WE BE THE DEE (1893)

Here's a tune by Blue Bones Jones called "We Be The Dee (1893)".
BBJ says about it ..."I wanted to get away from the cliched kind of football songs that usually contain extremely corny sing-a-long choruses and tiresome anthem styled music. This track, although it has a catchy tune and is upbeat, is a bit more subtle, and unusually for a football record, can be defined as a leftfield electronic groove. A sound that breaks new ground but still with its content kept rooted in the past. Music always keeps up with the times - and the club, in 2013 has adapted to changes too, but they continue to move onward along the tracks that were laid down in 1893."
Blue Bones Jones has a strong link with another Dundee tribe of music makers, Calabar Cult, who collaborated with BBJ on this track.
The visuals too (made by Shangeau) are not your usual kind of football video. No players, no action, no stadium, just the use of the rarely seen 1972 shirt crest set in a variety of illuminated backdrops.
You can grab free copies of both the mp3 and video.
Here is the link http://sdrv.ms/1dxXmdb
The mp3 is around 8MB and the large hi-res video is 110MB.
It's just a low-res one on display here below which is why some scenes are a bit blocky, but the large version is perfect to view full screen.
Something a bit different anyway.

THE UNION JACK CHANT - 1970'S

Back in the early 70's, when fan rivalry included the odd bout of bigotry in the banter, Dee fans sometimes borrowed ideas from the Gers when it came to singing chants on matchday.
As well as flaunting Union Jacks at matches (which was copied off Rangers), the Derry used to burst into the "Born Under A Union Jack" chant, a well known Gers song, but obviously, Dundee's version having a tweak to the wording. The original tune, by Lee Marvin is called "Wandering Star". Here below is a wee reminder of that very tune, with sing-a-long lyrics!
I wouldn't be surprised if it's outlawed now!!

FESTIVE BREAK

Time to shut shop now for a mid winter break.
All going well, the Dark Blues will still be on top, or even further ahead, when I get back to the Shrine in the New Year.
Anyone new to the Shrine can catch up with all the past items by clicking on the dates in the Archive down the right-hand side of the layout. They will open up to display previous posts.
So to wish you all a Merry Christmas, here below, is a rare recording of a tune you will all recognise, taken on location at a church somewhere in Dundee.
Well the do say football is a religion!

JOCK FERGUSON AKA ROBERT THE BRUCE

Jock has been known to enjoy a bit of dressing up now and then, sometimes for fun, but mostly to accompany his ideas, and here he is here as Robert The Bruce, a character who has performed at Dens Park.
One of the times Bruce entertained the Dens crowd was an appearance at a Dundee v Rangers game. He, along with the Dee-Lites, did a song called "The Man Who Would Be Disco King", but unfortunately, some members of the crowd didn't appreciate the free entertainment that was laid on and expressed themselves by pelting them with coins!
Bruce also appeared on the Dens pitch at a game against Hamilton. On this occasion though it was to show off his football skills! All that got hit this time was the back of the net!!

JOCK FERGUSON AKA MAJOR LONGHORN

This candid shot of Jock Ferguson's alter ego, Major Longhorn, was taken in the hi-tech surroundings of the DJ room at Dens in 1979.
He was the DJ for 2 full seasons, but also did the odd stint up to around 1990.
There was a noticeable change in the music blasting out of the tannoy at Dens when the Major took charge, the most obvious one being introducing the sounds of punk & new wave, with bands such as The Clash, The Cure & The Damned, a selection that often lead to complaints for being too loud! There was one occasion when a fan heard The Dead Kennedy's booming from Dens, when he was halfway down the Hilltown!
He would also spin a quirkier set from time to time with the likes of Nellie The Elephant, The Laughing Policeman and Jimmy Shand, an act who always got the crowd in the stand stomping their feet!
We do, however, have the Major to thank for being the chap who revived the Hector Nicol gem from 1962, "The Dundee Song", the scratchy old record played when the team run onto the pitch.
Other Dens duties included reading out the half time scores, and on the occasions when United were losing, he would keep that till last, giving it a big build up!
He also had a go at doing the commentary at Dens when there was an under 16 World Cup tie being played, and was struggling to pronounce impossible Chinese names!!
Other Major output was as contributor to the match day programmes, writing his own columns, accompanied at times with a cartoon or two.
A few years later, Jock helped put together the DFC cd "It's my Dundee", featuring the updated version of "Johnnie Scobie", another tune that still gets belted out at Dens.
Finally, some of you may recall the Dee related tales of Bandy Conacher on the net, well yep, that was also one of Jocks creations.
Anyway, that was just a brief introduction to Jock and the Major, there will be more to follow.
Thanks to Jock.

DEE IN THE PARK

Bobby Brady singing the (dark) blues in the Penman Lounge at a Dee4Life do at Dens Park a couple of years ago. Bobby is the one sitting with the lyric sheet in front of him.
If you know who the standing guitarist is, feel free to drop it into the comments.

DEE'S BOOTS...

Dee's boots are made for walking
And that's just what they'll do
One of these days
Dee's boots are gonna walk all over you!

A wee parody of the Nancy Sinatra classic "These boots are made for walking".

DEE DUO MEET FAB FOUR - 1963

Dundee certainly was buzzin' in the early 60's. DFC Scottish League champs in 62, European Cup nights and The Beatles playing Caird Hall in 63.
The 2 Dundee players in the photo with The Beatles are, Hugh Robertson (guitar) and George Ryden. I don't think I need to mention the fab 4 individually!
Hugh is no doubt telling Lennon & McCartney of an even better group hitting the pop scene... Hammy and the Hamsters!
George Ryden used to live 3 doors along from me in the 60's. We used to play futba in the cul-de-sac, him in the Dundee team and me at primary. He used to do his fancy footwork wearing winkle pickers!!
Little did this lot know then, that a few years later, Lennon & McCartney songs would end up as football chants at Dens Park.
Below are 2 examples - "Hey Jude" and "Give peace a chance".
I'm pretty sure the "Yellow Submarine" tune was sung too but I just can't remember how that chant went.
Photo by DC Thomson.Tints by GG

THE DEES v THE MONKEES SOUNDCLASH

Recorded during Dundee's 3-0 triumph over Dundee Utd in Sept 2000 at Dens, this is The Dees battling it out with The Monkees at half-time.
And the winner is...

DUNDEE SONG AD - 1962

Watt's were quick off the mark placing this ad in Saturday evening's Sporting Post on the day Dundee FC became Scottish League Champions - 28th April 1962.
The ad is for a single, just released and in stock - Hector Nicol's "The Dundee Song". Nearly have a century later, the record still gets played at Dens.
It cost 6/9, which is around 34p in today's money.
For a photo of Watt's in the old Wellgate you can visit my Retro Dundee site and you'll find it in the November Archives section.
For those who don't live in Dundee and don't get to hear the song regularly, you can download an MP3 of it at the DFC-Delicious website, in the Museum section.
And for those who fancy a wee blast now, press play below...

THE WAY TO GO HOME CHANT - 1970'S

This was another chant that started up in the early '70's. It would be sung when, for example, Dundee were 3-0 up and winning the game very easily. A chorus of "Show them the way to go home..." would ring out to embarrass the opposition. The tune is a really old composition going way back to the 1920's called "Show me the way to go home", and is mostly known as a drinking song.
Below is a wee karaoke to get a bit of practise!

THE DEES ALL-TIME XMAS CLASSIC!

Here's a golden oldie that we're never fed up of!

THE DEES CHRISTMAS #1 - 1973

Slade were top of the charts in December 1973 when Dundee were top of the stairs in Hampden collecting their League Cup winners medals. Every year since, when I hear that #1 tune "Merry Christmas Everybody" blasting out during December, I always remember the #1 team in the '73 Final.
Below is some rare footage of the extended version of the medal ceremony where every DFC player gets a mention in a roll-call of honour.

HAMMY & THE HAMSTERS - 1964

Dundee FC have one of the first ever examples of what happens when football & music get together to make pop records.
In 1962 the Hector Nicol single called "The Dundee Song" was released in which all of Dundee's team get a mention in the lyrics as a tribute to them becoming Scottish League Champions. Hector, however, was an entertainer, not a footballer and there were no players involved in the recording.
In 1964 up popped Hammy & The Hamsters, a group formed entirely of Dundee players. Alex (Hammy) Hamilton, Kenny Cameron, Andy Penman, Alex Stuart, Hugh Robertson & Craig Brown. All were first team players at the time. They performed on stage locally as well as recorded. In April 1964 they came out with a pop single called "My dream came true" on 7 inch vinyl, which is now extremely rare. Needless to say it sold mostly in Dundee and surrounding area only.
Here below is a short excerpt from the track including Hamster Craig Brown explaining how the group originated.
I'm not 100% certain but I think they may be miming on the clip below...see what you reckon!!

NA NA HEY HEY CHANT - 1970'S

Here's another chant that originated in the 70's. The tune used was from the chorus of a song by STEAM called "Na na hey hey kiss him goodbye", which was in the charts in Dec 1969 / Jan 1970.
The chant is as simple as it gets, with a few variations to the ending. At Dens for example, after the "na na hey hey" part, we used to sing "Dundee FC" at the end of it. Or if a player was having a good game ( or scored ), we'd sing "Gordon Wallace" say, at the end.
For this little karaoke demonstration below, I've used Jocky Scott for you to sing along to, using the original pop tune.

DFC POP VIDEO APPEARANCE

Well no need to get too carried away with this bit of Dee trivia, because it's a "blink and you'll miss it" feature, however, my eagle eye spotted this picture of the Dundee team (circa 1959-60) flash past in the video in a split second. The promo video is by UK's best indie band and John Peel favourite,The Fall, for the single "Kicker conspiracy" made in the early 80's. The photo crops up during a black & white archive sequence in the middle of the track. The vid itself was filmed at Burnley's Turf Moor ground.
Keeping the football / music theme going, Dundee player, Alex Hamilton, in the above photo, top left, released a pop record 20 years earlier under the name Hammy & The Hamsters. I bet Peelie never had that one in his collection..!!

CLUB DJ

MAKE SOME NOISE..!!