DUNDEE DEMOLITION IN THE 70'S

My brother took this amusing picture in the mid 70's. There was a gap in the fence where the demolition was taking place and he spotted this old guy sitting reading in amongst the rubble.
On the white wall in the background, there is some gang graffiti. It has the Kirkton Huns on, but the word Kirkton has a line sprayed across it and Y-Toddy written above!
I don't know what buildings they are but I'm assuming the location is the old Wellgate area because my brother took a bundle of pictures there when it was being bulldozed.

COWGATE TO MEADOWSIDE

This black & white photo of the Cowgate corner area was taken in early/mid 70's. The same junction crops up in colour in a piece of film from 1980, below. As well as the Cowgate, there are views along Panmure Street and Meadowside. Still in their place in 1980 were The Odeon, the original Wellgate Centre facade and the pub, Foreigners. The footage only lasts 25 seconds so you'll probably need to view it a couple of times if you want to go sightseeing!

HOSIKAI RESTAURANT - ST.ANDREWS ST

This 1985 ad for the Hosikai in St Andrews St, claims to be the first traditional Cantonese restaurant in Dundee. Not knowing the difference between Cantonese cooking and Chinese, I did some research, and there is indeed a difference in the "regional" foods and ingredients used. Apparently there was a surge of "new" Cantonese restaurants sprang up in the UK in the 80's as a large influx of people from Hong Kong came over to settle during that period and brought their dishes with them!
So that ties in nicely with the ad.
If anyone knows what "Hosikai" means, or can read the 3 Chinese symbols (is it Ho-Si-Kai?), feel free to pass it on in the comments.

SHISH MAHAL ADVERT - 1979

This ad for the Shish Mahal Tandoori Restaurant in Commercial Street is from 1979.

Not sure whether the sales pitch in it is supposed to be tongue in cheek or if it's a result of an over the top translation, but it makes pretty funny reading.

Click on the image to enlarge if needed.

THE ORIENTAL GARDEN - COWGATE

Next door to Millet's in the Cowgate was The Oriental Garden, a Chinese restaurant that sprang up on the scene in the mid 70's.
I remember me and a couple of mates went through a wee phase for a few weeks that had us popping into this place every Saturday lunchtime. This was when we just left school and had a couple of months spare in summer before we got work. So not having much dosh, we'd sit down at the table, look through the menu, skip the main course and just go straight to the dessert.!! We always got pineapple fritters or banana fritters covered in syrup. It only cost around 50p which is about all we could afford, and the routine also appealed to our sense of humour - going to a restaurant only for dessert!!
A precursor to the Scottish fad of deep-frying sweet products, many years later.
The photo was taken in 1978.

HEATHER RIPLEY IN CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG

This is Dundee lass, Heather Ripley, on set for the filming of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. She was one of the main characters in the movie, alongside the likes of Dick Van Dyke.

This was a one-off film for Heather as she didn't take up acting as a career, choosing instead, a life of an artist and eco warrior.

The film had a royal premier in London in December 1968 and I saw the film in the Gaumont when it went national in 1969.

The ad above is dated June 1969.

It was quite a lengthy film and I recall it having an interlude halfway through, during an exciting bit too - just as the car drove off the edge of a cliff and was falling towards the sea, the screen suddenly went blank, and the word INTERMISSION popped up. Once everyone had expressed their annoyance, there was a mad dash down the aisles to grab a choc ice before it restarted.!!
Not only that, but I also had the Corgi model of the car hanging by 2 strings from the ceiling above my bed. Chitty Chitty Bang Bang in full flight!

THE 10 BOB NOTE

I may not have got any 10 bob notes out guising, but I do remember getting them in birthday cards.
10 shillings in the mid/late 60's would get you the bus fare into town, a 7-inch single, a comic and still plenty left over for sweeties.
The perfect shopping spree for a primary school kid..!!
For the younger ones amongst you, the 10 bob note was later replaced by the 50 pence piece when the UK changed to decimal currency in 1971.
Below is a public information film from 1970 explaining the changes.
NCR must have been doing loads of overtime during this period updating all their tills..!!

GOING GUISING IN THE 60's

I remember going guising twice.
First attempt there was a big squad of us and so once the money was split we only made a few shillings each.
Next year, there was only 2 of us and we ended up making a few quid!!
The second year was the most interesting too because I took my guitar along with me. Although it was only me and my mate, we weren't a double act, we both sang different songs separately.
I chose a pop hit that was in the charts at the time - "Zabadak" by Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich. This was in 1967 when I was 9. The song started with a percussive intro, so to do that I played "bongo style" on the back of my guitar, and when the time came to burst into the music bit I quickly flipped the guitar back over to its normal position and proceeded to strum along!
My mates party piece was "Nobody's Child", going for the sympathy vote there!!
Anyway, a couple of hours around the block in Craigie and all that loose change became pounds by the end of the evening.

Should anyone be curious, here is a link to Zabadak - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEBFH9R3cg4

And if anybody wants to hae a wee greet, here's a version of Nobody's Child -http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQ_j3FATQeo

As regards the night shot photo, well that's a view from my old bedroom window - 1973ish. It's Kemnay Gardens in Craigie looking over to Huntly Place.

QUINK INK

If there are any old pen pushers out there, you may remember this product - Quink.
The one in the photo is an original I bought out of Burns & Harris in the Nethergate in the mid 80's. I've had it all that time and it still has loads of ink in it. I got it for doing BLOOD SPATTER in my cartoons, but me not being much of a gory person probably explains why the pot today is half full yet!
You can still get Quink these days, but this particular jar & packaging above is now considered "vintage"..!!

ACTION TRANSFERS ADVERT - 1969

These were good fun. You used to be able to get Action Transfers from city centre shops like John Menzies and RS McColls. The packs came with a sheet of transfers and a gatefold card that opened up into a large landscape. There was a variety to choose from - battlefields, under water, sports, outer space and so on. The fun was being able to place the transfer images anywhere you fancied onto the backdrop, usually accompanied by, as kids do, doing all the sound effect noises along the way, guns, explosions, engines etc..!!
This ad is from 1969 and that's the era I'm familiar with, late 60's/early 70's, but later in the 70's they introduced Star Wars and probably a few other new ones, to the set.
Click the image to read the large version.

BAZOOKA JOE BUBBLE GUM

I used to get Bazooka Joe bubble gum out of my local shop, Stan's, in Craigie. This was in the mid/late 60's when I was primary school age.
The appeal of the sweet, apart from the chunk of bubbly, was that when you removed the outer wrapper, there was a second wrapping inside that had a cartoon strip on it, featuring the wee BJ kid in various adventures.
It was always good to get things at that age that were free and you could collect.

THE NIMSLO 3D CAMERA

One of the more offbeat products to come out of Dundee in the early 80's was the Nimslo 3D camera. Timex manufactured them, with the project financed by Fred Olsen. However, the novelty camera never really generated much interest with the general public and it wasn't too long before the Nimslo was chucked onto the consumer goods scrapheap!
The name came from the 2 American guys who invented it, Jerry Nims & Allen Lo.

FERRANTI AT DUNSINANE

The photo featuring the front of the Ferranti factory at Dunsinane dates from the early 80's.

They made hi-tech instruments like transformers, microwave components, lasers and circuit board connectors. Their Dundee factory made the transformers for the Ariane satellite launcher.

The ad under it is from the 70's and they've used 2 connectors to make it look like the bridges on the Tay.

INSIDE THE LEVI FACTORY - 1980'S

One of the factories at Dunsinane was for Levi's. Here's a wee nosey at the interior taken in the early 80's with some local lassies slaving away!

DUNSINANE INDUSTRIAL ESTATE

A shot of the Dunsinane Industrial Estate area taken in the early/mid 80's.
Not much remains of it these days, but in the 60's, 70's & 80's, it was a busy place with factories belonging to the likes of Ferranti - Timex - Wright - NCR - Levi and a few others.
If you click onto the image and view the large version, you will also spot a few nearby football pitches, schools etc.

THE WELLGATE WATERFALL - 1978

This picture was taken when the Wellgate waterfall had just been newly installed into the middle of the shopping centre in November 1978.
It looks pretty bare at this early stage, but as time went by, plants were added to it's surroundings until it eventually ended up looking like a wee oasis.
You can get a reminder of how it looked in 1986 with all the greenery attached, in the Retro December 2008 Archives.
Photo by DC Thomson.

IAN GILLAN - CAIRD HALL - 1979

On this night 30 years ago, Ian Gillan was on stage at the Caird Hall.

In the mid 70's he made a couple of decent jazzy funk-rock albums that took him away from the heavy metal sound of Deep Purple. However, by the late 70's he was getting back into that heavy rock mode he is normally associated with and this show in Dundee was the "let's rock this joint" variety!

By the way, the special guest supporting was Randy California, the guitarist from legendary USA band, Spirit.

TIVVY DEMO TRACK - 1981

From the 1973 to 1978 period, Tivvy were mostly a covers band, playing a broad range of styles from glam, rock, pop, soul, disco to punk.
They did tons of gigs in Scotland, not only as headline act but occasionally sharing the stage with the likes of Slik, Bilbo Baggins and Salvation.
Add to that (as I mentioned in a previous post) an appearance on national TV in 1978.
However, 1978 was also the year Tivvy decided to break up.
But after a couple of Tivvyless years, the guys brought life back into the band again in 1981 upon reforming.
Tivvy then promptly went to Edinburgh to record 2 demos of their own original material.
Band members changed over the years but included - Alec Martin, Bob Kelly, Joe O'Dea, Billy Thomson, Danny Mitchell, Jim Ogg, Mick McGuigan, Steve Knight (pre Associates), Bruce Money, Wayne Hutton.
Below you can tune into the outcome of their '81 recording session.
A track called "Out Of Touch" - a new wave / power pop gem with an off-kilter guitar hook.

MYSTERY SCHOOL PICTURE #2

This photo was taken in November 1972, when the new Craigie High School subway at Monymusk first opened for use.
However, after a wee bit of detective work, I reckon these kids are not from Craigie High. Here's the clues -
1- I don't actually recognise anyone (I was at CHS in 72).
2- That's not a CHS blazer.
3- The boy on the left is wearing short troosers (highly unlikely at secondary).
4- They have carrier bags which I'm guessing contains wet towels.
So my theory is that they are from a primary school in Douglas on their way back from a swimming session at the CHS pool.
Hopefully, someone may be able to spot which school/class they are from.
To help with the face ID, click on to view the large version.
Incidentally, easy to see the subway is brand new - no graffiti.!! By 1974 the whole place was covered!!
Photo by DC Thomson.

Since writing this caption above, the mystery has been solved. The class is from St Andrews Primary School in Banchory Road, Craigie. You can read some of the pupils names in the comments.

MYSTERY SCHOOL PICTURE #1

I have 2 Dundee school photos coming up next, both needing a bit of extra information to make the pictures complete. I've got some of the details, but will require some assistance from you knowledgeable ones out there to help piece them together. 1 photo each from the 60's & 70's, starting with this one from the 1960's.
The info I have so far is that this is Kirkton parading the "Top Of The Form" trophy.
Most of you should remember the Top of the Form quiz show, where 2 secondary school teams battled it out. There were 2 versions of the show, one on radio and one on TV. The BBC TV archives have an episode listed - a Quarter Final round featuring Kirkton v Tavistock (Devon), dated December 1967. This photo is dated 1968, so I guess it could be the same team having just won the final of that particular series. Anyone got any definite facts to accompany the photo?
To jog your memory, below is the TOTF theme tune.
Photo by the Scotsman.

Since writing this caption above, the mystery has been solved. The photo is indeed Kirkton with the "Television Top Of The Form" trophy.

The tall guy parading the prize is pupil, Gordon Cobban.

The other teamsters are - Michael O'Rourke, Fiona Anderson & Morag Smith.