ROCKPILE RECORDS - 1980'S

3 adverts for Rockpile Records published in local fanzines in 1982.

A neat wee shop, selling a mixture of new and second-hand records.

Very aromatic too I remember!

I never actually bought any records from there mind you, my visits were only when I was off-loading parts of my collection from time to time.

And, it was also the only shop in town who dared to sell bootlegs!

REGGAE INNA DUNDEE - EARLY 80'S

Some of those helping spread the pounding sounds of reggae around town in the early 80's were the following...

Misty In Roots

The Professor

Natural Roots

Misty In Roots played Dundee University on 15th October 1982. Brilliant live, this was actually the 4th time I had seen the band, the previous 3 being in Edinburgh.

The middle item is an article about the Dundee Reggae Club moving out of their base in Blazers and putting on a Xmas Reggae Party at the Howff. Guest was The Professor, who was dropping the dubplates for this bash on 21st December 1982.

Then it was time for all local sufferahs to head across to Club Feet on 28th September 1983 and skank along to the organic vibes of Natural Roots, together with a showcase set from Akabush Sound System.

Och I & I was well irie in a Babylon back in the day. Yeah mon!!

INTERVIEW WITH THE GRIP - 1982

Roy Terre (Reuters - get it?) from Deadbeat mag, had a chinwag with The Grip down at the Tayside Bar in late '82.
Jim Grieve & Ross Ramsay were the 2 band members who answered the questions.
Lots of info supplied on the band (they started off as Tender Grip) as well as giving an insight into their future plans.
I like the fact that Jim name-drops The Ruts, Misty In Roots and Talisman as influences, rather than UB40.
Although The Grip and UB40 ended up in similar musical territory, if you dig deeper than the superficial parity, you can can see that their backgrounds would have been entirely different.
UB40, Birmingham - a huge black community, reggae record shops in abundance, reggae clubs, established sound systems, pirate stations blasting out reggae & dub all day, all this on their own doorstep.
The Grip, Dundee - ....er....zilch! No black community to set the scene, no clubs, even finding a reggae record was a needle in a haystack job. So all their learning, know-how and enthusiasm would have had to be gleaned from ploughing through the music papers, listening to the odd radio programme (Peely) and travelling to major cities to visit reggae clubs, see bands and grab records.
The Grip's was a much tougher task from the outset in comparison to UB40.
I for one, doff my giant rasta hat to them for giving it a really good go.
Click item to read the large version.

UB40 - MM82

I was amused by this little snippet in an old Melody Maker I have, dated January 1982.

A piece about UB40 playing in Dundee.

It says they were banned from playing in a few cities around Britain because of their political stance on the previous years riots. However, Dundee Council, considered to be the most left-wing in the country at the time, welcomed the reggae rebels to the extent that Lord Provost Gowans laid on a civic reception for them!

It mentions Liverpool as being one of the cities they were banned from, so that must have been just before Derek Hatton's Militant Tendency took control!

Anyway, what I'd like to know is, did any of you get an invite to the Dundee do?

By the way, I only put this photo of the band up because it was the one that accompanied the article in MM. Not sure if it was taken in Dundee. They are standing in front of some Space Invaders machines, so maybe they nipped along to the arcade beside the Caird Hall before they went on stage!

3 UNFINISHED LEGENDS BY GG - 1970'S

Although I did loads of drawings at home when I was schoolboy age, I can't find any yet from that era in my stash. The earliest sketch I have found so far in my collection is the top one of Jimi Hendrix which I did in 1974, aged 16, and drew it in-between the idle months of leaving school and finding work later that year. I just used one pencil that I kept as sharp as a hypodermic needle, and spent many hours doing all the microscopic detail. As you can see, I never got around to finishing it off, with his guitar still waiting to be done. I think it was a case of, enough is enough, time to move onto the next one! The image is taken from the cover photo of an album I had - Jimi live at Isle Of Wight.

The other 2 sketches were done around 1978/79.

The middle one is dub poet & political activist, Linton Kwesi Johnson. Deciding not to splash out on an expensive airbrush, I resorted to a tried & tested school trick for this one - dipping an old toothbrush into some watery paint and spraying it on by flicking back the bristles. You can still see the warped paper from it having been wet. This image was taken from a black & white photo that was probably in the NME or Echoes, so I had to invent the colours. Once again though, I didn't complete it. I got as far as doing 2 layers, but never did the 3rd and final layer which would have been the shadows & highlights, so it is missing a bit of detail.

The last one is Peter Tosh, reggae singer & musician. It too was taken from a b&w picture that cropped up in a music paper. I used 3 coloured pencils for this one - blue, red and white. His head seems complete but it looks like I got a bit bored when it came to his smock!

Anyone interested in zooming in on the drawings, click onto the images to enlarge.

REGGAE NIGHT - FAT SAMS - 1984

A Crucial Youth reggae night at Fat Sams on 30th May 1984, featuring roots reggae band, Beshara, from the midlands, backed up by the Akabush Sound System, and guest, Smartie, from London.
The flyer is bang on with all the reggae patter, slang and wee catch phrases that were on the go back then, and there's also a reminder on it that reggae dancehall nights were referred to as "raves", way before the acid house scene snatched the term!
That guest DJ from Shepherds Bush, Smartie - he once MC'd on a track recorded by The Grip when they were down in London at the Mad Professors studio.

One final thought - you know those lists people make, usually called something like "50 things to do before you die", or similar, and contain "swimming with dolphins" - "fly the length of the Grand Canyon" - "Base jump off Eiffel Tower" that kind of thing, well I'd like to add "go to a reggae dancehall night with a Jamaican sound system" - honestly, if you've not sampled one, ye cannae beat it!!
Big thanks to JG

THE GRIP - KEEPING THE PEACE

Last March, you may recall I put up the B-side of The Grip's single, a dubby instrumental called "Musicland Pt 2". Well here is the A-side, a catchy vocal track called "Keeping The Peace". This was released in 1982 by the way.
Band line-up reminder - RONNIE CHALMERS lead vocal/guitar - NEIL FORBES sax/percussion/vocals - DAN STEWART trumpet/percussion - JIM GRIEVE drums/percussion - ROSS RAMSAY bass - KENNY BLAIR keyboards.
There is some particularly fine trumpet work in this, in my opinion. Reminds me of Donald Byrd a wee bit.
Anyway, they were a great band live on stage. I remember on the odd occasion when the mood grabbed him, Jim Grieve (Sykes) would take over the mic and burst into some improvised old-school Jamaican "toasting", with a Dundee slant! The band would then really go to town backing him up with some mad dub effects and a percussion frenzy that would go on for ages!! A very entertaining way to end the set!!
Lots of band memorabilia from all over the UK to spot in the slideshow too.
Big thanks to DD.

THE GRIP - CLUB FEET AD

An ad from 1983 for The Grip playing at Club Feet.
Club Feet was part of the Tay Centre set up in Dock Street and was the upstairs nightclub previously called Junction 9, with the Club Feet transformation taking place in 1982.
Talking about 9 and looking at The Grip ad - 9 on stage must have been a bit of a squeeze!
Thanks to DD

AN OVERVIEW OF THE GRIP - 1982

This piece written by Jock Ferguson is an account of the general state of play with Dundee reggae band, The Grip, who at the time (early 1982) had made changes to the band line-up and were trying out new material live before going into the recording studios.
It includes a bit of background info, a brief interview and a smashing photo of the lads!
Click it to read it.

TAYSIDE BAND CONTEST - TIFFANY'S - 1981

Here's an interesting night that was going on at Tiffany's in the Nethergate in April 1981. A competition to see who was Tayside's no1 band. Unfortunately, apart from The Grip, I don't know who else was participating or who won it, so if anybody has any info on the contest, feel free to pass on the details in the comments.
In the 70's, Tiffany's had a bit of a nasty reputation for being a place notorious for fights. I remember visiting it around 77 just to assess it for myself. Think I stayed for 1 hour in which there were about 3 scuffles, so scarpered and never went back. Amusingly, an anagram of Tiffanys is - ANY TIFFS - yeah, loads!
The place did try to get a change of image around 1980 in which putting on events such as this helped.
Still involved doing battle though!
Thanks to DD.

THE GRIP AT BLAZERS - 1982

Another reggae night at Blazers organised by Gripping Youth and this time featuring The Grip.
Not quite sure why it says "Leather Jackets Not Allowed". Don't recall any Hells Angels running amok in the city in 82!
Blazers opened in 1981 but was only in business for a couple of years despite having a licence up to 1985.
Did you know that in it's former life the place that became Blazers used to be a Masonic Lodge? It's full title was - "The Ancient Order of Buffalo's Meeting Rooms".
I remember being in there in the mid 60's too for a Christmas party, a works do organised by Charlie Gray. I got a book about Cowboys & Indians from Santa!
Cue - Buffalo Soldier!!
Thanks to DD.

GRIPPING YOUTH REGGAE CLUB - BLAZERS

Blazers reggae disco was located in a wee Pend in Victoria Road, quite near to the Vic cinema, in the early 80's.

I can remember being at this very gig in 1982, because before there were any reggae clubs in Dundee, I used to visit the Ital Club in Edinburgh regularly, and Papa Swi was the DJ.!
Papa Swi's girlfriend used to be on the door there, and when I visited I used to keep asking her when they were going to bring their Sound System to Dundee.
And so after a couple of years passed, they did indeed eventually visit Blazers - this of course was organised by Dundee's Gripping Youth rather than me, and once again the same lassie was on the door!!
Papa Swi had a fantastic record collection and one mighty Sound System, and often during his sessions he'd mix in an array of sound effects to enhance the dub sequences, such as echo machines, sirens, ricochet drum loops and so on. Wicked.!!...as we used to say back then. Right up my street in fact...or in Blazers case...Pendie!!

The article announcing the gig is from Deadbeat fanzine.
Thanks to DD for the ticket.

THE GRIP'S TAYSIDE BAR FLYER

From the early 80's - this flyer for a gig taking place in August may very well be the one The Grip used to advertise their gig featured in yesterday's post.
Everyone in the photo is wearing summer shirts anyway!!
Thanks to DD.

THE GRIP - TAYSIDE BAR - EARLY 80'S

Here's The Grip dropping some live reggae & dub down at the Tayside Bar in the Seagate in the early 80's. A place where I saw them play a couple of times myself.

The crowd participation on this occasion would appear to involve the use of Rizla papers and filling the room with herbal aromas..!!

For a reminder of the The Grip in full flow, you can backtrack to the March 2009 Archives and give them a wee blast.

Thanks to DD.

THE GRIP - PROMO AD - EARLY 80'S

Described on this promotional ad as playing "jute mill reggae", The Grip did indeed bring the sound of Jamaica to Dundee in the 80's, playing various venues around town.

It also mentions their single called "Keeping The Peace" which was recorded in Edinburgh at Wilf Smarties Planet Studio.

The photo of the lads splashing about with their troosers rolled up was taken in that far off exotic location...The Barracuda!!

You'll probably need to click on the image to read the large version of it.

I've got a bundle of great Grip stuff coming up, so the guys are gonna be hoggin' Retro Dundee for the next couple of days.

Thanks to DD.

JOHN PEEL AT FAT SAMS - 1984

One of the best nights ever at Fattie's was the time John Peel paid a visit back in 1984.

There was a great buzz in the town pubs before the event, then the club itself was absolutely crammed with the clubbers fully stoked, and everybody just seemed to be in a dancing mood.

Peely's selection on the night was as diverse as the music he played on his radio show - from fresh indie to raw punk, new wave to old soul, 80's hip hop next to 60's garage, loads of reggae and African tunes, and even Status Quo got a spin!!

The friend I was with decided to go over to him to see if she could get his autograph. She came back beaming and showed me the bit of paper he had written on - it said "John Peel - the world's most boring man".

A short while later I went over and asked Peely if he could play any Ini Kamoze (this was a new reggae singer that had burst onto the music scene), he just smiled and nodded.

And yes he did play "Teenage Kicks", in fact I think that was his final record of the evening. Even back then it was a song that became his signature tune.

On his radio show a couple of days later, Fat Sam's got a mention and he said it was one of the best nights out in Scotland he's had!!

DUNDEE ON VINYL #3 - THE GRIP - 1982

The Grip are probably the only reggae band to have come out of Dundee, well certainly during this era anyway. I can remember catching them play a few times around town in the early 80's.

This single, "Keeping The Peace" they recorded over in Edinburgh in May '82 with well known producer, Wilf Smarties.

Band line-up is - Ronnie Chalmers, guitar & vocals - Neil Forbes, sax/percussion/vocal - Dan Stewart, trumpet/percussion - Ross Ramsey, bass - Jim Grieve, drums/percussion and Kenny Blair, keyboards.

On the back of the record sleeve in amongst their "thanks to" list are J.T.Forbes music shop, and Brian Sinclair who ran the Tayside Bar, one of the venues The Grip played.

I have picked out the B-side of the single, an instrumental track called "Musicland Part Two". Reason I opted for this is because near the end they indulge in a bit of dub, which I'm particularly partial to. Dub is usually considered being a mixing process done in the recording studio, but The Grip used to be able to do this live on stage using a combination of copycat loop machines, drum machines, echoplex pedals and bunch of other gadgets & gizmos. The wilder it was the more I enjoyed it!

Give it a wee listen and get a taster of summer in Dundee in 1982.

UB40 - CAIRD HALL - 1982

27 years ago today, reggae band UB40 were playing at the Caird Hall, my ticket stub above managing to survive the passage of time.

This was the 2nd time I had seen the band live as I saw them play in Edinburgh 2 years earlier.

Great upbeat vibes on the night that got everyone out their seats!

The item below the ticket is a full page ad from an NME back then that has the tour dates listed.