STIFF TOUR 78 - DUNDEE UNIVERSITY #3 - RACHEL SWEET

Here's Rachel Sweet performing at the University gig. Rachel was only 16 when she went on the Be Stiff tour, and as a consequence, still being school age, she had to have a personal tutor with her on the train to catch up with her school work in between gigs!
She is mostly known for her pop hit single - "B-A-B-Y".
Photography by Mike Gallacher.

STIFF TOUR 78 - DUNDEE UNIVERSITY #2 - MICKEY JUPP

The 2nd of the University snapshots from the Be Stiff Tour 78 is Mickey Jupp.
The band line-up for this gig was - Mickey Jupp (vocals, guitar) - Vic Young (bass) - Pete Gosling (guitar) & Mac Poole (drums).
Photography by Mike Gallacher.

STIFF TOUR 78 - DUNDEE UNIVERSITY #1 - JONA LEWIE

The "Be Stiff Tour" stopped off in Dundee to play at the University on 24th October 1978. Stopped off - an appropriate term because, being Stiff Records, they went about things just a wee bit differently from your average record company, and on this occasion the novelty was to have 5 of their top acts all on the one show, touring the UK together, by train!
The 5 artists that hopped off at the station to be showcased were - Lene Lovich - Jona Lewie - Mickey Jupp - Rachel Sweet and Wreckless Eric.
I have 4 top notch photos from the Dundee University gig, taken by Mike Gallacher, that I will be putting up on view.
Starting with the image above of Jona Lewie, who most of you will know from his many appearances on Top of The Pops, especially at Xmas time!
Below is a short film clip of the Stiff train setting off at the start of the tour, including a word from Jona himself.

RITE TYME PLAY CLAN BALL

A title that I will decode for the younger ones!
Rite Tyme were a dynamic Dundee beat group, on the go in the mid to late 60's.
Band line-up : Stuart Cuthbert (vocals) - Frankie Vettraino (guitar) - Norrie Tennent (bass) - Bill Smith (keyboards) - Glen Jones (drums) - (also Wullie Munro drums).
Also on the scene in the swinging 60's was the new sound of Radio Scotland. Not the BBC one as it is today, but Radio Scotland the Pirate Station who broadcast from a ship based off the Scottish coast, transmitting on 242 meters. The radio station began on Hogmanay 1965 and quickly became very popular with Scotland's young hipsters. Because of this popularity, Radio Scotland started a club called Clan 242, which entitled members to merchandise, newsletters and the monthly 242 magazine (as shown above). In addition, the station began organising Clan Balls in various towns around Scotland, allowing 242 members to meet the DJ's and dance along to the bands on the bill.
So that's the title explained.
The above ads (both for Aberdeen in summer 1967) show the kind of bands that were involved in these Clan Balls - big hitters such as The Move, well known Scottish acts like The Beatstalkers and new performers such as Robert Plant and his Band Of Joy. Wonder what became of him?!
Another was held in Kirkcaldy's Raith Ballroom, and on the bill that night were Rite Tyme playing alongside, Cat Stevens, Gaels Blue and the Raith Showband.
All groovy things must come to an end however, and in August 1967, the Pirate Station was eventually forced to shut shop (or should that be shut ship!).
Below you can hear an extremely rare recording of the original Radio Scotland broadcast for the Kirkcaldy event.

THE FALL IN DUNDEE - 1984

The Fall were in Dundee twice in 1984.
Their visit in March was for a gig at Teazers (the night club at the Royal Hotel in Union Street).
Local music journalist, Bob Flynn was there to cover the show for Melody Maker, resulting in this excellent review above.
The Fall were, and are still considered to this day, one of the best bands ever to hit the alternative/indie scene back in the 70's, and their no compromise attitude to the music industry since has been just as inspiring as their creative output.
They then came back a few months later in October to play another gig, this time at Fat Sams. The gig was originally supposed to be at The Fountain, but they switched it to Fatties.
I have an original recording of the Fat Sams gig, and a wee reminder that local band, AAGA were the support.
You can click onto the Teazers review to read the enlarged version.

BLACK STREET PLAY PARK - 1980'S

Looking like a NASA site rather than a Dundee Council area, this play park featuring a Space Shuttle chute & climbing frame was located in Black Street, just off Lochee Road. Also in the shot, taken in the early 80's, are swings and sandpit with digger.
Again, like the Craigie one, it is a thing of the past. I had a look on Google Earth for it but the whole area is now sitting empty.
Unless it IS a secret NASA site and has been airbrushed out..!!

APRIL FOOL OR RETRO FACT?

In the early 70's, a bunch of Dundee school kids organised a protest march across the Tay Road Bridge one Saturday afternoon.
So what triggered these youngsters to make banners and come out in force to demonstrate their grievance? An increase in schooling hours? Too much homework? The cost of school dinners?
Nope, the culprit was Scooby-Doo, or rather, the removal of the TV series from their television screens. In true Dundee cartoony tradition, the main issue on kids minds was why the powers that be had taken their favourite TV show off the air! Needless to say, this unique event made the local papers, and it is probably the only time that the famous cry of "Scooby-Doo, where are you?" has actually been heard in real life!

To find out if this is an April Fool or Retro fact, click the comments link.

CRAIGIE'S PLAY PARK IN THE 60'S

This was the play park we went to as kids in the 60's. It was in Kemnay Gardens opposite Crathie Place. It was a regular stop-off for us on our way to and from Balerno Primary School. We actually just referred to the whole area as "The Swings" but it also had a chute, 2 sets of swings, 2 roundabouts, a climbing frame and these monkey bars, above.
I had an accident on these very monkey bars around 1966. You know those somersaults kids do where you'd climb to the very top, lie on your belly grabbing the outer frame and birl around until you end up dangling - a move I'd done dozens of times before - well on this one occasion, I lost my grip, fell flat on my face and burst my nose! I ended up being taken home by the Parkie, surrounded by about 20 kids and my shirt covered in blood. I was rushed up to DRI for a check-up but there was nothing broken. Came back with a topper of a swollen nose and a couple of keekers. That'll teach me to show aff! Did get a few days off school mind you.
The Parkie's door in the photo was designed like a stable door, an upper half and a lower half. He would usually have the upper half open and lean on the closed lower half to keep an eye on things.
The shelter in the picture we'd use when it rained and played 2 touch, headers, truth-dare and so on.
The above image was taken in the 80's, and by the 90's, using the current method of creative thinking, turned the whole area into a car park.
Photo by DC Thomson.Tints by GG

TAYPARK HOTEL - 1960's

Taypark Hotel was in Broughty Ferry and its location meant that it had a very nice view overlooking the Tay.
The 60's illustration at the top shows that its ample grounds went right down to the river's edge.

Incidentally, these very grounds were once used for a photo shoot with The Rolling Stones back in 1965.
As you can see from the photo above, which also dates from the 1960's, its interior was rather spacious too.
This dining area was called the Bay Suite Restaurant and Ballroom.
Quite a plush looking place really, with a large curvy 90 ft. window to catch the scenery and a stage opposite complete with grand piano.
The actual dancefloor featured illuminated glass panels in a variety of colours.
Then there was the Riverview Lounge and Smuggler's Cocktail Bar to choose from as well.
All this information has to be referred to in the past tense now because the entire building was demolished in 1983.

AD FROM THE 80'S - LE PAPILLON

The last in the sequence of ads from the 80's is this one dated 1981 for Le Papillon Restaurant in the Angus Hotel.
It says you can sit and listen to soft piano music while enjoying the intimate surroundings. On Saturday evenings you can really let your hair down and dance along to their resident trio!
Perhaps they should have called the place Le Papillon (butterfly) for day time, and in the evenings, Le Papillon de nuit (moth)..!!

AD FROM THE 80'S - THE THREE BARRELS

This subtle ad is from 1981. No wording as to who it is, what it is or where it is. The gist of it being that The Three Barrels is so well known in Dundee that only this image is needed to remind everyone that it is the pub up Strathmartine Road.
At least Dundee's firemen knew of it's whereabouts anyway. In 1989 the pub was ablaze, but amazingly, because of quick action by the firies, managed to reopen for biz again in only a couple of weeks!

AD FROM THE 80'S - DA VINCI'S

This ad is dated 1983, when Da Vinci's was in it's prime.
It is actually advertising their "New luxurious ground floor Lounge Bar". The "Studio" however, was upstairs where the main action was - namely, the disco.
You can click on the image to enlarge it if you want a wee read, and spot the fact they spelt Barracuda wrong!
The squares in the illustration are a reference to the glass panels that were part of the main doorway design.
Also, a reminder that there are interior shots available to view in my August 2008 Archives.
Talking about the main door, I remember boss, Frankie Esposito ( who looked like Trevor Horn in his large 80's specs ) used to stand at the door throughout the evening deciding who would get in and who wouldn't! If you were really really drunk the night before sometimes you had to wait a week or two before he'd let you back in.
So then, 1983 sounds we queued up at Da Vinci's to hear blasting out the speakers would have included the likes of - Heaven 17 - Malcom McLaren - Police - The Icicle Works - SOS Band - Yazoo - David Bowie - Style Council - Herbie Hancock - Depeche Mode - Indeep - Tom Tom Club - Freeez - Michael Jackson - Level 42 - Echo & the Bunnymen - George Clinton - The Cure ....and I'm sure you'll be able to rattle off a few others!

TINDALLS ADS - 1980's

Tindalls opened for biz in Castle Street around 1980ish.

I think I'm right in saying that this is the pub that had the bare floorboards, which was a bit of a novelty at the time.

Why I'm not 100% certain is because my memory is doing battle with Cactusville, another pub that opened in Castle Street around about the same time.

Anyway, Tindalls used to put bands on fairly regularly.

The advert here displays a typical kind of line-up they had entertaining weekly.

I know Havana Swing, Some Bad Shirts and The Divorce Brothers are all local bands, but I'm unsure if Streets Of Nowhere, Kashmir and Daylight Robbery were Dundee based.

So, it's up to you now to help fill in the details.

The place closed down in 1988.

The top ad is dated 1981.

Mid ad is May 1986.

Bottom notice is January 1988.

THE BAXTER PARK DISPLAYS

On one summer weekend each year in the 60's and 70's, Baxter Park put on a display that attracted hundreds of visitors. All the entertainment and action took place in front of the Pavilion, and around the edge of the cordoned off square, they had Army vehicles, Air Force tents, food stalls, ice cream vans and so on.

Performing in the square would be things like motor cycle stunt teams, a dog handler's obstacle course and the highlight would be the Red Devils sky-diving team. They would drop from the sky wearing their smoke flares and land dead centre on a cross marked out in the middle of the square.

I remember one time in the late 60's they ended the show with an old fashioned biplane that flew extremely low over the pavilion, over the crowd and off down across the Tay. A few people in the crowd even ducked by instinct, but it wasn't as low as that!

(By the way, in the late 60's, psychedelic rockers Jefferson Airplane released an album called "After Bathing At Baxter's" and had an image of a biplane on the cover.
However, theirs wasn't about a trip to the park, but more to do with a trip on LSD..!!)

Anyway, one of the quirkier side show attractions was a 6 ft robot that claimed it could answer any question you asked it. I wish I had asked it how it worked!

The above photo was taken on 22nd July 1976. Not much of a crowd for this one though compared to earlier shows. The sky-divers on this occasion are from the Golden Lion Team. The 2 guys are, Jim Conway from Mid Craigie and Mike Colligan from St Marys.

Below you can see the original Red Devils in action that may bring back a few memories of this Baxter's annual event, although it wasn't filmed there.

Photo by DC Thomson.Tints by GG

THE TUFTY CLUB

It's getting a bit on the rusty side now, but here's the original Tufty Club badge from the 60's.
The Tufty Club's road safety campaign started up in 1961. To help promote it they had Tufty teams visit schools, including mine, Balerno Primary, and dished out badges & booklets.
The Tufty Club has another link with Dundee, although not related, this being the name that was given to an under 14's disco they had in the early 70's at the JM Ballroom. I never heard of any kids being run over on their way to the disco, so at least all that 60's road sense paid off!
I remember even into the 80's when there was an under 14's disco at the Barracuda on Sunday afternoons, that too was referred to as the Tufty Club, but I think by then it was a patronising term spouted by older clubbers, rather than by those who went there.
And as a wee reminder of what triggered it all off, here's the original tv ad below.

NEW MUSEUM EXHIBITS - 1980'S

When the old Museum (Albert Institute) was modernised in the late 70's, the main entrance moved from the corner of Meadowside to the area facing Panmure Street.
Also during the renovation, the Central Library moved out of the Museum building in 1979 to the Wellgate, and the Victoria Galleries were renamed the McManus Galleries.
The Museum introduced a new "local history" room which displayed things like Blind Mattie's squeeze box, Tay Bridge disaster relics and so on.
A quirky story from October 1983 was when the Museum put on a football exhibition with all sorts of memorabilia on display. A match programme dated 1925 from the Dundee v Celtic Scottish Cup final was stolen. The police eventually tracked it down and returned it. Bizarrely, it was found inside Tannadice!
The McManus Galleries created a larger space for showing temporary art exhibitions. These changed on a regular basis, sometimes they were big name touring exhibitions and sometimes shows by local artists. I used to visit them quite a lot because they kept varying...from Eduardo Paolozzi to Ansel Adams.
The photo above was taken in 1983 and shows a corner of one of their temporary exhibitions. I think the yellow & black one, 2nd from the left, could be a Sutherland crucifixion.

OLD MUSEUM EXHIBIT #3 - DUG-OUT CANOES

Although these are as well known to Dundonians as the Discovery, Unicorn & Fifies, the Museum's dug-out canoes are hardly ever seen in photos, so here is a picture for posterity.
The top one was found at the river Tay near Errol, and the bottom one is from Kinnordy Loch.
As regards how old they are, well let's just say they predate Robb Caledon!

OLD MUSEUM EXHIBIT #2 - THE CIST

The technical term for a stone burial box such as this is a cist. The photo above was the one that was on display in the middle of one of the floors in the Museum in the 60's.
I remember having to be lifted up to see inside it when I was about 5. I then progressed a couple of years later to viewing it standing on my tip toes, and a couple of years after that it was just a matter of catching sight of it in the passing.
This cist was unearthed near Brechin. It belonged to a group of settlers called the Beaker People, who lived around the East coast of Scotland from about 2,500 BC.

OLD MUSEUM EXHIBIT #1 - SHRUNKEN HEAD

Back in the 60's when the Museum entrance was on the corner of Meadowside, opposite Commercial Street, they used to have a doorman in uniform who would open the door for you then give directions to the various rooms. Well near to that corner reception area where he stood, they had a shrunken head on display. This very one above as a matter of fact.
I remember a few folk considered it to be a model, because, being the size of a tennis ball, it looked like a doll.
So if there are still any doubters out there, I can confirm it was indeed a real human head.
Information from the original Dundee Museum catalogue is that it comes from Ecuador, the Jivarro tribe to be exact, and dates back to the late 19th/early 20th Century. Similar details on the net backs this up.
Not knowing what was involved, I checked Wikipedia to find out what the shrinking process entailed and apparently the skull is removed along with all the fatty tissue, then the skin is boiled in water & tannin, finally once the shrivelled flesh is dried & prepared, it is stuffed and remoulded back into shape.
Don't go trying that at home now!!
On a lighter note, this chap wouldn't have been too out of place in the late 60's with a hairstyle like his!

BILLY MACKENZIE AT THE DOCKS - 1984

On a snowy winters day back in 1984, Billy Mackenzie was interviewed for TV down at the docks. The show was "The Tube" and Leslie Ash was the presenter.

There were 2 boats used in the 10 minute feature. The one where the interview took place was on a tug boat called Castlecraig, and the other boat was the Unicorn (above) where he performed a song.

Although it was a feature solely on Billy Mackenzie, the song was still by The Associates, and the track was the single "Waiting For The Loveboat".

I reckon the Tube video (below) is much better than the official promo video for the single, which does make me cringe a bit.

Photo by the Scotsman.Tints by GG

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