Legendary nightclub Barracuda opened 45 years ago and had just enjoyed its first week of welcoming revellers. Gayle Ritchie looks back at the Dundee venue’s glory days…
Swaying palm trees, coral reefs, caves and fish swimming in rock pools – the Barracuda was a nightclub unlike any other.
Inside the disco spot, away from Dundee’s bustling Marketgait, you were immediately transported to an exotic paradise island.
Generations of Tayside folk remember the Barracuda – which opened on May 28 1975 – with huge affection.
From the moment they set foot in it, revellers felt they were entering an exciting new world of sun, sea and sand.
Top acts performed in the Barracuda, including the Eurythmics, Tony Christie, Kenny Ball and his Jazzmen and Frankie Vaughan.
Local soulsters Susan Childe & The Flamingoes were the band responsible for getting everyone onto the dance floor and the regular DJ was Phil Blacklaw.
The big launch
A preview in the Evening Telegraph on May 26 1975, ahead of the Barracuda’s official launch on May 28, reported that: “Even in the reception area you are immediately projected into the surroundings of a South Sea Island, complete with palm trees, bamboo-lined walls and fish swimming lazily in a rock pool.”
The report told how the “surprises continued” as you made your way into the nightspot, which boasted four lounge bars and two restaurants, and a set of swing doors which reminded you “irresistibly of a ship”.
The layout behind the doors was based on the submarine Nautilus, created by Jules Verne in his book 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.
“Suddenly you are in a submarine, with the Nautilus bar on one hand and the ship’s conning tower on the other,” continued the report.
The conning tower was in fact a cunningly disguised stairway linking the upper and lower “decks” of the Nautilus bar.
The Caves restaurant, which boasted seating for 100 diners, gave the impression of sitting in an underwater cavern.
The walls were undulating rock surfaces with tropical fish tanks spaces around them at intervals. Multicoloured lights played over the rocks, giving the effect of crystal clear water.
The Sand bar was stocked with a wide variety of exotic liqueurs and cocktails.
One of the bars’ specialities was an award-winning cocktail called a Folias, which means flowers in Spanish.
It was the creation of Senor Carmello Peonsosa, who used to work with Barracuda proprietor Murdoch Wallace when he ran a bar in the Canary Islands.
Ship’s railings lined the balcony overlooking the main dance floor below while a gangway-style ramp led from the stairhead to another dance area called the Jungle Hut, built like a tree house and filled with exotic jungle plants and flowers.
As the venue rapidly gained popularity, it began hosting weddings and was voted into the top six nightclubs of Britain by a national fashion magazine.
Barracuda beginnings
The Barracuda building began life as a church but was converted into a dance hall in 1954 by James Murdoch Wallace, who gave his initials to its name – the JM Ballroom.
The JM became one of the city’s top dancing spots.
In 1974, Wallace’s son, Murdoch (also known as Murdo), took over to set up the Barracuda, giving up a bar he owned in Tenerife to focus entirely on the Dundee project.
It required a huge, £250,000 makeover, to transform it from the JM to the Barracuda and the result was an extremely eye-catching design, with both the interior and exterior sculpted to resemble an exotic cave.
“I intend to have a place that Dundee will be proud of,” Murdo told The People’s Journal on September 14 1974.
The Barracuda soon became the most well known and popular disco spot in Dundee.
One regular named Gordon said: “There were alcoves, recesses, cubbyholes and bay areas all over the place, plus stalactites everywhere.
“There was also an upstairs balcony area with a desert island shack.
“If you weren’t aware of this tropical theme, it had aquariums containing piranhas to remind you!”
Nostalgia
The club hosted a “nostalgia week” beginning on May 14 1979 to celebrate the dance hall’s 25th anniversary.
The aim was to recreate the spirit of the former JM Ballroom, which closed in 1974 after a 20-year run.
A highlight of the week was when the old JM dance band reformed to play a selection of waltzes, foxtrots and quicksteps.
The band, Rokotto, who made their debut in the Barracuda, played a gig during nostalgia week.
Having launched in Dundee in 1976, the band had, by that time, had two hit records in most European countries and in Japan.
Marmalade, the first ever Scottish band to hit the number one spot in the charts with the famous Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da, also performed there.
Before they made it big, the Glasgow band made regular appearances in the old JM.
Andy Lothian, the dance band leader in the Dundee Palais for 26 years, also made an appearance.
The resident band, Susan Childe and The Flamingoes, provided the music and the carnival atmosphere was completed with balloons and streamers.
Films of dance competitions held in the ballroom in 1956 were also shown.
One of the principal guests on the first night was Cathy Connelly, a mum-of-three who won a world twist marathon title.
A regular’s memories
The man who runs the Retro Dundee website – who wishes only to be known as GG – remembers many a fun (and often boozy) night spent at the Barracuda.
“A few of us, who were quite tiddly, used to gather round a big black spotlight, taking turns to shine the beam on the girls dancing below!” he recalls.
“Because of the drink, we found this funnier than it actually was. Our fun was eventually stopped when the heavies came over and gave us a ticking off!”
GG was at the Eurythmics gig on February 27 1983, although admits he was “too boozed up” to remember much about it.
“Because the venue was a disco, there was no stage for live acts to perform on, so the band were just tucked away at the side of the dance floor,” he says.
“I can remember Annie Lennox in her grey suit and cropped orange hair doing her robotic dance moves which was a bit of a fad at the time with clubbers!”
Love is in the air
Fashion designer Nicholas Daley revealed last year that his mother Maureen, from Dundee, and father Jeffrey, from Jamaica, first met in the Barracuda in the mid-1970s.
Here’s a family photograph showing Maureen and Jeffrey in 1976 at the nightclub.
Daley’s exhibition, Studio Nicholas Daley, ran at V&A Dundee last year.
It featured garments from his collections, patterns, mood boards and photographs dating back to the 1970s when his parents ran The Reggae Klub, one of the first reggae club nights in Scotland.
Changing hands
The Barracuda was sold to Rank Leisure in June 1980.
The company continued to run the club with little change until they sold it to Mecca that summer.
Murdo maintained a link with the nightspot, concentrating solely on Barracuda Management, an agency which dealt with soul bands and pop groups.
The new Barracuda manager was John Muir and when he took over, he spent £35,000 on a new lighting system.
Barracuda then got another £250,000 face-lift in January 1984 and re-opened in March that year as Coconut Grove, later re-named simply The Grove.
It burned to the ground in October 1994 and a casino was built on the same spot a few years later.
Barracuda bands
Here’s a line-up of some of the performers to play at the Barracuda…
March 4 1976: Tony Christie
September 22 1976: Kenny Ball and his Jazzmen (with The Flamingoes)
October 12 1976: Frankie Vaughan (with The Flamingoes)
March 18 1978: Soul Direction
April 3 1978: Gonzalez
June 6 1978: The Only Ones
October 8 1978: The Cimarons
December 9 1978: Delegation
March 24 1979: Delegation
July 7 1979: Rokotto
August 11 1979: The Clique
May 27 1980: Gary Moore
June 15 1980: The Vapors
February 13 1981: Fusion
February 23 1981: Gypsy
December 17 1981: The Cheaters
February 27 1983: Eurythmics
June 2 1983: Kissing the Pink
- Do you remember the Barracuda? Get in touch with any memories or photographs at: gritchie@dctmedia.co.uk
