THIS IS HUNS LAND - BEWARE

Shifting from yesterday's Urban environment to another urban setting - the Hulltoon.
The scrawl on the wall says it all!
Photo by The Bear.

ORIGINAL HULLTOON HUNS GRAFFITI

This fine old-school masterpiece was done using the ancient technique of "paint pot & brush"!

It dates back to the 70's, so it is an original from the gang wars era.

Actually, that should read was an original, we now need to talk about it in the past tense, because despite it having been there all that time, last year somebody came along and graffed over the top of it.

Tut tut..!!

Thanks to JG

PRINCE OF WALES GEAR - MID 70'S

A certain elite group of Dundee gang members (ie - those who could afford it!) indulged in wearing the above Prince Of Wales check pattern in their clothing. Suits, jackets and Crombie style coats mostly. They were expensive because you got them made to measure from places like Hepworth's in the Murraygate.

I can remember only a handful of Douglas guys at school who wore them.

It was a rather short-lived phase though, on the go in 1973/74, and then that was it.

I'm fairly certain this was just a Dundee thing, and not a fad that was wider spread, unlike the previous boot boy look which was a scene found all over UK.

It is a good example of posh cloth being hijacked by a young crowd and being turned into urban streetwear.

A more recent, and longer lasting example was the casuals with Burberry.

HARRINGTON AND CROMBIE - EARLY 70'S

If ever there was a look that reminded me of my secondary school years (1970 to 74), then it would have to be the Harrington and Crombie wearing urban bovver boy style.

This was as much seen in school as it was out of school.

The most common sight was when the coats were worn smartly with Ben Sherman shirt, Levi Sta-Prest trousers and Doc Marten boots, as in the top image.

A slightly rougher/tougher look was when they were worn with jeans and gang jersey.

In the middle picture, the 2 charming chaps in their Harringtons are wearing exactly the same gear Billy MacKenzie is wearing in the photo of him aged 14, I put up a few days ago!

The guy on the left of the shot has a dress blazer, clip-on braces and a rather severe razor parting in his skinhead! He must have went to Sweeney Todd's!!

The Crombie was often topped off with a red hankie poking out the top pocket!

Yeah, the 70's boot boys...they were everywhere!!

PARKER STREET STEPS

To set the scene, this little nook of Dundee is located where Barrack Road (aka Infirmary Brae) meets Parker Street below. The other side of Parker Street in the 1960's joined onto Dudhope Crescent Road, but these days it connects to North Marketgait.
I remember using these steps in the 60's, mostly on visits to the D.R.I.
Then when I had a nearby flat in the 80's, I used them again when going on trips to Dudhope Park and the Law Hill.
The short piece of film below is from the 60's and has some young lads running down the steps as fast as they can, which was good fun I recall, the wee legs going like the clappers!
There is also a glimpse of local residents, but don't blink or you'll miss them.
Viewing the steps from Parker Street now, the building on the right is still in use, however, the housing opposite is no longer there.

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.

MONKEY BOOTS - EARLY 70'S

Following on from my previous post, I thought I'd put a picture of Monkey Boots up for those who may have forgotten all about them. Very popular with Dundee's streetwise teenagers in the early 70's. They were worn by girls as much as the boys, and sometimes were considered to be a cheaper alternative to Doc Martens amongst gang types.
It also meant shoe shops did brisk business selling tins of Kiwi Ox Blood boot polish!

EARLY 1970'S CARDIGAN



Anyone remember these?

All the rage in Dundee around the 1972-74 period.

The maroon ones above were the most popular although there were also a black coloured version and a dark green variant.

These tartan cardies were worn mostly by the 12 to 15 year old age group, usually along with Monkey Boots!

You can see one lad in the photo above wearing one.

Incidentally, the main guy in the picture is Steve Murray, who once played for Dundee FC, although he was with Celtic when this snap from 1973 was taken.

DUNDEE'S THIRD BRIDGE - 1980's

First there was the Rail Bridge, then the Road Bridge and finally this piece of modern sculpture, called "The Bridge". This one was erected around the early 80's in Hunter Street, Blackness/Westport area, and made by artist Ron Martin. It was of course the kind of bridge you would have on a cello or double-bass. You can just make out the 4 notches along the top where the strings would go.

DUNDEE GRAFFITI IN THE 60'S

Way before there was stylized graffiti as it has become today, and even before the abundance of gang graffiti in the 70's, Dundee was still being tagged upon.

In the 60's, chalk and stones were most commonly used for the swift tag, usually by those who were school aged.

For the older and more daring, a pot of paint and a brush were the tools used to get the job done. Gangs like SHIMMY (above), HUNS & COSMO were on the go, and I remember there was a huge MAFIA painted on Gussie Park wall.

Political slogans were also daubed in paint. I recall "NO POLARIS" and the "Ban The Bomb" CND symbol splashed on the walls in Exchange Street and under the rail bridge at Riverside (above).

Another method was to "etch" into a wall with something sharp.

There were examples of this technique along the length of the Riverside wall. Basic stuff like "We luv the Beatles", grooved like gouged tree trunks?

Anyway, by the early 70's when aerosols and felt pens were made commercially available, these took over, and are still the main gear used today.