CORAL STAR - UNDER THE 2 BRIDGES - 1985

In the summer of 1985, they began organising boat trips up & down the Tay. The folk behind this venture were Seaforth Hotel proprietors, Mr & Mrs Mann. The boat was called Coral Star and the cruise was titled "Under the two bridges". The boat left from Broughty Ferry harbour and went down the Dundee side of the Tay up to about Inchture where it turned around and came back up along the Fife side. A nice wee journey. The trips only lasted that one summer in 85, May to September.
Me and my brother went on one. He had his camera with him that day and took a few snaps.
I've stitched some of them together into a short slide-show below.

BIDE BY THE LAW

Decided to put this photo up because it's not very often you see an image of the Law from the other side, so to speak, it's usually snapped from the river Tay area.
The picture was taken in the early 80's and quite a few changes have taken place since then of course - so click onto the image to view it larger or download it to your pc and zoom in to see what changes you can spot.
At least it was a nice day anyway, plenty of washing hingin' up roond the backies!

THE STANNERGATE AND DOCKS - 1970'S

After fishing for small fry up at the Swanny Ponds in the 60's, we progressed to bigger catches down at the Docks in the 70's. This would be the 1970 to 1974 period in our young teenage years.
We would start off at the Grassy Beach first when the tide was out to dig our own bait. Horrible creatures we called "rigger" (rig worm), they looked like millipedes. When the tide came in we'd go back again with our fishing gear to Stannergate. I had what was called a "Tope rod", but I ended up calling it my "nope" rod because I never caught a thing with it! We often discovered going along to the Docks was more productive. We didn't even need to cast, just dangling the line over the edge was enough to hook pollack, gurnard and eels.
The Docks area was still pretty active back then. Names I can recall from that period are - Kestrel Marine - Briggs - Yorkshire Imperial - Robb Caledon and Esso, Shell & BP had depots there too.
This footage below was taken in 1974 and shows the launch of a floating crane bound for Poland. Not sure who built it but some of the guys are in shot.
Photo by the Scotsman.Tints by GG

SHOTCAST - WHITEHALL CRESCENT

Shotcast, in Whitehall Crescent, was a shop me and my mates used to go to in the 60's & 70's when we were school aged. We'd get our fishing gear from here, things like fishing line, hooks, bait containers and so on. This would then see us ready for our angling sessions down at the Stannergate and the Ferry.
The advert above was published in the Tele in March 1977.

THE SWANNY PONDS IN THE 60'S

The Swanny Ponds was about half an hours walk away from where we lived, so when we went there it seemed more like a days outing than a visit to the local park. This would have been the 60's when primary school age.
Did the obvious things like fishing for sticklebacks using a long cane net. Went on the rowing boats that sometimes turned into "water dodgems", usually by accident! I can't recall any paddling looking back now, but I certainly remember on a couple of occasions boys pushing their mates in the water for a lark!
One time, when I was passing on the 13 bus, I saw a group of 4 school kids push a female into the pond. Not one of their mates though, it was a mature woman in her 30's I'd guess. No idea what that was about, but I remember being more shocked than amused. Maybe it was a truant officer..!!
By the way, it looks like Mr.Whippy in the background of the image.
Photo by DC Thomson.Tints by GG.

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.

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.

DUNDEE ON VINYL #2 - DUNDEE HORNS - 1970

Saxophonists, Roger Ball & Molly Duncan, were known as the "Dundee Horns" before they went on to become part of the Average White Band in 1972.
This wasn't an act in their own right, so to speak, more of an outfit for session work.
Before their Dundee Horns tag, Roger & Molly played in a Dundee Art College band together in the late 60's, a jazzy prog rock outfit called Spontaneous Combustion.
The Dundee Horns term was actually coined by Scottish rock singer, Maggie Bell, and the duo have been involved in a number of recordings during their pre AWB days.
One such recording was with a group of well known folk-rockers who got together and called themselves The Bunch, and they released one album titled "Rock On" in 1972.
The Dundee Horns were also part of Island Studio's in-house band in London and guested on various records, one example being the hit single by Johnny Nash called "I Can See Clearly Now" also in 1972.
Even in 1973 when they were established in AWB, they were still called upon to do the backing on Bryan Ferry's debut solo album "These Foolish Things".
Anyway, another pre AWB record the Dundee Horns took part in is the one featured here, a band of jazzy prog-rockers called Mogul Thrash. They brought out a single in 1970 called "Sleeping In The Kitchen" and then released an album the year after. They did a couple of BBC sessions too, with the one on display above, shared with Medicine Head, broadcast on 24 April 1971. In the band was John Wetton, more known for King Crimson. Brian Auger produced the Mogul Thrash recordings. His own band incidentally, Brian Auger's Oblivion Express, had Dundee drummer Robbie McIntosh in it, and of course, Robbie got together with the Dundee Horns to become Average White Band. Which is a nice little note to end on.
So, here below is Mogul Thrash with their single, "Sleeping In The Kitchen".

DUNDEE ON VINYL #1 - ANDY LOTHIAN - 1966

Dundee based entrepreneur, Andy Lothian, who used to put on gigs at the Palais as well as have his own jazz band, also ran a local record label called ALP (Andy Lothian Promotions). The label had a total of 11 releases, all dated 1966.
The musical content of the singles was split into 2 categories, Scottish traditional bands and modern beat groups.
The first 7 inch single - #001 - was by The Red Hawkes, and the final 45 - #011 -was by The Vikings.
This one here from my record collection is #006 - actually by Andy Lothian himself. Well it says Andy Lothian, but I'm not certain of the band line-up. You see there was Andy Lothian junior (of ALP and East Coast Jazz Men) and Andy Lothian senior, his father who had a dance band. The track is the traditional Scottish tune "John Anderson, my Joe", which would suggest AL senior. AL senior was a violinist and the tune here has lead violin, but at the very end of the track you can hear a couple of wee jazzy chords. So I have always thought that it could be a father and son collaboration. The record does say AL junior arranged & produced it.
The B side is called "Piper o' Dundee".
You can hear it yourself below, even if it is a bit worn now!

RADIO TAY'S JAZZY GRAPHIC

This funky little jazz band illustration was to be found on Radio Tay's envelopes back in the early 80's. If you were lucky enough to win tickets in one of their competitions for example, you'd receive them in an envelope with this artwork printed on it. I don't think all of Radio Tay used it, I reckon it was probably only Alan Steadman who did. This is who the above one came from anyway.
Alan's show "Jazz Waves" has gone on to become Scotland's longest running jazz programme.
Unfortunately, I can't make out the artist's signature, so don't know who drew it.

JUNCTION 9 ACTION - LATE 70'S

Here's a couple of photos recalling the kind of entertainment that was available at Junction 9 (Tay Centre Hotel disco) in the late 70's.
Top image is DJ Andy Pearson, who had been spinning his rock music discs since it's former Ferry Bar days.
The live band in shot is the Gordon Douglas Band, who were formerly known as The Heroes.

Thanks to Brian Wilson.

ANGUS HOTEL ENTERTAINMENT

Top is a 1966 advert with a nice illustration of the Angus Hotel.
Along with its location, the ad emphasises their Banqueting Suite, which caters for 500 people.
The other item is for a different kind of entertainment at the Angus, and is dated December 1981.
Local DJ, Tony Cochrane, organised an alldayer which was spread over 3 halls in the Angus.
One for SOUL music, one for Funk and the other, FUTURIST.
Click items to enlarge.

NAZARETH - CAIRD HALL - 1980

29 years ago, Nazareth were rockin' the night away in the Caird Hall.
This Jock-rock band from just doon the road in Dunfermline were regulars in the singles & album charts back in the early to mid 70's period.
However, when you think of all the post punk and new wave acts that were on the go at this time in 1980, this gig would definitely be deemed as "old school". Nothing wrong with a couple of hours of loud rock music blasting in your ears though and with the addition of guitarist Zal Cleminson from the Sensational Alex Harvey Band, this gave the Naz sound a little bit extra bite.
In true rock cliche tradition, Dan (Naz singer) shouted out at the end of the show - "Thanks Dundee, we'll be back!" - but I'm not so sure they did return!

TANNADICE STREET - 1970

This photo of Tannadice Street was taken in 1970. It has changed a wee bit since then. Gussie Park carnival would have been there, as well as the Angus Jute Works, and obviously the other 2 "Parks", Tannadice and Dens, have now become Stadiums.
I reckon if they moved the cars out of the way, this would be the ultimate spot for Dundee kids to play Kerby! A backdrop like that would surely inspire a few good throws to get those "half-roadies".
Stats show that Dundee FC and United were eeksie-peeksie around this time.
The 1969/70 season had United finish in 5th position on 38 points and Dundee in 6th with 36 points.
The 1970/71 season saw Dundee finish 5th on 38 points and United in 6th spot with 36 points.
The cool piece of film below was taken a year or so earlier and shows the comings & goings at Tannadice on match day.

PETER LORIMER - FOOTBALLER

Hailing from Broughty Ferry, Peter Lorimer's schooldays were spent at Stobswell, and needless to say, he played football for the Stobbie too. He was so good, it wasn't long before he was playing for Dundee Schoolboys and the big name teams came looking for him. He ended up signing for Leeds United. In fact he was thrown straight into the deep end as he actually played in Leeds full team when he was just 15. He also played for Scotland, and is now a Leeds (and Scottish) "Legend".
I can remember watching him on tv a lot. He had a helluva shot and banged in loads of goals from long range.
Going back to his schooldays...Stobswell were playing Linlathen at Caird Park one time - Peter took a free kick from 20 yards out - ended up breaking the keepers fingers!!
He has played at Dens Park, not for Dundee but against. He was in the Leeds team that Dundee met in the Fairs Cup semi final in May 1968. That was a 1-1 draw but Leeds progressed to win the trophy.
There was also a Testimonial at Dens in April 1978 featuring the Peter Lorimer XI. The XI winning it 3-2.
There's no doubt about it, Leeds were a fantastic team back in the late 60's & early 70's and here below is Peter (#7) getting a hat-trick in the Leeds demolition of Southampton in 1972.
Incidentally, ex Dee, Jim Steele, is playing for the Saints and can be seen wandering around in a daze!

GEORGE KIDD - DUNDEE WRESTLER

George Kidd went to Clepington Primary School, and being a wee lad, he would often get picked on by bullies, which lead to him becoming a bit of a scrapper.

To develop his skills further he took up boxing, Jujitsu, yoga and was a regular at the gym.

After a stint in the Navy he opted for wrestling as his profession and studied the sport in Wigan, London and France.

A couple of quirky procedures he used to do was, drink a pint of bulls blood before a match, this he would get fresh from regular visits to the abattoir.

He also bathed his ears in hot vinegar to toughen them up like leather.

This all lead to George being crowned World Lightweight Champion.

He used to be on TV quite a lot in the 60's & 70's. Wrestling went on around 4.00 pm on Saturday afternoons, before the football results.

I watched it quite a lot as a schoolboy back then because it was often amusing.

George himself came up with some original moves and was particularly well liked by everyone.

He even performed in London's Albert Hall.

Back home in Dundee when he retired in the 70's, he ran the Ellenbank Bar in Alexander Street.

He died in 1998.

The photos are...

Top - George in the wrestling ring.

Mid - George in his Ellenbank Bar.

Low - George with a trophy presented to him by City Of Dundee in recognition of his world title.

And below is footage of George in action.

DUNDEE AT WORK #3 - TIMEX

Timex moved into Dundee in 1946. At their peak they employed 5,000 Dundonians, spread around 3 factories.
Watches were their biz of course, but not only time pieces were manufactured. They also produced Polaroid cameras & flash guns, the Nimslo 3D camera, Spectrum micro computers and flat screen cathode ray tubes.
The short piece of film below features Milton of Craigie factory, the Autoshop dept to be exact. Every inch of the building's interior was painted blue, as seen in the footage, and I'm told there were a few houses in town painted the same blue...as a result of paint pots going astray!
Almost everyone in Dundee knew someone who worked in Timex. I had relatives and neighbours who were there for years. A quirky little memento that was passed onto me back then was a flexidisc record featuring the Timex advertising jingle from the 70's. It was based on a 1960 hit single by Jimmy Jones called "Good Timin'", and basically all they did was replace the word timin' with Timex. The record was dished out free to employees. I had a rake for it recently but couldn't find it so I've included a snippet of the original on the video instead.
The Milton of Craigie factory no longer exists as it was knocked down and is now an ASDA. Not sure if they have a shelf with Timex watches on sale though!
Timex's time halted in Dundee in 1993.

DUNDEE AT WORK #2 - MICHELIN

In 1972, Michelin opened up their tyre factory in Baldovie Road.
In 1983, the date of the above ad, they were specialising in MX tyres, then went on to the more advanced TDX-E tyre.
I remember at school in the early 70's there was a joke going about that went went a little something like this - "What's another name for a tyre factory?"...answer - "a rubber plant"
Around the time of the corny joke, George Galloway (the MP) worked at the Dundee Michelin plant, which is also when the short film clip below was taken (1974). It shows the main gatehouse area.
The factory is still at the same spot today. You can't miss it actually as it now runs on wind turbine power and the blades can be seen from quite a distance.

DUNDEE AT WORK #1 - VALENTINES

At one stage in their history, Valentines were the biggest producer of greetings cards in Europe, with 100 million cards per year being made.
In 1825 James Valentine started off as an engraver then around 1860 went into postcard production, and now you can see all those ancient postcards cropping up for sale on EBay, some making big bucks. So it can be said that after all that time, Valentines are still doing good business!
Around the late 70's Valentines became part of card giants, American Greetings, handing over control of the business. At the time of the handover, another one of the Valentine family founded Andrew Valentine Ltd in order to keep the family name going in card production in Dundee, but eventually, they too were to become part of another USA company, the American Ziff Corp.
The ad above dating from the early 80's has the slogan "Make everyday a Valentines day!" and shows snapshots from their Kingsway factory.
Below is film footage going back to 1965 and also shows scenes from inside the Dundee factory.
So if you knew anyone who worked at Valentines in the mid 60's, you may even be lucky enough to spot them in the film clip!

CLOTHES ENCOUNTERS OF THE NERD KIND

In 1976, when punk fashion first started to generate a stir with people who didn't understand the style, I too wore a garment that triggered an adverse reaction.
I bought this T-shirt (illustration above) which featured the slogan "I Love Unorthodox Behaviour" on the front.
The slogan is nothing now of course, but back then it seemed to annoy certain unenlightened blokes.
I didn't buy it specifically to trigger this response, but every time I wore it, the damn wording would always attract these nerds over who would then get het up just because they couldn't make out what it was all about!!
They'd desperately try to tag me as a punk, or a lefty, or rebel, or fascist, a loony, coming out with all sorts of nonsense like this.
Having a good sense of humour however, I was always amused by these encounters, especially seeing the stroppy state some of them would get into as a consequence of me knowing something they didn't know.
But the good news is (and this reveals the difference between being musically aware and being out of touch) I did experience one instance when someone DID know what the wording was referring to.
I wore it once when I was shopping in Forbes record shop on the corner of Commercial Street, and when I went over to the counter, Rob Adams, who worked there, as calm as you like said "Oh, I like your Brand X t-shirt".
For that is what it was!
This was the only time someone knew what the wording pertained to and at long last, no hassle to accompany it!!!
Yes I bought this t-shirt from a music paper mail order company back in '76.
Brand X were a jazz-rock band that had just released their debut album called "Unorthodox Behaviour" - and I thought it was an excellent LP, so I decided to get the merchandise to go with it.
I also reckoned there probably wouldn't be anyone else wearing the same t-shirt in Dundee, knowing that they were not available in any local shop, so I liked the obscurity aspect of it too.
That's all it was though, just a t-shirt with an album title on it.
But blimey, talk about getting a reaction - "Never Mind The Bollocks" was like a wee kiddies record in comparison!!