WHAT'S ON THE TELLY? - XMAS 1973

The photo was taken at our house in Kemnay Gardens in December 1973. I'd be 15 at the time so still at Craigie High.

I can at least tell you what was physically on the telly anyway.

The Xmas decoration is a red reindeer with a wicker sleigh filled with baubles. It used to belong to my gran. We still have it in our family to this day, and it gets put out on display each Xmas.

Our groovy fibre-optic light wasn't part of the Xmas decor, it was just one of the everyday house items. It was very modern at the time of course, but now it looks quite kitsch!

We were on our 2nd colour tv by '73 but I haven't got a clue what programme is on in the picture. Wouldn't mind knowing after all these decades. Anybody think they know what it could be?

To help you drag your mind back to that era, underneath the photo is the tv listing for Sunday 16th December 1973. It's from the Sunday Post. You may need to click onto the image to read the larger version.

No 24 hour tv back then, BBC 2 not starting till middle of the afternoon!

There are quite a few of these shows on Youtube. For example you can relive the intro to Elephant Boy...(KALAAAA!!)... or catch Barbara Streisand singing a song from her show.

One programme which would be of interest to many Dundonians that day was Scotsport. This hour & a half edition featured highlights from the Scottish League Cup final - Dundee winning the trophy beating Celtic 1-0.

Not only was I at this game, I now have some footage from that very edition of Scotsport in my own personal collection!

BRUCE'S RECORDS OF THE WEEK - 1977

3 ads for Bruce's Record Shop dating from 1977.
The top 2 are from Bruce's own fanzine "Cripes" dated end Aug '77.
Bruce's back then was in Reform Street, and although their shop stocked all types of music, they did go out of their way to champion new music.
1st ad - Cripes has the debut by 999 as their single of the week, a record which did pretty good biz amongst the punk fraternity.
2nd ad - Boomtown Rats were already pop stars by the time their self titled debut album became Bruce's LP choice for that week, the band having scored a couple of hit singles by then.
3rd ad - from a Tele dated March '77 - and Bruce's  Album Of The Week was "Marquee Moon" by Television.
What I can remember about this album is - I was tuned into Alan Freeman's radio show one Saturday afternoon, and he played a track from Marquee Moon. It caught my attention because it was something a bit different to the more rockier kind of material he broadcast on his Saturday show. As a result of this, I ended up switching the radio off, putting my coat on, getting a bus into town and buying the Television album from Bruce's there and then!
I was a real serious vinyl dude back then!!

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.

THE YOUNG IDEA ADVERT - 1972

There was an obscure wee TV programme back in 1972 called "The Young Idea".
It was all about youngsters from around the UK who had unusual hobbies or interests.
Strangely, it was broadcast around 2:30 in the middle of the afternoon, so most kids would still be at school and not see it!
Anyway, the show came to town in July 1972 and based themselves at the Royal Hotel.
Not sure if they actually did the filming from here (like the Antiques Roadshow) or if they were just scouting around for material to be included in future episodes.
It would have been far too early to have a collection of records by The Jam, but maybe some kid had a collection of Dundee jam jars!
If anyone can remember any Dundonian who made it to the TV programme itself, feel free to pass on the details in the comments.
Let's find out what those unusual hobbies were!

JEREMY THE "SUGAR PUFFS" BEAR

In the 60's, Jeremy the bear was used to advertise "Sugar puffs" on tv, until a few years later when they replaced the real bear with a cartoon one. As a result of Jeremy becoming unemployed, it was kept at Camperdown Zoo, from around 1970.

Jeremy was actually a female, and she died in Dundee in 1990.

Photo by The Scotsman.