NHS MARCH - PART 1 - MID 80'S

Yes I know, there are a lot of photos to scroll through and I could have just plucked out a selected few to display instead, but I decided to post the whole caboodle because I reckon the people who crop up in them will not have seen them before, so thought I'd use this opportunity to include all the images I have for the participants and their families to see.

This NHS march was an "anti privatisation" protest that took place around 1986ish.

It starts off with the great gathering up at Dudhope Park (the DRI was still on the go back then) then from the Pleasance Bar on the corner of Gardeners Lane it snakes its way down Lochee Road heading for the city centre.

It was a good natured march with nurses leading the way, followed by fellow workers, unionists and family members. Even the police are smiling!

Some of the placards and banners are from the like of COHSE - NALGO - NUPE - TGWU etc...with a few home-maders too.

I will be putting a similar quantity up again tomorrow, so if you don't spot anyone you know in this bundle, perhaps you may have better luck with the second set.

To view the large versions, just give the pictures a click.

Photos by The Bear.

RADIANT HEALTH CENTRE POSTER - 60'S

The Radiant Health Centre was in the City Arcade in Shore Terrace, and here we have one of their posters from the 60's advertising some of the products they had on offer.

The items promoting healthy living were a combination of therapeutic goods, such as the kind used for rheumatism, pain relief, coughs etc, and the other variety were vitality concoctions such as health foods, diet aids, vitamin pills, bath salts and so on.

They were doing really well with their health-giving sales pitch, and then they went and ruined it by flogging home-brew kits that would leave you with cirrhosis!

I've posted it large size so you can zoom in and have a read.

Just give it a click.

Thanks to Brian Wilson.

CAMPERDOWN PLAY PARK - 1985

One day in 1985, I went up to Camperdown Park with my camera with the intention of snapping some of the colourful autumn foliage on display. On my way there I passed this kids play area that I'd never seen before which seemed to be half adventure complex, half public art space.

The top picture has large ship shaped climbing frames in the background. I didn't discover until I read a Dundee guide book some time later that they represented the "Battle Of Camperdown". I've no idea who the 2 sculpted characters are supposed to be in the foreground but they look a bit on the depressed side to be in a kids fun zone!

Guaranteed to bring a smile though, were the leaping dolphin sculptures a bit further along - a couple of decades before the real thing started to re-appear in the Tay.

BANGLAR ROBI - DOCKS - 1984

The jute industry was still going on in Dundee in the 80's, but it has to be said, it was nearing the end of its life.

Here was one vessel that was still supplying the foreign fibre back then - Banglar Robi.

This picture of the jute liner was taken on 24th December 1984 at King George V wharf.

Photo by Neale Elder.

ROBERT SCOTT STAMP - 1972

In February 1972, the Royal Mail brought out a set of stamps on the subject of British Polar Explorers, and needless to say, Robert F Scott was included.

I know he himself is not from Dundee or the Retro decades, but his name will always be linked to the city because of the return of the Discovery in the 80's, so I'm going to allow him a guest of honour spot.

Here he was, all dressed up ready to make an appearance on the Sgt Pepper album cover, but he just couldn't escape from that giant spider web in time!

TAY QUEEN AD - 1981

From yesterdays royal visitor to the Tay, to todays royal worker on the Tay - the Tay Queen.

This ad, from a 1981 Courier, lets it be known that the Saturday evening cruise on this particular weekend, also included folk music.

HRH AT THE GALLEON - 1966

Well I may not have had the exact year when the previous 4 photos on Retro were taken, but this one here is easy - 18th August 1966.

The car is whizzing along Dock Street with The Galleon in the background, the pub being on the corner of Dock St/Whitehall Crescent.

The VIP in the back of the car is Her Royal Hatness the Queen Mother on her way to the ceremony podium to give the speech that officially declares the Tay Road Bridge open.

Photo from Gordon C.

BOB MACKAY'S - WESTPORT - 1960'S

Officially, this pub was called The Great Northern Bar, but the locals who drank there just referred to it as Bob MacKay's.

The photo was taken in the 60's at a location that no longer exists - the corner of Westport & North Tay Street.

For those of us (like me) who didn't socialise until a little later in the 70's, this spot here was the big car park space beside the Barracuda.

At the time of the photo however, it was the JM Ballroom that was just a few doors up from it, so needless to say, despite it being considered a bit of an old mans pub, the young set would often pop in for a couple of pints before nipping along to the JM.

The pub, along with the rest of corner area, was demolished in 1968.

Photo from Gordon C.

VIEW UP THE WELLGATE

What - no boarded up windows? That means this is a rare colour photo of the old Wellgate when all the shops were still open for business. Wowee!

This would have been taken around the late 60's then.

I can't name all the premises but going up from Boots on the right is - next door, Whyte's pub on the corner of the entrance to Bain Square. Massey's grocer and Hunter's household goods were in the next section up as far as the Kirk entry area, then up from that is British Relay and Watt's music shop. Can't really see much beyond that.

So crossing the road coming back down - I'm fairly sure that's a pub sign above where the 2 guys are - if so then that would be the Forester Arms Bar on the corner of Baltic Street. Can't make out the shops in the section down from it but that takes you onto Meadow Street with another couple of unknowns before it reaches LS Chalmers drapers and Malone Shoe Repairs. Coupar's Alley has Nelson Confectioner on the other corner and finally the bloke standing on the chair is outside the Wellgate Snack Bar.

If ever the phrase "A Trip Down Memory Lane" can be taken literally, then the old Wellgate is the place that does it best for me!

Click onto the image to enlarge and have a look around.

Photo from Gordon C.

VIEW DOWN LOGIE STREET

I don't have the exact year this scene was captured but this is what the view down Logie Street was like around the late 60s-early 70s, a lot of which has since disappeared.

The car in shot is a Ford Escort which were introduced in 1968 so the picture wouldn't be any earlier than that.

The Astoria Theatre can be seen in the middle of the photo but it's difficult to make out if it is still open for business or closed down. According to the Tele supplement I posted up 2 days ago, the Astoria shut its doors in 1971.

Ach well, at least the Logie Bar is still in the same spot today, so that's something that hasn't changed!

Photo from Gordon C.

THE PLAZA - HILLTOWN - 80'S

The Plaza up the Hilltown was not a picture house I went to very often, once or twice in the late 60's/early 70's and that was about it.

In fact it had a rather patchy life after that, with it closing down in 1972, reopening in 1975 for around a year or so and closing down again - then like a lot of cinema buildings it changed over to being a bingo hall in the 80's before eventually closing for good in the 90's, leading ultimately to it's demolition.

This shot of the Plaza building was taken sometime in the 80's.

Photo by The Bear.

DUNDEE CINEMAS FEATURE - 1989

This page here is from a Tele dated May 1989 and is a feature about the history of Dundee's cinemas.

It coincided with the 10th Anniversary of the Steps Film Theatre who put on an exhibition to mark the occasion.

There are over 40 cinemas listed in the index panel, complete with addresses and dates, and there are also plenty of facts & figures in the main feature itself, some of which are quite amusing.

You don't need to be a serious film buff to enjoy the article, so if you fancy a wee read I've scanned it in large sized.

Just give it a click to bring it up.

DUNDEE'S ENTERTAINMENT DUO

Here's a couple of Dundee big shots who were responsible for organising much of the entertainment in town during the retro decades.

Top one is Murdie Wallace, who, in the 60's when this photo was taken, owned the JM Ballroom, which later in the 70's became the Barracuda and then the Coconut Grove into the 80's.

Meanwhile back in the mid 70's, the Wallace family took over the Palais transforming it into Samanthas disco before it then changed into Bloomers.

So although we rarely saw the man himself, lots of us did spend quite a bit of dosh in Wallace owned nightclubs.

The other photo was taken in the 80's and is John McGuire, manager of the Caird Hall. So again, he would have been working away behind the scenes out of the publics gaze, booking all the acts who we all queued up to see perform live on stage.

He also managed a few local bands, Colossus being one I can recall, and I guess this must be the same John McGuire who showed up as one of the judges in a local talent contest that became known as the "Tiffany's Farce", which I've already mentioned on Retro in April 2009.

Incidentally, that's a photo of Doris Collins on Big J's notice board, and her act back then was "contacting the other side".

I can think of one or two bands who have died on stage!!

MW photo by DC Thomson.

JMcG photo by The Bear.

PETE HOOD & CO - 1980'S

There are quite a few examples of Pete Hood's work up on Retro because this is the guy who did the gig reviews and band interviews in Street Life magazine in the late 80's.

Here he is schmoozing with a couple of local celebs at Fat Sams.

The top one looks as if he's passing advice onto an aspiring young music journalist, but this is Terry McGregor who aint no would-be music journalist, she WAS one, although we all know her better as Toni Scott fae the Journal's Poparound page.

Most of you will probably recognise Pete's other companion by now, even if he is in his civvies, it's Lixx vocalist, Jo Doll.

Photos by The Bear.

RECORDED DELIVERY - 1970'S

Part of the fun of collecting vinyl records is that moment when you come into possession of a rare recording, and this one here is so rare, it's the only one in existence.

Not that it contains a wonderful song mind you, no, if you recall the item I put up in March 2011 about railway recording booths, then this is an example of the end product.

It dates from the 1970/71 period and was recorded in a booth in Broughty Ferry.

The Calibre Auto Recording was pressed on heavy duty vinyl and is a 6 inch disc rather than the standard 7 inch.

As you may expect from the cheapest recording studio around, the quality of sound is pretty poor, but hey, it's only supposed to be an audio postcard not a chart hit, the idea being that you pop into the station booth with thought of sending someone a message.

So, the background behind the duo on the disc - you know regular Retro contributor Craig Methven, well his brother Jack and his mate Derek, after a couple of pints, popped into the booth to record a message for their fiancees, Judi & Barbara, in Canada. At the end of the day, however, they decided not to send it, but Jack & Derek went over to Canada in 1971 and married the girls in 1972, where they have remained since.

You'll be able to hear a wee Dundee United song at the start but the content after that is a bit hit and miss.

Still a rare wee gem though, and a big thanks to Craig for passing it on.

GROUCHO SHOP AD AND BAG

I'll end the recent run of shop ads with how I started it, that is, by displaying another one that uses the pun "just for the record".

There have been many variants of the Groucho Marx image over the years but the advert here, dated 1978, is my particular favourite. This graphic was also painted large size on the exterior wall of their shop in Perth Road.
The carrier bag is one from the 80's when they were in the Overgate.

So giving the final word to the man himself, here's a music themed quote of Groucho's I'm rather fond of - "Military justice is to justice what military music is to music".

LYON & SHERRIFFS AD - 1963

 

I must admit, this is one record emporium I know nothing about!

Lyon & Sherriffs Gray Street shop in the Ferry.

As a consequence of knowing nowt about the shop, I don't have any info to pass on other than, the reason they are highlighting The Beatles in their ad is because this was published in the local press on the night the Fab 4 were playing at the Caird Hall in October 1963.





CHALMERS & JOY RECORD SHOPS

Although I don't have any photos of Chalmers & Joy, I don't want to leave them without a presence on Retro Dundee, so I'll do what I usually do under these circumstances, and use other bits & pieces.

The top ad is one I found in the small ads of a 1972 Telegraph.

However, I don't actually recall visiting either of the 2 shop locations mentioned in the ad - one in the Hilltown and a shop up Albert Street.

By 1974, the Hilltown shop had disappeared and their city centre shop on the corner of Seagate/Gellatly Street had opened up, and that's the one I used to go to.

It was an upstairs/downstairs job, but us teenagers need not have bothered too much about what was on offer downstairs as, apart from the singles, it was a mix of Scottish traditional and easy listening. The youthful goodies were upstairs - where all my dosh went!

The staircase walls were covered in posters and when you reached upstairs, these walls too were taken over by poster racks. The room itself was quite spacious and they had a sizable vinyl selection, even if they didn't really keep up with the times as energetically as Bruce's did.

I think the shop went through a couple of interior changes over the years but the layout I've described is the one that sticks in my mind most.

The Top 20 album chart dates from December 1975, and gives a general idea of what kind of material was selling at the time. Apart from a couple of corny easy-listening crooners, the remainder are all well known established pop & rock acts. Disco Hits 75 is a good reminder, however, that the mid 70's wasn't just all about pop & rock music.

Next up we have another advert, this one dated March 1977.

Oh by the way, you see the Status Quo "Live" double album in the ad, well technically, I'm on that one! I went through to Glasgow for their gig at the Apollo where the album was recorded, so I was part of the audience.

The final ad dates from 1985, and reminds us that they had a special discount on offer for students.

Underneath that ad is a reminder of the shop's carrier bags.

The striped one being the Hilltown & Albert Street bag, and the pinky red one coming from their Seagate shop.

So, were you part of the Chalmers & Joy hoi polloi?

CATHIE McCABE'S ARCADE POD - 70'S

Looking like a set out of "2001 A Space Odyssey" and using the Countdown typeface, you might expect this shop to be a hip, ultra modern retail outlet where the young trendy youth hung out, but no, quite the opposite, it was a family friendly place selling a strange mix of toys and rather mundane records.

This is Cathie McCabe's Record Shop at the Arcade in Shore Terrace - picture taken in the early 70's.

The shelving racks were interlocking octagons, a theme that also crops up on their ad, dated 1974 and their carrier bag underneath it.

If you zoom into the photo you'll find a combination of easy listening 8-track cartridges, a few toys scattered around, electrical goods and of course, vinyl records.

Here's the albums I've spotted in the picture -

Klaus Wunderlich - "Around The World".

The Alexander Brothers - "Let's Have A Ceilidh".

Bee Gees - "Best Of".

Various - "Total Sound".

Paul & Linda McCartney - "Ram".

Soundtrack - "Love Story".

And one of those stereo sound samplers called "Impact".

Doesn't really set the pulse racing!

The other item above is from the small ads in the Tele dated January 1972 and you can see for yourself the products they had on offer down at the pod.

In 1974, Cathie McCabe also had shops in Reform Street and Lorne Street Market.

Photo by DC Thomson.

BRUCE'S RECORD SHOP AD - 1978

Another great record shop doing brisk business in 1978 was Bruce's in Reform Street.

I've already got a few items relating to Bruce's in the Retro archive, so because I've covered the basics, there's no need to repeat it here.

Something I haven't mentioned before is, in 1978, Bruce's main man, Jim Stewart, had a stint as DJ down at the Sands, playing a wide variety of sounds. Some of his selection would have been the latest hot imports, because as you can see in the ad, they were the only importers in town at the time.

The shop wasn't huge but they did cater for just about everyones tastes and I can even remember buying comedy records out of there. In fact I can rattle off 3 I got in 1975 for example - Billy Connolly "Cop Yer Whack For This" - Richard Pryor "Was It Something I Said" - Bill Barclay (remember him?) "Almost Live".

Mind you, I've no idea who the funny looking fella in the ad is, holding up the vinyl.
Mark Knopfler?

B.G. FORBES IN COMMERCIAL STREET



Here's some ads pertaining to BG Forbes, a shop that sold records and musical instruments.

First though, the photo is a good wee reminder of its location - right on the corner of Commercial Street and Dock Street.

I shopped in here quite a lot in the 70's because it had a really cool selection of jazz vinyl that other record shops in Dundee didn't have - a fine array of ECM albums for example. Some I recall buying were - Terje Rypdal, Jan Garbarek, Pat Metheny, Eberhard Weber, these kind of acts, although I must admit I also came home with a heap of pretty obscure albums from this place too. Names that spring to mind are Pacific Eardrum, Opa, Stomu Yamashta, Passport, Brand X, Casiopea, Shakti, Turning Point, PFM, Milton Nascimento, Nucleus, Marscape, Solution, Azymuth, UK, Nana Vasconcelos, White Noise, Isotope....and plenty others of this variety.

Why they stocked records such as these was probably down to the fact that the guy who ran the shop, Rob Adams, was himself a bit of a jazz-rock aficionado. In fact he was also in a couple of local bands called Europe and Head, acts influenced by the likes of Weather Report.

Anyway, getting back to the above items - the first ad that's making a "note" of the name, dates from 1978.

The small ad under it is from a 1972 Telegraph and the next one is from a 1977 Telegraph - both displaying albums that were more commercial than the kind I usually bought from there.

The 2 yellow items date from 1980 and were adverts that cropped up on the reverse side of tickets for gigs on at the University. The idea being that if you took the ticket stubs into Forbes you got £1 knocked off the price of the related albums - these here being for Peter Gabriel and Mike Oldfield.

We'll just have to ignore the fact that the Uni got the address wrong on one of them!!

Top photo by Neale Elder.

TAYSIDE CASSETTE CENTRE AD - 1973

In '73, the Tayside Cassette Centre were in 73...Perth Road.

So they specialised in music tapes, both cassette format and 8 track - definitely no vinyl.

Why then do they have a gramophone in their ad?

Duhhh!!!!

BUILDING THE LEISURE CENTRE - 70'S

Back down town we go for the final construction image, with this one here of the Leisure Centre in progress in the early 70's.

The stone building to the right of shot is the old baths which they kept open until the new one had been completed.

It looks like a few volunteers from Douglas went down looking for work in 1972 to help out but obviously there wasn't anyone around at the time, so they just left a message.

A smashing bunch of lads!

Photo from Gordon C.

ANN STREET ACTIVITY - EARLY 70'S

These 3 pictures were all taken along Ann Street in the early 70's.

The top image is the calm before the storm as it was snapped just before the main part of the demolition commenced.

The Heatherbell Bar was still open for business in January 1972 but by 1974 all these shops and tenements had disappeared.

The middle shot is further along the street where you can see an old building being demolished behind the modern block. If you go back to the top photo, it's still standing.

Photo 3 is looking back along Ann Street in the other direction with Ellen Street corner behind the JCB that has just reversed into a shop!

Photos from Gordon C.

DALLFIELD MULTIS IN PROGRESS - 60'S

Here's a crackin' shot taken at the bottom o' the Hull in the mid 1960's when work on the Dallfield multis was well under way.
This image has "the 60's" stamped all over it - the multis being built, the cars, the red phone box, the community police box and the billboard ad for Consulate cigarettes.
What a whopper!
Photo from Gordon C.

DALLFIELD MODELS - EARLY 60'S

It looks like an aerial photo at first and then you realise it's an architects model.

This miniature dates from the early 1960's when the idea of multi dwelling was forward thinking and ultra modern.

At the time, these new plans for the foot of Hilltown were to have 376 houses and a day nursery on site.

WELLINGTON TOWERS IN PROGRESS

Here's a couple of rare colour photos of Wellington Towers caught during and after construction.

The top one was taken in the 60's from Cotton Road near the junction of Ann Street (going off to the left) and Hillbank Road (straight on).

The second image from the early 70's is taken from virtually the same spot and shows the work on the multi complete, with an additional block added to the Hillbank Road section.

Photos from Gordon C.

DISMANTLING VICTORIA ROAD - 1988

They seemed to be going a bit canny with the demolition work at Victoria Road when this photo was taken on 19 Feb 1988. Perhaps this was the "snaffling the lead tiles off the roof" phase or something!
Anyway, the area in shot stretches from the Butcher on the left (#24) to the Knitting Centre on the right (#38).
I can't make out all the shops but the Central Cafe is there, also Chima, who sold saris and suchlike.
I remember in the mid 60's the 2 Chima daughters were the first Asians to enrol at Balerno Primary School, with Ravi Chima coming into my class.
The other feature in the picture is the lamppost at the top of Wellgate steps, referred to as the Bobbys Helmet.
And if you are in a particularly silly mood, you could do a double take and view the photo through surreal eyes where you might be able to see a wee gnome repairing the inside of the light!
Photo by Neale Elder.

GOODBYE MID STREET - 80'S

It's not just only buildings that disappear, sometimes it's the entire street, and here we are in the 80's bidding farewell to Mid Street.

Mid Street ran from the Dudhope Street/Hilltown junction, through to Constitution Road.

Top pic is from the Hilltown fork, Dudhope Street off to the right, Mid Street being demolished on the left.

The other photo is from Mid Street looking back over at the Hilltown.

It was time for it to go to make way for the Marketgait tunnel.

Photos by The Bear.