VIEWS FROM THE ATTIC

Many of you will have had a Viewmaster as a kid, the plastic toy binoculars you put card discs into to view 3D images.
Probably not so many of you had one of these gizmo's above - a slide viewer.
This was more of a photographers specialist gadget than a toy, allowing you to view photographic slides through a magnified lens. You'd pop the slide into a slot in the top, it would light up inside and you were able to see the slides like ordinary photographs, something you couldn't do with the titchy slides on their own.
This is our family one dating from around the late 60's/early 70's - a Halina Paramount Viewer to give it its full name.
This, along with a big bundle of original slides were found in our attic just a few years ago, after having been hiding there for over 3 decades. I actually thought the slides had been thrown out many years ago because I hadn't seen them since the 70's, so it was a great surprise when they resurfaced after all that time.
It was this recent find that after viewing the content, I thought would be worthwhile sharing on the Internet, because these were the original slides that contained those 70's aerial shots around Dundee, the David Bowie concert, Victoria Road demolition an so on.
So here - many still in their original Agfacolor box - are some of the slides that kick-started me into doing Retro Dundee in the first place.

GATE MICROSYSTEMS AD - 1984

An ad from 1984 for computer dealers, Gate Microsystems, who were based in the Nethergate.

That typeface they used is called DATA 70, and still looks futuristic despite it being decades old!

THE PDP-10 AT DUNDEE UNIVERSITY - 1976

This monster machine is the mighty PDP-10 DEC computer being installed at Dundee University in 1976, replacing their previous one, the Elliot (ICL) 4130.
The PDP-10 was not only able to cope with the demands of all the university departments, it was also part of a larger network connected to other Scottish universities.
Impressive for its time, but not as impressive as Batman's computer in the Batcave. That was able to digest clues then let Batman know which shop The Penguin was about to raid!

SUPERCHARGE - BOWLING ALLEY - 1978

Below, is a rare live recording of a gig that took place at the Bowling Alley - AKA the Students Union in Marketgait.
This was the first of 4 visits by Supercharge, captured on reel to reel on 21st April 1978.
Supercharge were a decent funky disco band, but this track here called "She Moved The Dishes First" is something completely different to the rest of their musical output.
For some reason they thought it a good idea to include a comedy cabaret routine into their set, but I really don't think they did themselves any favours with this mix of soul doo-wop, laced with student rag mag humour. I suppose after 12 pints it might have been amusing - it seems to have gone down well with the crowd anyway - and the band did return to the venue 3 more times after this.
Anyway, after playing all those shows here , there's bound to be someone who can recall something of their visits to Dundee.
We'll wait and see..!!
Thanx to Brian Wilson - Bowling Alley DJ.

AUDIO VISUALS IN THE 70'S

This ad for The Audio Visual Centre in Perth Road is dated 1973.
They were a photographic specialist, although obviously, as their name implies, they must have sold recording equipment, stereos or something like that too.
In fact, it was the name of the place that reminded me of this item below, a piece of newsreel I have from 1979 introducing the Laser Disc. This was technology I didn't indulge in, but it got me wondering, who would have been the first shop in Dundee to stock Laser Discs? I thought it might be an audio/visual store like Dixons or Comet rather than a record shop such as Bruces. Laser Disc content featured bands as well as movies, similar to video releases at the time.
Also, I don't recall video rental stores renting out Laser Discs, they just seemed to go onto DVDs after videos.
Anyway, I'm sure one or two of you out there must have treated yourself to Laser Disc gear, before they ended up in the shed alongside your 8-Track!

CHRISTMAS SHOPPING IN 1983

Most of you retro tech heads will recognise the items featured in these 2 ads from December '83. They were on sale in shops such as Dixons, John Menzies and a few others scattered around town.

Product names listed are - CASIO - COMMODORE - SINCLAIR - ORIC - SHARP - TEXAS.

Click images to enlarge.

DC THOMSON'S TAYTEL - 1982

Before the arrival of the internet, the basic concept of providing an interactive information system on screen commenced in the UK in the early 80's. BT came up with PRESTEL, a public viewdata service. A modified TV receiver in the home was linked by your telephone to a main computer database that connected various Information Provider companies. Subscribers could view thousands of pages on TV featuring items such as weather, travel updates, sport etc, as well as send messages or order goods.

DC Thomson was Dundee's IP and they called themselves TAYTEL 263 VIEWDATA.

The screen visuals were similar to present day Ceefax & Teletext with images made possible using the square block method.

The image above you should be able to figure out, it being the DCT building at Meadowside, and below are some of the original Taytel/Prestel on-screen graphics from 1982.