RONETTES RIOT - DUNDEE - 1964

In 1960, there was a riot in the Caird Hall during a Gene Vincent / Eddie Cochran gig that lead to rock 'n' roll concerts being banned for a couple of years.
That gig has now become quite well documented as a consequence.
This gig here, however, seems to have been completely forgotten about.
It took place on 24th January 1964, again at the Caird Hall, this time the headline act was an all female group, The Ronettes, from USA.
With the Vincent / Cochran gig, you could understand that there would be rockers & teds in the crowd, which may explain the aggro.
A crowd fighting on stage when a girl group is performing?
That is a bit embarrassing!
The Ronettes still managed to sparkle through the riot, so well done them for ignoring the numbskulls.

LONG FELT WANT - 1966

These guys here messing about with a steamroller, were a beat group who got together at Dundee University in 1966.
Long Felt Want was the band name and the line-up consisted of -
George Robertson (lead guitar)
Nick Cronin (vocals)
Mick Gate-Eastley (rhythm guitar)
Drew Jones (bass)
Rob Syers (drums)
It didn't take long for them to get gigs as they supported The Kinks at The Palais in April 1966, then a couple of days later they were on home turf playing at a University charity ball.

Thanks to Martin Dudley

TOMB JAZZ CELLAR - 1961



 

The top article reveals the moment the opening of Dundee's Tomb Jazz Cellar was announced - the item dating from August 1961.

It sounds like a place I'd have liked to have hung out had I been around, but being only 3 years old at the time means I wasn't quite ready to wear a beret and black polo-neck like the rest of the cool beatniks back then!

Main man, Andy Lothian, had the residency spot with his East Coast Jazzmen, while the Forrie Cairns Band were the first act to kick-start the guest sessions on 6 Aug 1961.

The second item dates from October 1961, and now the Tomb Jazz Cellar is in full flow with a number of guest appearances in the line-up to fill October's programme.

THE VIKINGS PHOTO SHOOT

Looking pretty cool in their 60's gear, it's The Vikings, posing for a publicity shot sometime around 1967.
For a reminder of the band line-up and a sample of their sound, check out the Retro April 09 archives.
Thanks to Mac & DC.

CAIRD HALL PACKAGE TOURS - 1960'S

 

Back in the 60's, when well known music acts played live, the main attraction would often be accompanied by a bundle of other acts as part of the show, as opposed to just having one supporting act which is how most standard tours turned out from the 70's onwards.
Even when famous names such as The Beatles and The Rolling Stones visited back then, many other acts shared the stage with them on the night, which sometimes included a compere too.
These were known as "Package Tours".
So for example - November 1963, Gerry & The Pacemakers were top of the bill at the Caird Hall, and along with them on the package tour were, Cilla Black, Kathy Kirby, Tommy Quickly, Malcolm Clarke & The Cresters, Tommy Dene & The Tremors, and Mark Peters & The Silhouettes.
In March 1964, singer Joe Brown was the headline act, and with him were, The Crystals, Johnny Kidd & The Pirates, Heinz & The Saints, Daryl Quist, Mike Preston, Manfred Mann, and Kevin Kirk.
March 1965 had Del Shannon as the main act, accompanied by Wayne Fontana & The Mindbenders, Herman's Hermits, Just Four Men, The Dollies, Jerry Stevens, The Soul Savages, and Dodie West.
1966 saw The Walker Brothers hit town as the headline act, and on the show they also had The Troggs, Clodagh Rodgers, The Quotations, Dave Dee Dozy Beaky Mick & Tich, and, The Quotations.
So you can see, music acts did their live thing a bit differently back then when touring the UK.
Seems good value for money obviously, but increasing costs was probably the reason the large package tour concept then fizzled out!

JT FORBES ADS - 1960's

Some adverts from the mid 60's for JT Forbes in the Nethergate, a shop that sold musical instruments and accessories. The ads here emphasising guitars graphically - acoustic for the folkies and electric for the beat groups.
It was very popular with local musicians and was active throughout all 3 retro decades.

PINK FLOYD - DUNDEE - 1968

Here's an interesting gig that took place in Dundee back in the psychedelic 60's.
The venue was Dundee College Of Art.
The date was 12 December 1968.
The occasion was the students Christmas Revels Ball.
Each year, students decked the hall during the festive period, and in '68 the "theme" was the medieval surreal art of Hieronymus Bosch.
The entire hall was covered with replications of his artwork, topped off with a stage set that featured one of his creatures with a giant mouth.
The bands played in its mouth!
Not only were the students in fancy dress, they also supplied the projector light show - these well known multi-coloured displays of moving liquid patterns.
Top of the bill was none other than Pink Floyd, who were starting to become a major draw by this time, even although main man, Syd Barrett, had left the group by then.
Other bands playing on the night were, Spontaneous Combustion, Gethsemane, Rock Tonsils & The Sleaz Band and Sleepy People.
The above image is my own wee arty recreation of what the stage set may have looked like!

THE VIKINGS ON ALP - 1966

Last month, I put on a recording released on Dundee based label, ALP. The single by Andy Lothian was an example of the label's traditional Scottish music output. ALP also chose to put out records by hip young beat groups, and this one by The Vikings, was the label's 11th record, released in September 1966. The song called "Bad News Feeling" features the groovy sound of an electric harpsichord, which were all the rage in the mid to late 60's.
3 Dundee guys in The Vikings - Mike Fraser & Donnie Coutts, are the 2 at the front in the band photo, and Drew Larg is centre at the back. The other 2 are, on the left, Doug Wightman, and of course on the right is Alan Gorrie of Average White Band fame.
The ad is dated June 1966.

THE BEATLES IN DUNDEE - 1964

 

The above sequence of photos captured the buzz in town when The Beatles were here on 20th October 1964.
The first 4 images show the crowd waiting on the Fab 4 to arrive at the back of Caird Hall in Shore Terrace.
Then the car shows up with the band, and gets mobbed - you can see Paul McCartney managing to barge through the fans with a little help from his police friends!
The remaining photos were taken at the Caird Hall, of course, when The Beatles finally made it on stage.
Although it was probably just another straight forward gig for the band (the guys having toured extensively by then), the locals still seemed to be excited to see them play live.

LOWLAND FOLK FOUR with BRIAN COX - 1966

This is taken from the Radio Times, dated 17th August 1966. A 40 minute documentary on BBC1 featuring an unusual Dundee double act... music performed by local band Lowland Folk Four and narration supplied by a budding young actor called Brian Cox.
I was only 8 years old when this was broadcast. Unfortunately I have no memory of the programme, but from what I gather the content consisted of a tour around Dundee, old and new, set to music. If anyone remembers anything about it feel free to drop the details into the comments. Or, if someone out there has an actual copy of it, do let me know.
Click on the image to enlarge it to read.

UNIVERSITY WAIFS

The Waifs was the name of Dundee University's theatre group who formed in the 1960's.
They called themselves this because they didn't have a permanent theatre home-base at the time, having to rehearse and perform at various venues outside the University.
The item at the top is dated November 1965, and is an announcement about The Waifs first full-length production titled "Les Justes". A play by Albert Camus, directed by Brian Clarke, and on at Lochee Rep.
The other items are from another Waifs performance and is the programme to accompany a play called "The Fire Raisers" which they put on at the Rep in 1966.
In amongst the pages you'll be able to spot Robin Soans, who went on to become a well known actor.

Click items to enlarge.

Thanks to Martin Dudley.

WAYFINDERS - 1966

I remember a lot of us wearing Wayfinders at Balerno school in the mid 60's. They appealed to primary aged kids because they were shoes with 2 novelties for the price of one. The first obvious one was the animal track soles for identifying various animal footprints. The second not so obvious novelty was a hidden working compass in the inside heel which needed the wearer to lift a wee round lid to get to it. The idea behind them was to encourage kids to have outdoor adventures, but the problem was, in order to see the animal tracks we had to stomp around in the mud which then lead to a bit of bother from parents when we came back home with messy shoes! Ok for snow unless they were bought in summer which usually meant the sole would be worn away by the time it snowed! Still good fun though.
I also seem to recall they came with a free wall chart or a booklet all about animal tracks.

1960'S SCHOOL BAGS

Every kid in the 60's when first starting primary, wore a SATCHEL (A). This was the standard school bag starter for infants. It had a small window frame where we would place our name into.
Next was the DUFFLE BAG (B). A more casual bag. This was a popular choice with us kids because as we were getting more sporty, these bags were ideal for keeping your swimming gear and sannies in. They had a drawstring design for quick access.
As we progressed, around longers wearing age, it was time to carry the HAVERSACK (C). A rougher canvas bag that most of the seniors used. It was pretty handy for fighting too I seem to remember. A wallop on the head really hurt!
By the end of the 60's a new design hit the scene, the SPORTS BAG (D). These were colourful, trendy and had zips. They became even more popular in the 70's when they designed the bag in football team colours with club badges printed on the side of them.

CAIRD'S IN REFORM STREET - 1960'S

Although I can remember visiting Caird's in Reform Street in the 60's, I don't recall being in this ladies department above. There's a chance I may have been dragged around it as a nipper with my mum I suppose but there wouldn't have been anything there that would have interested me!
I do have memories of the boys/gents department, although I must admit it wasn't very inspirational - it was more sensible kind of clothing than trendy and also they supplied school outfits. I do remember getting what was called a car coat from Cairds, complete with furry collar.
The picture was taken in November 1960.

Photo by DC Thomson.Tints by GG.

B.G. FORBES - VICTORIA ROAD - 1968

The building in the yellow & blue stripes in the picture is B.G. Forbes, the music shop up Victoria Road.

The ground floor sold musical instruments, sheet music and so on, while upstairs, (as you can see by the big PIANOS sign) they had the Music School.

There were different rooms for different instruments and I used to go to guitar lessons there every Saturday morning when I was primary school age - in fact it would have been around the same era this picture was taken, that being 1968.

Photo by DC Thomson.Tints by GG.

RECORD RENDEZVOUS - OVERGATE - 1965

The Record Rendezvous was basically a wee counter in the British Relay store in the Overgate that sold singles and albums. Vinyl only of course. This photo was taken in September 1965 and some of the records on display are - The sound of The Shadows - Mary Poppins soundtrack - Ella Fitzgerald - Alexander Brothers - Gene Pitney's big sixteen - Sound of Music soundtrack - Beatles help - Acker Bilk's acks back and Andy Stewart. Quite a mixed bag! There are also some record racks along the top for storing those precious 7 inch singles. The main shop itself sold electrical goods.
Photo by DC Thomson.Tints by GG.

SOUNDS LIKE THE 60'S - #2

I remember when I was aged 9, waking up early one morning at our home in Craigie while the rest of my family were still asleep.
This was just total instinct, no alarm clock needed because I had a special little something running around my mind from the days building up to it.
So I sneaked out my room, tiptoed downstairs to the living room and quietly turned the big radiogram on, as in the one shown above.
Reason..??
It was Saturday 30th September 1967 and time to find out what the first ever record to be played on Radio 1 would be.
Turned out to be one of my favourites back then.
Here below is what I heard...

SOUNDS LIKE THE 60'S - #1

Being schoolboy age in the 60's lead to my generation having a superb music soundtrack to accompany that particular decade. Not only was there all that superior pop music on radio, but even when arriving home from school, switching the tv on to watch kids programmes had an amazing amount of memorable music on offer too. Whether it be catchy classical tunes on "The adventures of Robinson Crusoe" or the jazzy grooves of "Vision On", none of the music presented for school kids sounded infantile or patronising. 
Here below, is another 60's music genre that sounded great, a touch of experimental electronica from BBC's Radiophonic Workshop. The show is "Bleep & Booster" which was shown on Blue Peter in the late 60's, with nice cartoon artwork by William "Tim" Tymym.
The photo above is my wee brother laughing along with David Jacobs on TV, so it may have been Jukebox Jury that was on at the time.
It's as if he wants to grab a card with "Hit" or "Miss" on it..!!

GIRLS PLAYING ELASTICS - 1960's

Around the playgrounds and streets of Dundee in the 60's, one of the games girls used to play was ELASTICS.
They would tie dozens of elastic bands together to form a large loop and then they were ready.
2 girls stood opposite each other with the elastic loop around their ankles and a 3rd girl would jump in & out of them, as they did with skipping. There were different moves & different degrees of difficulty - twisting them, hopping in between etc.
After the first ankle level was complete, the elastics would be moved up to knee height, then the waist.
Can't recall now if there were rhymes that went with it too.
Anyway, here below is film of Dundee lassies showing how it's done...although demonstrating that you could also tie the elastics around a lamp-post to play the game.

CAP ROCKET

The cap rocket was another popular fad in the school playgrounds around Dundee in the 60's.

Made of a plastic body & metal top, an explosive cap was held in place under the spring catch at the tip - the rocket would then be chucked up into the air and because of its heavy top meant that it always landed on it's tip, so making it go bang when it hit the ground! 

Simple, but fun for kids of primary age.
The example above is one I still have!