This is DJ Brian Wilson (AKA Massie) doin' the biz at the Bowling Alley.
Brian was the resident DJ at the Bowling Alley with his Deepwater Disco sound system, and he was there from November 1976 to March 1987.
Brian was the resident DJ at the Bowling Alley with his Deepwater Disco sound system, and he was there from November 1976 to March 1987.
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During the mid/late 70's, Brian contributed to a weekly national music paper called Record Mirror, usually giving the lowdown on his current favourite tracks while managing to give the Tech a mention in the passing.
An example of one such published article is this one here from March 1978, where not only does he display his mixing skills but also shows the diverse styles of music he played at the Bowlin' Alley.
Soul, 50's rock 'n' roll, punk, pop, rock etc - all mixed in the blender, getting the crowd pouring onto the dancefloor!
An example of one such published article is this one here from March 1978, where not only does he display his mixing skills but also shows the diverse styles of music he played at the Bowlin' Alley.
Soul, 50's rock 'n' roll, punk, pop, rock etc - all mixed in the blender, getting the crowd pouring onto the dancefloor!
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BOWLING ALLEY BEACH PARTIES
DJ Brian Wilson says....
"The Beach Parties... there were two organised by Deepwater Disco.
They were on Saturday, 24th June, 1978 and Saturday, 9th June, 1979.
Pete and I put forward the idea to the VP Ents, the idea being that the beach party would be held on the very last night of the summer term in June, we'd supply the disco for free, it would be free admission (by invite ticket, I recall), there would be NO admission unless you were wearing beachwear and it was stipulated on the invite that "rolled up jeans are NOT beachwear"!
Pete was on the door (I think part of his outfit was a snorkel mask) and the dress code was vigourously enforced. People were turned away at the door (even if they had an invite) if they weren't wearing beachwear. Quite a number disappeared, then returned some time later, duly adorned with beachwear. One guy had flippers and a diving suit! I guess eyebrows must have been raised all over town as people went home after those parties, 'on a hot summer's night'...
I remember Sheila and Angie from Chalmers and Joy had got themselves yellow and orange crepe paper and made themselves Hawaiian 'grass skirt' outfits. Looked stunning!
The Gordon Douglas Band, AKA The Heroes, also played for free and they were all dressed in beachwear as well.
The side benefit of having them on the last night of term was that the bar had to get rid of all the keg beer/lager so I seem to remember that prices were reduced towards the end of the night to finish them off.
So, the management committee, seeing the success, decided that they could organise them better and took control for '79. The first thing they decided was that the beach party would take place in October, at the end of Freshers' Week. October weather is just SO suitable for the wearing of beachwear...
They also made a charge for entry and there was no incentive to wear beachwear, like free entry. Result? Only around half a dozen people turned up in beachwear.
BUMMER!
'A camel is a horse designed by a committee..."
DJ Brian Wilson says....
"The Beach Parties... there were two organised by Deepwater Disco.
They were on Saturday, 24th June, 1978 and Saturday, 9th June, 1979.
Pete and I put forward the idea to the VP Ents, the idea being that the beach party would be held on the very last night of the summer term in June, we'd supply the disco for free, it would be free admission (by invite ticket, I recall), there would be NO admission unless you were wearing beachwear and it was stipulated on the invite that "rolled up jeans are NOT beachwear"!
Pete was on the door (I think part of his outfit was a snorkel mask) and the dress code was vigourously enforced. People were turned away at the door (even if they had an invite) if they weren't wearing beachwear. Quite a number disappeared, then returned some time later, duly adorned with beachwear. One guy had flippers and a diving suit! I guess eyebrows must have been raised all over town as people went home after those parties, 'on a hot summer's night'...
I remember Sheila and Angie from Chalmers and Joy had got themselves yellow and orange crepe paper and made themselves Hawaiian 'grass skirt' outfits. Looked stunning!
The Gordon Douglas Band, AKA The Heroes, also played for free and they were all dressed in beachwear as well.
The side benefit of having them on the last night of term was that the bar had to get rid of all the keg beer/lager so I seem to remember that prices were reduced towards the end of the night to finish them off.
So, the management committee, seeing the success, decided that they could organise them better and took control for '79. The first thing they decided was that the beach party would take place in October, at the end of Freshers' Week. October weather is just SO suitable for the wearing of beachwear...
They also made a charge for entry and there was no incentive to wear beachwear, like free entry. Result? Only around half a dozen people turned up in beachwear.
BUMMER!
'A camel is a horse designed by a committee..."
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1983 saw the end of Deepwater Disco and the start of Brian's Disco.
The photo above, of the Bowlin' Alley dancefloor, dates from around that era and you can see the wee room where Brian's Disco HQ was situated.
The photo above, of the Bowlin' Alley dancefloor, dates from around that era and you can see the wee room where Brian's Disco HQ was situated.
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Around the early/mid 80's, the disco area had a bit of a facelift.
They installed ultraviolet lights, and the walls were adorned with a variety of famous characters from the world of entertainment, designed similar in style to neon light adverts, although they were actually a more modern tube lighting system.
The 2 photos above were taken in 1985 and show both the UV lights and a couple of the characters portraits on the back walls.
They installed ultraviolet lights, and the walls were adorned with a variety of famous characters from the world of entertainment, designed similar in style to neon light adverts, although they were actually a more modern tube lighting system.
The 2 photos above were taken in 1985 and show both the UV lights and a couple of the characters portraits on the back walls.
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This advert is dated 17 March 1977 and is for a Deepwater Disco night out at a local pub, the Golden Pheasant.
So although they had a residency at the Bowlin' Alley, they were still managing to fit mobile disco gigs into their midweek schedule too.
DJ Brian Wilson gives the lowdown on the origins of Deepwater Disco...
"After my stint as DJ in The Palais, 1972-74, Pete and I started to put together "Deepwater Disco" from the end of '74 onward. The name came from a Grapefruit track, coz I could make a jingle out of the chorus. (I still have the original jingles on reel-to-reel, which I will share at some point.)
Our first gigs were at Kirkton Community Centre "under-14's club" in February and March 1976.
We kinda fell into the Bowlin' Alley gig by accident.
We had joined a loose grouping of DJ's and mobile discos which shared out bookings. For the evening of 12th November, 1976, we had no booking and were third on the rota for any booking that came up for that night. The night before, a booking came in for a disco for the Bowlin' Alley.
The first two discos on the rota had gigs for the 12th, so we got it.
The featured entertainment that night was the Raymond Froggatt Band.
Jim Thompson was the VP Ents in those days but the Union Treasurer, Ian Mackie, had, by choice, been delegated to book the discos, Jim dealing with the bands. At the end of the night, Ian told us that he, Jim and the Union President, Ross, were well impressed with what we done and offered us more gigs.
We pointed out that further gigs would have to be passed on to be shared out but they said that they didn't want any other discos (Ian had just been booking up discos as he came across their phone numbers) - they wanted us. So we were in.
Our philosophy was to play whatever requests we got and we managed pretty well. I very quickly realised
that "student music" as a genre didn't exist, particularly in Dundee, where around 60% of students at "the Bell Street Tech" were homegrown, with their own peer groups and music preferences.
Most requests, initially were for various kinds of rock, interspersed with a smattering of disco, chart, soul, pop and reggae with punk beginning to rear its head - "New Rose" by The Damned and "Anarchy" were floor-fillers.
As the years went by, the requests kinda followed what was going on chart-wise.
There was always a rump of heavy rock but punk, new wave, power pop, new romantic, indie and pure pop all had their day, as the 80s progressed.
Deepwater Disco was dissolved at the end of the 1982-83 term. I continued on as "Brian's Disco".
So although they had a residency at the Bowlin' Alley, they were still managing to fit mobile disco gigs into their midweek schedule too.
DJ Brian Wilson gives the lowdown on the origins of Deepwater Disco...
"After my stint as DJ in The Palais, 1972-74, Pete and I started to put together "Deepwater Disco" from the end of '74 onward. The name came from a Grapefruit track, coz I could make a jingle out of the chorus. (I still have the original jingles on reel-to-reel, which I will share at some point.)
Our first gigs were at Kirkton Community Centre "under-14's club" in February and March 1976.
We kinda fell into the Bowlin' Alley gig by accident.
We had joined a loose grouping of DJ's and mobile discos which shared out bookings. For the evening of 12th November, 1976, we had no booking and were third on the rota for any booking that came up for that night. The night before, a booking came in for a disco for the Bowlin' Alley.
The first two discos on the rota had gigs for the 12th, so we got it.
The featured entertainment that night was the Raymond Froggatt Band.
Jim Thompson was the VP Ents in those days but the Union Treasurer, Ian Mackie, had, by choice, been delegated to book the discos, Jim dealing with the bands. At the end of the night, Ian told us that he, Jim and the Union President, Ross, were well impressed with what we done and offered us more gigs.
We pointed out that further gigs would have to be passed on to be shared out but they said that they didn't want any other discos (Ian had just been booking up discos as he came across their phone numbers) - they wanted us. So we were in.
Our philosophy was to play whatever requests we got and we managed pretty well. I very quickly realised
that "student music" as a genre didn't exist, particularly in Dundee, where around 60% of students at "the Bell Street Tech" were homegrown, with their own peer groups and music preferences.
Most requests, initially were for various kinds of rock, interspersed with a smattering of disco, chart, soul, pop and reggae with punk beginning to rear its head - "New Rose" by The Damned and "Anarchy" were floor-fillers.
As the years went by, the requests kinda followed what was going on chart-wise.
There was always a rump of heavy rock but punk, new wave, power pop, new romantic, indie and pure pop all had their day, as the 80s progressed.
Deepwater Disco was dissolved at the end of the 1982-83 term. I continued on as "Brian's Disco".
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SNOBALLS
DJ Brian Wilson says...
"The first Snoball we did was early December '76, six bands and two discos spread across two rooms, 9pm till 6am.
It started snowing around three in the morning and because one of the bands had let off smoke bombs,
all the windows in the 'downstairs' hall were open, the snow was blowing in and it was freezing!"
DJ Brian Wilson says...
"The first Snoball we did was early December '76, six bands and two discos spread across two rooms, 9pm till 6am.
It started snowing around three in the morning and because one of the bands had let off smoke bombs,
all the windows in the 'downstairs' hall were open, the snow was blowing in and it was freezing!"
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This little snippet published in Record Mirror in March 1977 displays the kind of amusement that was often had on the Bowlin' Alley dancefloor.
Brian spinning a record by Hughie Green (which was a bit of a rant about the UK) and mixing it in with the Sex Pistols "Anarchy In The UK".
An odd pairing but a nice touch of humour!
Brian spinning a record by Hughie Green (which was a bit of a rant about the UK) and mixing it in with the Sex Pistols "Anarchy In The UK".
An odd pairing but a nice touch of humour!
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As stated before, Brian used to be a regular contributor to national music magazine, Record Mirror, in the 70's.
Here's one example of the kind of information he passed on to the publication.
He wrote this letter in April 1977, and some of the records mentioned include Stevie Wonder, Rah Band, Bay City Rollers and Dundee's, Skeets Boliver.
The Tech also gets referred to but only that it's closed for Easter!
Here's one example of the kind of information he passed on to the publication.
He wrote this letter in April 1977, and some of the records mentioned include Stevie Wonder, Rah Band, Bay City Rollers and Dundee's, Skeets Boliver.
The Tech also gets referred to but only that it's closed for Easter!
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