BILLY CONNOLLY - CAIRD HALL - 1982

This item from Deadbeat fanzine, is a review of a Billy Connolly gig that took place at the Caird Hall on 30th November 1982.

No shortage of laughs it seems - the only thing lacking during the evening, according the the reviewer - was alcohol!

IMMACULATE FOOLS GIG REVIEW - 1985

Well here's a gig review that's a wee bit different from the norm.
This was put together by Deadbeat contributor, Hilary. It seems the Immaculate Fools appearance at the Dance Factory in March 1985 was so bad that she couldn't muster the usual kind of account of a live performance, so she just went around some of those who were in the crowd asking for their assessment.
Turned out they had the same opinion!
Amongst the Dundee critics were Ged, Kit & Gary from Danny Wilson, music journalist Bob Flynn, DJ Dave Calikes plus a few others who shared similar viewpoints.
Clearly the band should have presented a show that was a bit more foolproof!

ALTRES DEMO REVIEW - 1984

This Deadbeat mag review dates from May 1984 and is for Dundee's electronic whizz kids, Altres. This was a 7 track demo cassette called "Rise" that they released on their own label, Multi-Purpose Productions. It was something a bit different from the usual alternative rock & pop the fanzine covered, Altres making dreamy hypnotic synth based instrumentals. The tape did get a thumbs up from the reviewer though, and reckoned there may be a future for them in TV soundtracks!
The cassette was available to purchase from Rockpile, JJ Records and Grouchos. Or you could have have got it direct from Kevin himself.

COLOSSUS MEMORABILIA PART 1

Here we go then - get your denim waistcoats on and let's see your hair flying for this little lot...a few bits & pieces about Dundee prog rockers, Colossus.
Starting from the top...
The band line-up circa 1979/80: Drew Scobie, keyboards - Ronnie Boyd, bass - Pete Caithness, guitar - Mike McIntosh, drums - Gordon Band, vocals.
Next is a review about Colossus winning a stage in a battle of bands called Marketgait Marvels Talent Contest which was held at the Bowling Alley in 1979. This particular round took place on 17th October and featured the other talents of TV21, Legal Aid and Megazones. The final took place on 30th November and included, Lipstick, Friction, Legal Aid, Distorts, and I think I'm right in saying that Colossus won that one too.
3rd item down is an article about a gig at Junction 9.
Then we have an ad from the Tele for a gig at Caird Hall on 17th December 1979 with UFO the headline act and Colossus the support.
Followed by a review of the gig itself. Colossus cheekily dropped a few bars of UFO's most well known tune "Doctor Doctor" into their set before slipping into their own material and causing a bit of a stir with the UFO team behind the scenes!
The wee article after it is for an outdoor do that took place up at Camperdown Park one Easter Sunday in 1980. Colossus were top of the bill that day, and the other acts sharing the stage were - Mafia, Megazones, Abnormal Load, Top Secret, Bow Street Runners and Jim Borland.
Accompanying the article is a photo of the band taken at the Camperdown fest.
The poster is dated 11th April 1980 and again Colossus are the main attraction for an under 18's Heavy Rock Night at the Marryat Hall. Support band was Bonded.
And rounding things off with a promo photo of the guys that they used to give away at their gigs. This collage was assembled by John Maguire who was their manager for a period as well as being manager of the Caird Hall.
I think you should be able to read all the items ok as they are, but if you're struggling, just click them to enlarge.
Big thanx to Gordon Band.

GIGS GALORE - EARLY 80'S

Time to catch up with a few gig reviews at various venues from the first half of the 80's.

Starting with Nassau, and a gig that took place at the Tayside Bar in January 1982. This was a funky Glasgow band who were basically refining their set prior to being support act to a couple of well known acts. The review cropped up in the national music press.

Moving onto Jih, also at the Tayside Bar, a gig near the end of '83. Not sure if this was the band's debut gig but it was definitely one of their earliest. However, it turned out to be a night that didn't go down very well with the reviewer!

Another Tayside Bar gig next, this time from mid '83 and featuring Crucial Xylophones who gave us a performance that triggered dancing in the pub. A rare sight for the TSB!

Moving along to the University, with Bow Wow Wow the main attraction, and one I went to. They were very well known by this time and had a packed hall for their lively stage show. This gig was at the end of '82.

A Dance Factory event next and a performance by Talking Drums, early '85. Although the band put on a decent show, it was the Dundee crowd that upset the reviewer (Hilary) on this occasion.

Rounding things off with Plastic Surgery who were doing the biz at Beez Neez in January '85. This time Hilary is well pleased with what she saw!

Click items to enlarge if need be.

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!!

NO FIXED ABODE - LIVE - 1981/82

I reckon the graphic at the top of the page on the first item is based on a Gibson Firebird, and so from that you may guess Dundee band No Fixed Abode was a guitar based rock outfit, in which case you'd be bang on. Being a trio, however, they weren't full-on heavy metal merchants, but they did like to rock the joint!

NFA members were - Lloyd Anderson, drums & lead vocal - Jed Ward, bass - and doing all the guitar work was Lyle (or Lyall?) Osborne.

This live review is a positive one, the gig having taken place at the Tayside Bar in 1981. They played for an hour & a half, the majority of which was their own material, but they did slip a couple of covers in the set as well. It doesn't say so in this particular write-up, but to give you an idea of their musical leanings, cover versions they've indulged in have been Thin Lizzy's "Dancing In The Moonlight" and David Bowie's "Stay".

The second item is also a fairly positive review of a gig NFA played up at the University in January 1982. This one appeared in the national music press.

There's a bit of advice in the write-up, but all 'n' all it's a general thumbs up for the performance.

Despite the band's ambitions, as far as I know No Fixed Abode's recording output never got past the demo tape stage.

You may need to enlarge the top item to read it, so just give it a click.

WILDCAT - BONAR HALL - 1988

Wildcat theatre company received this rave review in local mag, Street Life, in November 1988.
The show they put on at the Bonar Hall was for Wildcat's 10th anniversary, and they really went to town with their production of "Fancy Rappin'".
It was a storming satirical rock drama filled with a variety of music styles and the main theme being a typical 80's youthful pastime - putting the boot into Thatchers loadsamoney society!
Meriting a well deserved round of appaws..!!
You'll probably need to click on the image to read the large version.

PHOTO FINISH REVIEWS - 1963

Not only was the original Rep programme for "Photo Finish" kept, but here are the original reviews too.

Top one is a photo taken at the Rep of the play in full flow which appeared in the Tele on 26th April 1963.

Under it is a caricature of 4 of the actors in the play, published in the Peoples Journal the same weekend.

Then 5 reviews for you to dip into, from the Courier, Scotsman, Tele, Glasgow Herald and Journal.

All the reviews have the exact same opinion of the play, giving it a big thumbs up, while sharing one wee criticism that they thought the play went on just a touch too long - running for 3 hours!

Click on reviews to read large version.

FALLING AND LAUGHING - 1980'S FANZINE

Falling & Laughing was a local fanzine that cropped up on the scene in 1983.

It's main material was alternative music but they also touched on subjects like TV, theatre and so on.
Their HQ and editorial address was located in Strathmartine Road.
The example on display here is issue 5 which came out in June/July 1984.
The content includes new record release reviews, fanzine reviews, cassette reviews, TV review, live gigs, adverts and amusing graphics.
There is also a Manchester theme throughout which not only gives the lowdown on the Manchester scene but also has interviews with such Manchester acts as The Fall, Morrissey and Mark Riley.
Other acts from around the UK that are given either an overview or interview are Orson Family, Red Guitars, Prefab Sprout, Del Amitri and Implied Consent.
As regards the Dundee centred items, the page I've put up on view is a review of 2 local acts, namely Aaga and Altres, who brought out their own product on cassette (Whatalife and Rise) and both received a Falling & Laughing thumbs up!
Click on the cassettes page to read the large version.