Dundee’s favourite dapper granddads, The Doolichters, are back – hoping to stir up some city spirit with their latest release, The Dundee Swing.
The band gained popularity on social media during the 2020 lockdowns with nostalgic releases This Is Meh Scheme and Meh Ma Said, which tell stories of growing up in Dundee in the years following the Second World War.
Now, after the release of their studio album This Is Dundee over the summer, The Doolichters – whose name comes from the word for “a hat big enough for a pigeon to land on” – have made a new music video for folk-tinged track, The Dundee Swing.
The song, written by “Lochee literati” Gordon Drummond, is a journey through Dundee’s different areas, and charts the city’s banner moments, such as supplying the world with the Beano, the voice of Mickey Mouse and “a fleet o’ whalin’ ships”.
‘Don’t do yourself down, Dundee’
Playfully prodding at rivalries between the city and neighbouring Kirkcaldy, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen, the track invites Dundonians to let go of their “local modesty” and dance the “Dundee Swing”.
And Doolichters member Ian “Ike” Kennedy reckons Drummond had the right idea about a city which tends to do itself down – especially now that Dundee is on the up and up, with the Waterfront development, Tay Whale and planned Eden Project all putting the place in the global cultural spotlight.
We think the place gets a bad press – and it’s been getting a bad press for years.”
“Gordon Drummond was a songwriter, and he wrote The Dundee Swing about 30 years ago because he was a bit hacked off that Dundee was getting a hard time,” Ian explains.
“And as far as the band’s concerned, we think the place gets a bad press – and it’s been getting a bad press for years.”
“But there’s been lots of changes and things happening recently. Like, we’ve got a new whale, for instance – and I can still remember the old one down at the museum!
“So this is maybe Dundee’s wee chance to shine. And we’re prodding that forward as much as we possibly can.”
‘Just a group of old granddads dancing’
For the band, all of whom are in their sixties, making music about life in the city was a way to connect with fellow Dundonians over lockdown – and also an excuse to partake in some “stupid stuff” in their music videos.
“We just come up with daft ideas. We’re reminiscing about our own past, and that’s clearly something we share with a lot of Dundonians,” says Ian.
“And the video’s just a group of old granddads dancing! I keep getting surprised every time we come to do a video, and I ask the guys to do stupid stuff – and they do it!”
The band have been embraced by city residents, with Union Street’s Thirteen Records selling copies of their debut album for £5 plus VAT.
And with a batch of new tracks on the way – “there’s some good ones about the Saturday Club Cinema” – Ian hopes the outfit continues to bring a smile to folk’s faces.
“We’ve been doing rather well on YouTube, kicking along at about 26,000 views,” he says.
“And for an operation that’s run on a tiny laptop in a bedroom, and by five old guys who canna’ remember chords half the time, let alone lyrics, we’ve done pretty well!”
‘This is meh scheme’: Dundee group take trip down memory lane for lockdown music project