FAMOUS faces have lit up the stage in Glasgow for many decades.
A city favourite was Petula Clark, pictured here in an image from our remarkable archives, back in December 1951.
There is tantalisingly little information about this visit to the city, other than that she was here to “entertain guests at the Fur Ball, in aid of the British Sailors’ Society.”
A Fur Ball?
Not the most glamorous of names for what was undoubtedly a glittering affair. Petula, actor and singer of Downtown, Kiss Me Goodbye and This is My Song, plus many more, had just completed a starring role in the film of Arnold Bennett’s The Card.
Here’s Gilbert O’Sullivan, another popular star in the city, in 1975, when he played the Apollo.
The Irish singer-songwriter was at the height of his fame then, regularly topping the charts in the UK and the US, with hits including Alone Again (Naturally), Clair and Get Down.
He most recently played Glasgow in 2019. Ahead of his gig at The Pavilion, he waxed lyrical about current singer-songwriters and told The Glasgow Times: “Music is good for young people. If you write songs and play the guitar in your bedroom, you can have someone film it, put it online and it is seen by millions of people.
“That is something which is very different from how it was in the seventies. In the seventies, you needed a record company otherwise you had no chance, whereas today you can have your own record company and you can put yourself online. People going online are always looking for people who are new.”
Recently, we featured Jimi Hendrix, whose legendary stage appearances in Glasgow live long in Times Past readers’ memories.
Bill Henderson emailed us to say: “As a teenager in 1967 I saw Jimi Hendrix at the Odeon with my then fiancée, now my wife of 53 years.
“Most of the young audience were there for the Walker Brothers, and many were definitely not enamoured with Hendrix’s performance, as I can recall girls screaming to ‘GET HIM OFF’.
“He didn’t set his guitar on fire that night, but he did smash it into the stack of on-stage speakers, causing one to almost topple over. It was saved only by the intervention of his manager Chas Chandler who ran on stage to stop it from falling, and got a whack on the head from said speaker for his efforts.”
Bill adds: “Such was the power of Jimi’s performance on that night that it is all I can remember of the concert. I assume the Walkers and Engelbert performed all their hits, but that show, with surely the craziest ever mix of acts, definitely belonged to Hendrix.”
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Did you see Gilbert, Jimi or Petula in Glasgow?
Send us your favourite memories and photos. Which famous faces have you spotted in the city?
Email ann.fotheringham@glasgowtimes.co.uk or write to Ann Fotheringham, Glasgow Times, 125 Fullarton Drive, Glasgow G32 8FG.
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