These pictures take us back to the dancefloor at Club Feet in Dundee.
The disco ran from 1982 until 1984 from the Tay Centre Hotel in Whitehall Street and became a favourite for the alternative crowd.
It became a “home for the musical homeless”.
Club Feet was something completely different in 1980s Dundee.
There were around a dozen discos in the city at a time where heartbreakers and dancefloor demons were usually expected to wear collar and tie.
Denims were banned.
Unlike their competitors at the time, Club Feet didn’t implement a rigorous dress code.
It was a safe space to dress as they please.
Entry was free at Club Feet before 11pm
The doors opened at the start of the New Romantic era.
The flamboyant and eccentric clothing matched the originality of the music from the likes of Culture Club, Duran Duran and Spandau Ballet.
It was always busy.
The disco opened from 10pm-2am on Saturday and Sunday night.
Entry was free or £1 after 11pm.
The popular venue was run by legendary Dundee nightclub tycoon Tony Cochrane who was DJ on the opening night alongside Dave Calikes.
DJ Dave was known as “Dancing Dick Dastardly”.
Upstairs at the Tay Centre Hotel was home to Junction 9 in the 1970s which catered for the rock crowd before Tony took the lease in 1982.
Club Feet’s motto was: “It’s new – it’s different”.
The opening night saw the DJs playing “the best in modern and funk” alongside videos of Simple Minds, The Associates, David Bowie and James Brown.
“It was a great time,” Tony told me.
“It was a change in culture.
“Pubs and clubs back then were very commercial and very pop-orientated and didn’t really cater for this new wave that was coming through.
“Dave Calikes was an up and coming DJ who had his finger on the pulse musically and we got hold of him for Club Feet.
“We kept Junction 9 on a Friday night which gave the rock crowd a home and Saturday was for the alternative crowd and Sunday was a gay night.
“Club Feet was one of the first gay clubs in Dundee.”
The fashion of time was outrageous
Tony said a lot of the venues in Dundee were still stuck in their ways.
“You had to wear a suit to get into a club,” he said.
“Sometimes you had to wear a tie and you couldn’t get in with jeans.
“We were catering to a more relaxed atmosphere.
“It was their little oasis.
“Even the door staff were dressed casually.”
Tony said Club Feet embraced the cultural change in fashion and music.
“The more outrageous, the better,” he said.
“People knew nobody would laugh at them or make a fool of them in the club.
“Although you can imagine that crowd getting on the bus from Fintry dressed like that.
“They must have got some proper looks!”
Tony said Club Feet was home to all kind of different characters.
“It was flamboyant and glamourous,” he said.
“If anyone came in with a suit they would be the ones who would feel out of place.
“Club Feet was a home for the musical homeless.”
There was a purple and red colour scheme
And people loved it.
It was jam-packed most of the time.
Its walls were painted boudoir-style purple and red and there was a sense of being able to slip into the shadows.
It became a hang-out for mods, rockers, New Romantics and punks.
Associates singer Billy Mackenzie became a regular.
“From day one it was a big success,” said Tony.
“There was an alternative crowd that was just desperate for somewhere they could go.
“The music would be everything from Bowie to Madness, punk, mod, New Romantic and Northern Soul.
“Sunday was high-energy with electronic music for the gay crowd.”
The Rocket Man almost hit the dancefloor
Elton John almost popped his head in.
The Rocket Man had just performed a Saturday night gig at the Caird Hall on the Jump Up! tour in November 1982 when he arrived the front door.
“He had played a gig in the city and heard about Club Feet,” said Tony.
“He got his driver to stop outside and check it out.
“I think he decided it was too busy for him as he never came in.
“Or maybe be realised gay night was on Sunday!”
Club Feet also introduced an under-18s night.
Gang culture was still prevalent at the time in 1980s Dundee.
But there was never any trouble among the different factions at Club Feet.
The Beechie Mob, Douglas Toddy, Hula, Hilltown Huns, Fintry Shams, Lochee Fleet, Young Mary Boys and the Mid would set their differences aside for one night.
“It was their club,” said Tony.
“They came from different schemes.
“But those rivalries were left at the door.
“It was a happy, carefree time.
“I can’t believe it’s been 40 years.”
Fat Sam’s proved death knell for disco
All good things come to an end.
Club Feet officially closed in 1984 after the emergence of Fat Sam’s which opened in a former warehouse in South Ward Road in December 1983.
The dress code was “smart but casual” and the owners wanted to establish the nightclub as the place to go for alternative music.
It was here that Stuart Clumpas launched the Dance Factory.
Tony, of course, would take over Fat Sam’s in 2014 and refurbished the five-bar venue and introduced the likes of Aura, Duck Slattery’s and Club Tropicana.
“Fat Sam’s opened and gave the alternative crowd a bigger home,” he said.
“We knew it was time to bring it to an end.
“So the death of Club Feet was down to Fat Sam’s – which is ironically what I have now.
“It comes full circle.”
Tony said Club Feet regulars are among those who attend Disco Days Vs Dance Days Dundee at Club Tropicana for the over-30s.
The nostalgia factor will be ramped up on August 31.
Trip down Club Feet memory lane on August 31
Tony will be showing photos and VHS footage of Club Feet from the early 1980s at the Saturday daytime disco which begins at 2.30pm.
He said it’s a place people still remember fondly.
“You met your mates there every single Saturday and Sunday,” said Tony.
“There are probably kids out there whose mum and dad had met at the venue.
“Think about all those relationships and friendships that were built at Club Feet.
“How many marriages have come out of that place?
“It’s bizarre to imagine that some of the folk in the photographs and videos will be parents and grandparents now.”
How does Tony look back at Club Feet 40 years on?
“It was such a fun place,” he said.
“They always looked forward to that one night of the week.
“It was just a special place and a special time.”
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