69th Year! 
69th Year!
The Whole Story of The Kinema Ballroom Dunfermline
(Includes the Cinemas of Dunfermline & Rosyth)
69th Year! |
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| Biogz 'V' Here you will find some short biographies (biogz) of solo artists whose surname commences with this letter or bands with names commencing with this letter (omitting any commonly used prefix such as 'The'). Click on the name below or scroll down the page at your leisure. Val Verde
Ryan Sharp Val Verde are an as yet unsigned indie-rock four-piece from Dunfermline in Fife with a Glaswegian drummer. They have a 3-track demo recorded at The Attic studio in Dunfermline. They play locally and further a field in Central Scotland, often with the likes of The Draymin, Beatnic Prestige, The Rutlands & Nine Circles. Mail more info to me here.
Born David Spencer in 1940 in South Wales An artist whose name is often misspelled as 'Valence' or even confused with the late Mexican-American Ritchie Valens. "Tell Laura I Love Her" was a direct cover of Ray Peterson's American hit. It became a classic, if controversial, 'one-hit-wonder' for Welshman Ricky Valance. The record was a classic of the 'death' genre which even gave rise to an answer record "Tell Tommy I Miss Him". Tommy, of course, was the character who dies in a stock car race in the first song. The original version of this second song was by Skeeter Davis, but that too was covered by a British artist- Laura Lee. Neither version of the 'answer' succeeded in the UK. Laura Lee's version had been produced by Joe Meek who had also made a cover version of 'Tell Laura I Love Her' with John Leyton. This was John's first recording which did nothing but, unlike Ricky Valance, John Leyton was destined to have a string of hits. Nothing else that Ricky Valance ever did even reached the chart let alone came near the #1 spot achieved by his first release. He even tried covering songs by other other American artists; for example "Jimmy's Girl" from Johnny Tillotson, but without success. Nevertheless, his solitary number one was so memorable that it would sustain Ricky's singing career on the club and nostalgia circuit for very many years. Info courtesy of: www.45-rpm.org.uk
Dee Robot (Dave Robertson) - vocals, harmonica Singles: The Valves were originally a progressive/pub band called ‘Angel Easy’ from Edinburgh in Scotland formed in 1975 including the two Gordons. They briefly renamed as 'Sale' for the whole of July 1977 before another name change to 'The Valves'. A gig supporting Tom Robinson led to Zoom Records signing them to a 12 month contract and they changed their name to The Valves. Their debut release ‘Robot Love’ / ‘For Adolfs Only’ was a 100% early punk classic while ‘Tarzan Of The Kings Road’ / ‘Ain't No Surf In Portobello’ was more R&B though together they sold in excess of 22,000. Travelling to London, they were 4th on the bill to Generation X at The Roundhouse and continued gigging throughout the UK. One manager was fined when the local London Police took exception his graffiti publicity tactics. Support was strong from Scots fanzines ‘Hanging Around’ and ‘Kingdom Come’. EMI offered to release their version of Manfred Mann's 5-4-3-2-1 was turned down. They recorded a Kid Jensen BBC radio session but no recording exists. Without publicity or promotion their third single ‘Don't Mean Nothing At All’ / ‘Linda Vindaloo’ sank without a trace and it was all over. The Valves split shortly afterwards, though they played one more gig after they were officially split, at the first stadium concert in Scotland with The Cheetahs, Squeeze, The Undertones and Van Morrison though Dave Robertson didn’t see Van because he had to catch the last bus home! Ronnie Mackinnon joined ‘Fun City’ with Matt Vinyl (of 'Matt Vinyl & The Decorators') - vocals, Gary (later of The Exploited) - bass and Callum MacKay (ex Scars) - drums. Trivia: Gordon 'Teddy' Dair used to play euphonium in Lochgelly Brass Band!
Trevor Brice - vocals Erica Wheeler - guitar From Kent and previously known as The Avengers* (they recorded one single on Parlophone – “Everyone’s Gonna Wonder” under that name), Vanity Fare took their name from Thackeray’s literary classic. Their first recording sessions produced their first two singles, “I Live For The Sun” – a remake of the USA hit by The Sunrays (who were managed by Beach Boys father Murry Wilson), and “I Remember Summer Morning” which they elected to issue as the follow up in the distinctly un-summer like November of 1968. A third single “Highway Of Dreams” flopped and it looked as if the band were destined to be one hit wonders when they recorded “Early In The Morning” and scored a UK hit with it. In France they were beaten by Cliff Richard who had the hit there with it. A further 3 singles on Page One produced “Hitchin’ A Ride” as the only hit and then further singles on DJM and Philips failed to revive their chart fortunes. A version of the band still tours. Info courtesy of: iwasateenagechartfreak.com *These 'Avengers' are therefore not the same ones that played the ballroom in 1970/71. Vanity Fare's drummer, Mark Ellen, previously played with Dunfermline band 'The Sole Generation'.
Vehicle released a single: 'Mr. Organ Grinder' / 'Cloudy Day' on Deram in 1971. Info from: The Tapestry of Delights - The Comprehensive Guide to British Music of the Beat, R&B, Psychedelic and Progressive Eras 1963-1976, Vernon Joynson ISBN 1 899855 04 1
DJ Danski Highly successful Latino Dance / House / Hip-Hop artists 'Vengaboys' were formed in 1992 by two Dutch DJs, (DJ Danski & DJ Delmondo) who toured Ibiza & Spanish beach parties in a bus, later adding four dancers in 1995 before touring Europe. Their first single 'Up & Down' (1997) was successful in Europe and America. They can truly be said to be an international act, with members from Hungary, Trinidad, Brazil & Holland. Robin was replaced by Yorick in 1999. 45s - UK Chart Positions: Albums - UK Chart Positions:
Even if he had never scored any 60s hits, Gene Vincent’s place in the story of rock and roll would already have been reserved. Vincent Eugene Craddock was born in Norfolk, Virginia in 1935 and joined the navy aged 17. A motor cycle accident aged 21 left him with a permanent limp, and it was while he was recovering from this that he wrote the classic “Be Bop A Lula” which was a major USA hit for him and was covered by loads of people over the years including John Lennon in 1975. In 1960 he was in the car crash that killed his friend Eddie Cochrane, but he continued to tour until his untimely death from an ulcer in 1971. The story goes that during a UK TV appearance, a producer was keen to exploit the accident connection and as Gene sang he was to walk slowly across the studio floor past fans and scenery. Gene was walking reasonably well despite being in pain and the producer was not happy. He hid behind a piece of scenery and hissed “Limp you bugger!” Info courtesy of: iwasateenagechartfreak.com |
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