Edinburgh in the 1980's was an exciting & happening place to be, well, that's what it seemed like to be a teenager there at least.  Around 1983 the sixties music scene really began to take off & in that year The Green Telescope were formed by one Lenny Helsing who would before long become synonymous with this type of music in Edinburgh.

     At the time I had just left school & was engrossed in the sounds of LA's so called "Paisley Underground" with its bands such as The Three O'clock, Green On Red, even The Bangles.  It would not be until almost a year later however that I would finally see The Green Telescope for myself, and, as it turns out, I would not be the only one.

     In October 1983 there were a series of four gigs called "Kaleidoscope at the Caley".  The "Caley" was an old cinema on Lothian Road which today is Revolution nightclub.  I went there to see The Playn Jayn who had just released their classic live album "Friday the 13th - Live at the Marquee".  Also playing as part of these concerts was The Green Telescope & The Rubber Dolfinarium.  Both bands would as it happens have a great relevance for me & many others.

      Dr & The Medics were also meant to be playing a concert as part of the quartet of gigs, but for some reason they cancelled & were replaced by "Kissing Bandits".

      Anyway, The Playn Jayn were quite superb & at their gig I just happened to set eyes on another fellow connoisseur of this music called Calum McDonald, though it would be some time yet before our paths would cross formally.

     Indeed, all of the bands on the bill were really good, apart from Kissing Bandits.  I really wish I knew what happened to The Lost Weekend.  I thought they were pretty cool.!  The Green Telescope were a great band as well.  Real home grown psychedelia with a set of Pink Floyd & Thirteenth Floor Elevators songs & then there were The Rubber Dolfinarium fronted by mad punk John Doe & featuring The Green Telescope's singer Lenny on drums!  They played stuff i'd never heard in my life before.  It blew me away!  Welcome to Garage Punk!

     Sometime after those first four gigs the seminal Snakepit Club began it's life at The Place in Victoria Street.  Nowadays of course this is the Espionage nightclub, but in those days it was a complex of rooms where I saw many great bands & frugged my rug on the dancefloor to many far out tunes.  Later it would be held at The Cavern Club in the Cowgate area of the City, but it would find its true home at The Barbados Suite in Coasters nightclub (now The Cavendish).  I remember watching the Space Shuttle disaster unfold there as part of their "multi media lightshow"!

     With your Snakepit membership card you got in for a whole 50 pence cheaper than the average Joe Public.  It doesn't sound much now, but 50 pence in those days had a lot more value than now & went a long way towards having a great night out!

     The Snakepit attracted a motley crew of punks, hippies & garage punkers.  I used to love taking my records down to the Snakepit & getting them played.  I got to know Calum McDonald around this time as I was introduced to him by some acquaintances of mine that knew acquaintances of his.  Our common interest in this type of music would lead to the eventual formation of the Pterodaktyls.