CHECKING OUT THE SCROTUM POLES

One of the local account holders at the bank featured in yesterdays item, was The Scrotum Poles.

They may not have had much money to burn at the time mind you, but 30 years on their music is still creating interest..!!

Just this year they have been played on Gideon Coe's show on Radio 6 and I even heard them get an airing on WFMU in New York this summer. Also had write-ups in The Word magazine and Record Collector magazine this year.

Anyway, a good time to include this rare photo of the band caught in rehearsals up at the Coffin Mill, with a couple of mysterious onlookers dressed in black.

Were The Stranglers in town?

Big thanks to Craig.

NME FASHION ADS - 70's/80's

On the occasions when you couldn't always find what you were looking for in Dundee shops (which was quite often) and you couldn't always afford to go to London to indulge, then the mail order pages in music papers were a good alternative.

The ones above are all from old NME's I have, so let's tuck in...!!

The top ad is dated 1978 and features gear with a distinctly early 70's look - rugby shirt, cheesecloth shirt, embroidered kurta, loons and smock top.

The next 4 ads are all from 1981 and include a mish-mash of punk, new romantic, rock, new wave and soul boy gear, items such as - PVC breeks, denim jacket, bomber jacket, patch jeans, hardcore punk vest, jack boots (with the ad saying that they make Dr Martens look like ballet shoes!), stud belt & wristband, deck shirt, colonial shirt, Syrian scarf, cavalry shirt, regency shirt, leopard print trousers, stripy jeans, Bowie suit, pirate shirt, boating trousers, army surplus, Hawaiian shirt, tukker boots, and plenty more examples in amongst them.

The last one is dated 1985 and already there seems to be a bit of a retro thing going on in their ad with their mohair jumper, bondage trousers, gas cape, ski goggles, buckle boots, creepers and such like.

I'm sure some of you will have spotted your particular look!

I used to send for the odd item using this mail order route. One from around the 1981/82 period being a "Dread At The Controls" T-shirt. It was pertaining to Mikey Dread's radio show - and I wore that for years!!!

I remember Joe Strummer used to wear one too.

So anyway, it seems quite appropriate to include it here.

Click onto the ads to have a closer inspection.

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

THE JAM - CAIRD HALL - 1979

Jute, The Jam and Journalism - here's an article from the NME mentioning the tour dates for The Jam.
Included on the list is their gig at the Caird Hall which was on the 9th December 1979.
There is a recording of this show doing the rounds, but I haven't been able to get my mitts on it yet!

LIST-D IN THE PRESS ... AND IN COURT

List-D cropped up on the local music scene in the late 70's.

The band kinda started off as teenage punks music-wise, and as a result their gigs had a bit of a reputation for often ending in fights!

Later in 1980, they tried to develop a more mature sound.

They played locally at venues such as the Junction 9 & Marryat Hall, and sometimes ventured out of town too.

The above photo was taken in 1980 in the spare grounds near the Grey Lodge in the Hilltown area. The Grey Lodge being where they rehearsed. Spot the nifty piece of graffiti in the background!

Line-up, L to R...

Jim Grieves (Sykes), drums.

Mark Stuart (deceased), guitar.

Eddie Harrington, bass.

Dek McHugh aka Zippy, vocals.

This was the band's strongest line-up but a couple of other members came & went - Colin Ramsay, Gordon "Fanta" Walker for example.

Zippy was only 17 at the time of the photo, and left Dundee before he was 18.

The photo was published in the Dundee Standard, and while they were at it, Dek was asked to supply his Top 5 records.

The 3rd article is a report from the time List-D ended up in court.

This was in summer 1979 when they were supporting London band, Beggar, who were doing a mini-tour of East Scotland & Highlands.

After Peely gave the band a shout-out on radio, both bands over-did the celebrations and it all went wrong.

You can read about it yourselves.

Click onto it to bring up the large version.

Many thanks to Dek.

THE CLASH - CAIRD HALL - 1980

The 18th January 1980 saw The Clash rumbling into town for a gig at the Caird Hall.

This was their "16 Tons Tour", the band arriving on stage to the sound of Tennessee Ernie Ford's version of the song "16 Tons".

Quite a lively night needless to say, the band wearing black, red & white combination gear and telling the crowd at the front to stop gobbing!

There were at least 2 dozen songs in their set on the night, recordings of which exist and I have in my collection.

I was tempted to accompany this item with a Caird Hall sound sample but I thought you'd like what's below even better.

It's footage of the band in Dundee the day after the gig, about to depart for their next show elsewhere.

It has Joe Strummer doing his bit for the camera, filmed at the Tay Hotel and around the corner area of Whitehall Crescent.

The cops are making their presence known too....just in case!

SAMANTHAS ADS - LATE 70's

Samantha's in South Tay Street was quite a short lived discotheque, on the go from 1976 to 78, so these ads above are a bit of a rare sight.

The first 2 are from the Dundee Telegraph and are dated December 1977.

The top one is a general ad emphasising their weekend disco action.

It also mentions the Stage Door Bar - that was the pub at the back of Samantha's in the Marketgait that had a connecting doorway taking you to the disco. It saved trekking around the block to the main entrance.

The second ad is for a midweek event, the visitor being Richard Searling.

I remember Richard's name cropping up every week back then in music mags such as Black Echoes and Blues & Soul. He was a DJ specialising in soul music, both the Northern Soul variety and the more up-to-the-minute dance tracks. In fact he was quite an influential DJ, not only was he a Wigan Casino regular, but he was the guy who brought the original "Tainted Love" to the attention of clubbers.
Another well know disc-jockey who appeared here was Radio 1 DJ, Paul Burnett. This was on 15 January 1978.

Just a bit of general background info to give you an idea of the entertainment on offer at the time.

An example of the kind of bands that performed here are shown in the next 3 items.

Firstly an ad that appeared in NME in October 1978 featuring tour dates for punk band, 999, who had Samantha's as a venue on 22 October. To go with it is a gig guide showing the same date, with Simple Minds also on the bill.

The last item shows that Ultravox played at Samantha's a couple of weeks earlier on 8 October '78.

Many thanks to Yvonne for the Telegraph ads.

S'PUNK FANZINE - 1979

Back in 1978 when Steve Grimmond and Craig Methven were still only in their mid teens, they started up this fanzine call S'PUNK (it's punk), dedicated to the punk scene and its kindred on the fringe.

This particular one above is issue 13 and came out in January 1979.

So quickly sifting through some of the pages I've put up on display...

On top is the front cover which has an image stating "If You Don't Buy This Magazine, We'll Kill This Dog".

The 2nd page down is the editorial intro, or idiotorial as they have it, cramming in a few words about the mag content, surrounded by the bands and subject matter for this issue.

Image 3 is a look back at their "Singles Of The Year" for 1978. Both list their personal top 10 and there is also a general S'Punk top 20.

Craig has gone for The Only Ones - "Another Girl, Another Planet".

Steve opted for Steel Pulse - "Ku Klux Klan".

4th page down is a mention of a gig that took place up at the Bowling Alley in Marketgait, the band being Punishment Of Luxury (Punilux for short). This includes a rather brief encounter with the band which soon became an aborted interview! There is also a mini review of the gig itself.

Lastly, we have 5 acts at 2 venues.

The upper 2 are for Richard Hell & The Voidoids and John Cooper Clarke, the support acts for Elvis Costello who played the Caird Hall on 14th January 1979.

Finally, a 3 band gig, this time at Bloomers in South Tay Street.

Support acts were Curfew and Straits, with The Skids being the main headliners.

S'Punk must be a contender for being one of Dundee's earliest fanzines I reckon, so it's a rare read, and if you want to view the pages in more detail, just click onto them to enlarge.

Big THANKS to Craig.

PAUL WELLER'S DUNDEE PEN PAL

These 2 poems penned by Paul Weller, were published in Dundee fanzine, Cranked Up, in the early 80's.

The reason they ended up there was because they came from Alan Matheson. Alan used to correspond with Paul Weller, and during the course, Paul would send examples of his poetry up to him.

Alan was working in DC Thomson's at the time, notably with pop/teen mag, Jackie.

Alan actually had the lyrics to The Jam's "That's Entertainment" a year before it came out as a single.

Anyway, Alan passed these two poems on to Cranked Up, and they may very well be exclusives!

Bearing in mind that poems don't always mean they are song lyrics, however I did a bit of research on the net with songs in mind, and I found 1 tiny sketchy reference linking Paul Weller to "Along The Grove", which may possibly have been recorded as a demo. Nothing clearer than that.

As for "Optimmorning"- absolutely nothing whatsoever cropping up on that one at all.

I know Paul has dabbled in publishing too, with the material not relating to his musical output, but I can't find any trace of info about the two poems above via that route either.

So if there are any Paul Weller aficionados out there who can pass on further details, feel free to share it here.

"Optimmorning" - published in Cranked Up 1981.

"Along The Grove" - published in Cranked Up 1982.

Alans brother, Keith, played in Big Blue 72, a band who have been featured on Retro, and he has also had a stint working in Grouchos.

Sadly, Alan Matheson died in 2002.

Click on the poems to enlarge, if you are struggling to read them as they are.

HAVE A SAY WITH RADIO TAY

The top item is a good example of what I was saying earlier about getting an idea down when it hits you. These are the original lyrics to "Radio Tay", the song written by Craig Methven when he and the Scrotum Poles were in an Edinburgh recording studio in 1980. Just scrawled on the back of a flyer that was lying around, with an ad for B & R Rugs on the other side! Radio Tay was one of the tracks on their Revelation vinyl EP which has now gone on to become a bit of a collectors item, almost cult status in fact judging by the amount written about it on the Net! Even just recently word came through that the Revelation EP is to be re-produced by an American company, complete with a replica of the original sleeve insert!

Not a record that would have been played on Radio Tay itself of course, but just a couple of years later, Craig found himself making an appearance on the station along with Jock Ferguson after being invited on to have their say on a show called "Not So Much Kid's Stuff" hosted by Sally Masterson. This was in 1982 when Craig & Jock were doing Cranked Up, a time when the fanzine published a few scathing articles about Radio Tay! So they got a wee guest spot which allowed them to mention a few things about the local music scene that the station didn't touch on.

Radio Tay - so near and yet so far away!

Click on the Cranked Up item to read the large version.

Many thanks to Craig.

SOME QUICK SPURTS STUFF - 1978

"Dundee's most original New Wave band" - yes that's how The Quick Spurts presented themselves in 1978.

Those involved were Colin Ramsay - Gordon Walker - Forrey Rosscraig - George Barrie - with Gerry Mitchell taking over from Abe McIntosh.

The ticket for the Ardler Community Centre gig with Flux as support, took place on 14th April 1978, and the photos under it were all taken at this gig. You've got to smile at the stepladder being part of the stage decor!

At another Quick Spurts gig in St Andrews University, Gerry was dragged off the stage by some bikers and Colin waded in with his guitar to try rescue him! That's one way for your guitar skills to have an impact on your audience I suppose!!

The band split up soon after, the news cropping up in a fanzine called Kingdom Come, and Colin moved down to London where he joined Afflicted.

Big thanks to Colin Ramsay.

THIS IS THE END

Year - 1977.

Venue - The Ambassador.

Band - The End.

Not sure how much of a crowd was there but what they were seeing was not just another local gig, but the early stages of Dundee's "alternative" scene starting to shape up.

The End had Dennis on guitar, Colin doing vocals, Andy on bass, and an unknown drummer.

The Alternators were one of the other bands playing that night and there's a poster on the wall for their single that was released in January '78.

The details of the event are a bit sketchy but The End & The Alternators may have possibly been sharing the bill with Bread Poultice & The Running Sores.

Should be able to sort that out in the comments.

It was at this gig too that Colin met the members of Quick Spurts and later ended up joining them in addition to having a short stint playing bass in List-D.

And for these visual gems we have Colin Ramsay to thank.

THE SCROTUM POLES ROCK FAMILY TREE

The line-up of Glen Connell (Burt Spurt) - Craig Methven (Smeg Pole) - Colin Smith (Stripey Sleep) & Steve Grimmond (Sid Gripple), was the last and most well known of the Scrotum Poles unit.
As you can see in the Scrotum Poles family tree, this is referred to as SP3, which is dead centre of the layout.
I thought it was interesting finding out how the band reached that stage and discovering what happened when the lads all branched off afterwards.
Steve joined SP2 from a band called Tinned Atmosphere, who had Johnny Walker and Brian Anderson in the line-up.
Glen went straight into SP3 after his time playing in Carnoustie based bands.
When the Scrotum Poles time was up, Steve joined AAGA, a band who've been well covered on Retro.
Colin moved on to the Arbroath band, Synthetic Dreams, who have been described as a cross between Ultravox and Talking Heads.
Craig formed Pigs Are Cute, again an act who's had a few mentions here.
After that, when Craig moved to London, he was in a band called The Summerbees, which included bassist Ali Friend who later worked with top acts in the 90's such as Red Snapper, Beth Orton, Chemical Brothers and many others.
Glen, who was also in Pigs Are Cute, joined a band called Twice, who were on a bit of a disco-punk/Pet Shop Boys kind of trip.
He then became a member of cow-punk act Boonie Rats, who released a single at some stage.
Glen got involved with the Hodge twins, Les going on to form Coco And The Bean, and Simon concentrating on DJ work.
The tree could probably be extended even further if you saw it through to the present and included what all the other musicians went on to do, but as it is, this is a neat pollarded version of the Scrotum Poles segment covering approximately the 1978 - 1989 period.
The graphic is quite large, so you can click onto it, zoom in, and have a wee journey along all the connections.
Thanks to Craig for the history lesson.

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.

DUNDEE'S DUFF PISTOLS POSTER - 1976

It has been in circulation as a fact that, the Sex Pistols cancelled this 1st December Dundee gig "at the last minute" to appear on the infamous Bill Grundy TV show.
Well here below is a factual timeline sequence published in the music press that suggests otherwise...

On 13th November 1976 the music press published details of a punk tour to be co-headlined by Sex Pistols and The Ramones, with Talking Heads, Chris Spedding & The Vibrators the other acts.

The Dundee date arranged being 1st December.

Then on 20th November 1976 the music press published an announcement that all of the acts had pulled out of the tour except the Sex Pistols. The tour was then revamped with Sex Pistols the headline act and support bands being Johnny Thunder's Heart Breakers, The Damned and The Clash.

The 16th December was now the date for Dundee as a result of the revamped tour.

As you can see, the 1st December date on the poster has the second choice of bands (Sex Pistols, Johnny Thunder's Heart Breakers, The Damned and The Clash), but these acts weren't confirmed until the revamped tour dates for 16th December.   

If the gig poster WAS for the 1st December, it would have had the first choice of acts on it (The Ramones, Sex Pistols, Talking Heads, Chris Spedding & The Vibrators).

This confirms the Sex Pistols did not cancel the 1st December Dundee gig "at the last minute" to appear live on the Bill Grundy TV show because the revamped dates were confirmed 2 weeks before the TV show aired.

The only reason Sex Pistols appeared on Grundy was because Queen had to cancel their scheduled appearance the day before the show and Sex Pistols replaced them at the last minute.

There is no Dundee gig connection with Pistols on Grundy.

Furthermore, a different music press article from 13th November had Newcastle the date for 1st December punk tour package, so there was never anything definitely secured for that date. 

The real Anarchy In The UK tour officially started on 3rd December after the first attempt was scrapped.

The poster's date and support acts don't go together at all - the information is meaningless.

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The above is only a small sample of evidence.

There is much more wrong with the poster than just the date & support bands.

To read the detective work about it, you can download the full 13 page PDF in the link below.

Confirms that the poster is not connected to a gig, Tech College, Caird Hall or Pistols.

It's FAKE..!!

Pistols poster PDF

Click items to enlarge.