you, what with it's spiky, fragmented guitar going on, in a Gang Of Four kind of style. In fact, you could say it quite literally kicks ass!!
The trio making the wonderful noise are - AL STRAKER guitar/vocal - JOHN BUTLER bass - DAVE FEHILLY drums.
The track did attract the attention of John Peel, and almost got them a record deal, but sadly, much to our loss, it wasn't to be, and the band all rode off into the sunset!
The B&W picture above was taken in the 70's at the donkey rides in Camperdown Park.
Thanx to Craig and The Captain.

DEADBEAT FANZINE - 1982

Early 80's fanzine, Deadbeat, covered the alternative Scottish music scene in the main, so the Dundee stuff was competing with Edinburgh, Glasgow & Aberdeen for mag space, although our local bands and gigs were well represented.

The wee mag was loaded with music articles, gig dates, gig reviews, band interviews, record releases, nightclub details, and so on. In fact Deadbeat is a great reminder of just how much Scotland was buzzing with homegrown talent back then.

When it came to bands from down South visiting Scotland however, Dundee didn't always get the cream of the crop, which is why a bit of an effort was needed to catch the acts perform in other cities. I didn't do too bad as I was a member of Edinburgh's Nite Club for a few years, so saw heaps of acts live there that never set foot in oor toon!

I just loved going through to the Nite Club - one of my favourite places ever!

Thanks to DD

THE JUNKIES FLYER

This is typical of the kind of image you'd see splattered up around town on the multitude of boarded up windows, which was a common sight in Dundee in the early 80's.

The Junkies flyer - designed by Jock Ferguson.

Thanks to DD

VEX GIG REVIEWS - 1981

Here's 2 different Vex performances that took place in 1981.

The first review is seen from the audience's perspective, and the other is an account of a gig by the band.

So, the top one was a show Vex did at the Tayside Bar. A large turn out for this one too, and although writer, Jock Ferguson, gives a good detailed description of the evenings events and a bit of background information on the band, he does end up dismissing Vex as "Bluffers"!!

At least there was no police presence during this performance, but being Vex, some of their gear got smashed up!

The 2nd review was written by Vex member, Mike Strachan, and tells of what happened at their gig at the Brig O' Tay in Fife.

Not only did Vex improvise their sets, on this occasion they also improvised a name change and called themselves Mass on the night, sharing the bill with 2 other acts, The Noise and Waiter Waiter.

Once again, however, the night ended abruptly when the police were called, that lead to their equipment being switched off and the band banned!

You'll probably need to click the images to read the large versions.