0:00:02 > 0:00:05When I was 18, I packed all my worldly goods into the back
0:00:05 > 0:00:08of a clapped-out old taxi that I'd bought from a pal for 50 quid
0:00:08 > 0:00:11and headed south to seek my fortune.
0:00:11 > 0:00:16See, back then Glasgow seemed to me to be a dark and depressing place
0:00:16 > 0:00:20that didn't offer much of a future to somebody like me.
0:00:20 > 0:00:21Look at it now, eh?
0:00:21 > 0:00:24It's like something out a Dan Dare comic.
0:00:24 > 0:00:25I like it.
0:00:35 > 0:00:39This year, with the eyes of the world on Clydeside,
0:00:39 > 0:00:43four Glaswegians explore what it means to belong to Glasgow.
0:00:43 > 0:00:44My name's Alex Norton.
0:00:44 > 0:00:49Glasgow is where I discovered what I wanted from life...
0:00:49 > 0:00:51and what I didn't.
0:00:51 > 0:00:53It turned me into a panto dame
0:00:53 > 0:00:56and taught me to do a turn.
0:00:56 > 0:00:59It's the place that drove me away and it's the place
0:00:59 > 0:01:03I'll always return to, even if there's been a murder!
0:01:03 > 0:01:06One thing's for certain, I definitely belong to Glasgow.
0:01:06 > 0:01:09MUSIC: "I Belong To Glasgow"
0:01:27 > 0:01:31# But when I get a couple of drinks on a Saturday
0:01:31 > 0:01:34# Glasgow belongs to me. #
0:01:36 > 0:01:40They say it's good for the soul to go back to your roots now and again,
0:01:40 > 0:01:44to get that warm and fuzzy feeling from walking the same streets
0:01:44 > 0:01:48you walked as a wean, remembering who you are and where you came from.
0:01:48 > 0:01:52But to be honest, it's hard to get that nostalgic glow
0:01:52 > 0:01:55in the middle of a shopping centre car park.
0:01:55 > 0:01:59See, the thing about the Glasgow I belong to is,
0:01:59 > 0:02:01there's no' all that much of it left.
0:02:10 > 0:02:13They started pulling down the Glasgow of my childhood
0:02:13 > 0:02:17in the 1960s, replacing it with tower blocks and motorways.
0:02:17 > 0:02:20In those days they measured progress in dual carriageways
0:02:20 > 0:02:22and reinforced concrete.
0:02:22 > 0:02:25This film, made in 1971, looks forward to what
0:02:25 > 0:02:28life in the city would be like in 1980.
0:02:28 > 0:02:31Now, in most places, nine years wouldn't seem like a giant leap into
0:02:31 > 0:02:35the future but this was Glasgow and the pace of change was relentless.
0:02:35 > 0:02:37Well, almost.
0:02:37 > 0:02:40If they'd ever finished this road it would've taken us...
0:02:40 > 0:02:41here.
0:02:41 > 0:02:45Glasgow Green is the biggest open space in the centre of the city.
0:02:45 > 0:02:48Traditionally it's the place where Glaswegians have come to
0:02:48 > 0:02:51air their washing and mount their political demonstrations.
0:02:51 > 0:02:54In 1917, 80,000 workers marched through
0:02:54 > 0:02:57here in support of the Russian Revolution.
0:02:57 > 0:03:0050 years later, the council tried to plough a motorway right
0:03:00 > 0:03:01through the middle of it.
0:03:01 > 0:03:04Well, of course they did. I mean, look at the place,
0:03:04 > 0:03:06a nice big patch of grass.
0:03:06 > 0:03:08Makes perfect sense, doesn't it?
0:03:10 > 0:03:13Public outrage led to the plans for Glasgow Green being scrapped
0:03:13 > 0:03:17and it continues to provide good fun for all the family.
0:03:17 > 0:03:19But just across the Clyde in my childhood home,
0:03:19 > 0:03:22the Gorbals, we didn't get off so lightly.
0:03:22 > 0:03:25I'm coming here to see what's left of my old neighbourhood.
0:03:25 > 0:03:29'Sir Basil Spence's high-rise flats in Hutchesontown, Gorbals -
0:03:29 > 0:03:33'the first of the Comprehensive Development Areas.'
0:03:33 > 0:03:35Me and my folks moved from my granny's house to the
0:03:35 > 0:03:39Gorbals in 1954. Yep, that's me!
0:03:39 > 0:03:40Our new home was a single-end,
0:03:40 > 0:03:43a one-room flat with an outside lavvy in Moffat Street.
0:03:43 > 0:03:46When I lived here, Moffat Street looked like this.
0:03:46 > 0:03:49Now it looks like this.
0:03:49 > 0:03:51They pulled our building down and then they pulled
0:03:51 > 0:03:54down the building next to ours and then they pulled down the building
0:03:54 > 0:03:57next to that. Finally, they pulled all the buildings down
0:03:57 > 0:04:00and after a couple of false starts, replaced them with these.
0:04:00 > 0:04:02They're nice enough, I suppose,
0:04:02 > 0:04:05but where do you go to dreep aff a wash house roof these days?
0:04:07 > 0:04:11For the uninitiated, dreeping aff a wash house roof was
0:04:11 > 0:04:14a game in which you hung by your fingers from the roof of a backcourt
0:04:14 > 0:04:17wash house until you could hold on no longer, and with the ground
0:04:17 > 0:04:20looking about 100 feet away, you'd let go and slither down.
0:04:20 > 0:04:24Frankly, I'm surprised it wasn't included in the Commonwealth Games.
0:04:27 > 0:04:30Dixon's Blazes iron foundry used to be just down there
0:04:30 > 0:04:34and I remember so well the sky glowing red with the flames
0:04:34 > 0:04:38from its big blast furnace, and my maw used to tell me that if I was a
0:04:38 > 0:04:42naughty boy, Old Nick would drag me down to his big, bad
0:04:42 > 0:04:44burny fire, and I believed her.
0:04:44 > 0:04:46Well, why wouldn't I?
0:04:46 > 0:04:48I could see his lum at the end of our road.
0:04:50 > 0:04:53Like many an old codger, it's tempting to look back at my
0:04:53 > 0:04:57Gorbals childhood with rose-tinted spectacles but I only remember
0:04:57 > 0:05:00wearing sunglasses once as a child.
0:05:00 > 0:05:01And it was for this.
0:05:01 > 0:05:05In the '40s and '50s, the Gorbals' weans were made to take part
0:05:05 > 0:05:07in a strange experiment.
0:05:07 > 0:05:09Apparently we weren't getting enough sunshine.
0:05:09 > 0:05:13So they brought the sun to the Gorbals and zapped us with UV light.
0:05:13 > 0:05:16There are times when I look back at my life here as
0:05:16 > 0:05:20if it was all just a strange dream, and this is one of the strangest.
0:05:25 > 0:05:27There's only one big lum in the Gorbals these days
0:05:27 > 0:05:30and it's steam it pumps out, not soot.
0:05:30 > 0:05:31The air is cleaner
0:05:31 > 0:05:35and the new houses are a huge improvement on the '60s tower blocks.
0:05:35 > 0:05:39Although there's not much here for me to get dewy eyed about,
0:05:39 > 0:05:42there are many reasons I'm proud to say I lived in the Gorbals.
0:05:42 > 0:05:46And one of them is this place, the Citizens Theatre.
0:05:46 > 0:05:49I spent a large chunk of 1971 working with the
0:05:49 > 0:05:51Citizens Theatre for Youth Company,
0:05:51 > 0:05:54and I can safely say you'd be hard pressed to find a theatre
0:05:54 > 0:05:56that's more at one with its local community
0:05:56 > 0:05:59than the Citz, and that's why I've come back.
0:05:59 > 0:06:01This is a Gorbals card.
0:06:01 > 0:06:05If you're part of the local community, for two quid you can come
0:06:05 > 0:06:09and see any show at the Citizens, but there's a bunch of folk here
0:06:09 > 0:06:12who don't want you just to come and sit on your jacksie.
0:06:12 > 0:06:14Oh, no, they want to get you up on the stage.
0:06:17 > 0:06:20These actors are members of the Citizens Community Theatre
0:06:20 > 0:06:23and it's them I've come here to see.
0:06:23 > 0:06:26The company have been devising a piece called On Common Ground
0:06:26 > 0:06:27and they're going to be doing
0:06:27 > 0:06:29it in the Gorbals at the Commonwealth Games
0:06:29 > 0:06:33and they're going to be working with Native Americans from Canada and
0:06:33 > 0:06:38it's all about the cultural things that unite us rather than divide us.
0:06:38 > 0:06:40I'll let them get on wi' it.
0:06:41 > 0:06:43In this improvised scene, a large
0:06:43 > 0:06:47and mysterious bird of fortune from Canada descends on Glasgow.
0:06:49 > 0:06:52- Smells lovely. - Oh, what's that on ma sheet?
0:06:53 > 0:06:56Look at the size of it, that's bird keech.
0:06:56 > 0:07:00I just feel at peace here, you know. It's like I always say,
0:07:00 > 0:07:02it's my second home.
0:07:02 > 0:07:04It's just opened up a new world.
0:07:04 > 0:07:07A world that I never had.
0:07:07 > 0:07:09That reminds me, there was something on the news last night
0:07:09 > 0:07:13about that, some big bird's went missing or something like that.
0:07:13 > 0:07:17I think it's as vital as learning other skills, as reading,
0:07:17 > 0:07:19writing, counting.
0:07:19 > 0:07:23It should be vital and every school should be teaching children
0:07:23 > 0:07:28how to do drama to boost their confidence in being heard.
0:07:28 > 0:07:31- See this big bird?- Right.
0:07:31 > 0:07:34The shit's meant to have medicinal purposes in it.
0:07:34 > 0:07:35You're joking!
0:07:35 > 0:07:39No, Ma, honestly, it's for, like, wrinkles and all that.
0:07:39 > 0:07:44- Here, try some. - Get my spider's legs in.
0:07:44 > 0:07:48Oh, look! Your wrinkles are disappearing.
0:07:48 > 0:07:49Put some on me.
0:07:49 > 0:07:51They don't call it play for nothing.
0:07:51 > 0:07:55When you were a child you played at doing things like houses,
0:07:55 > 0:08:00nurses, doctors, playing at school, working in a shop
0:08:00 > 0:08:02and that's more or less all acting is.
0:08:02 > 0:08:04We could jar that and put it onto eBay.
0:08:04 > 0:08:07Gosh, you look 20 years younger. So do you.
0:08:07 > 0:08:09It stops me being nervous, relaxes me.
0:08:13 > 0:08:15We need to think up a catchy name for it.
0:08:15 > 0:08:17Oh, aye, right, what could we call it?
0:08:17 > 0:08:20I know... Let's Get Shitfaced!
0:08:20 > 0:08:23THEY LAUGH
0:08:29 > 0:08:34I can't believe it's because of a theatre that my problems are
0:08:34 > 0:08:36melting away.
0:08:37 > 0:08:40See, that's what community theatre is all about.
0:08:40 > 0:08:43Telling your own stories in your own language
0:08:43 > 0:08:46and giving people a bloody good night oot.
0:08:49 > 0:08:52Meeting the actors from the Citizens community group has
0:08:52 > 0:08:55reaffirmed my belief that when it's at its best the theatre is
0:08:55 > 0:08:57a place that adds magic to our lives.
0:08:57 > 0:09:00I'm now heading south to Pollokshaws to show you how
0:09:00 > 0:09:03I first discovered that magic for myself.
0:09:11 > 0:09:15Pollokshaws is where my family moved in the late 1950s.
0:09:15 > 0:09:19I'd just turned seven and was about to start striking out into the world,
0:09:19 > 0:09:23travelling as a lone adventurer on the Glasgow Corporation trams.
0:09:23 > 0:09:26They used to call these things the "galleons of the tenements",
0:09:26 > 0:09:28and you can understand why.
0:09:28 > 0:09:30I mean, just look at it.
0:09:32 > 0:09:34I can't tell you how excited I am to be on the top deck
0:09:34 > 0:09:38of a Glasgow tram again, something I've no' done since I was a wee boy.
0:09:38 > 0:09:42Trams, more than anything, connect me with my past and one of the
0:09:42 > 0:09:46greatest joys of being on a tram when you were a wee boy was this.
0:09:50 > 0:09:52If you were lucky
0:09:52 > 0:09:55and the car was empty, you could have your own personal state room
0:09:55 > 0:09:58to yourself, and for a three-ha'penny half,
0:09:58 > 0:10:00the world was your oxter.
0:10:03 > 0:10:07At its peak, in 1922, Glasgow had more than 1,000 trams
0:10:07 > 0:10:09and 100 miles of track.
0:10:09 > 0:10:11This network was entirely self-sufficient.
0:10:11 > 0:10:14The trams were all designed and built by the Glasgow Corporation
0:10:14 > 0:10:19and they had their own dedicated power station in Pinkston.
0:10:19 > 0:10:22When they finally stopped running in September 1962,
0:10:22 > 0:10:25a quarter of a million people turned up to wave them away.
0:10:25 > 0:10:28I was one of them and seeing so many Glaswegian men
0:10:28 > 0:10:31crying in public was a sight I'll never forget.
0:10:33 > 0:10:36The trams gave me a chance to step out of my little world
0:10:36 > 0:10:39and discover what delights the city had to offer.
0:10:41 > 0:10:45Me and my pals would take the 25 out to Rouken Glen or the 14A
0:10:45 > 0:10:49to the West End to wander the long corridors of the Kelvingrove
0:10:49 > 0:10:53Art Gallery. I could have lived in this place. I loved it.
0:10:53 > 0:10:56It wasn't pompous, it wasn't snooty and, what's more, it was free
0:10:56 > 0:11:00to get in, which made a big difference to kids like me.
0:11:00 > 0:11:03I'm a passionate believer in people being able to see great art
0:11:03 > 0:11:06without having to pay for it, but what made it really exciting
0:11:06 > 0:11:09was that it made me feel like I was on a giant film set.
0:11:11 > 0:11:15Back in Pollokshaws, things weren't quite so idyllic.
0:11:15 > 0:11:17This is where we lived, Kirk Lane.
0:11:17 > 0:11:19Compared to the Gorbals, Pollokshaws was
0:11:19 > 0:11:22like a wee village. But unbeknownst to us, we'd just
0:11:22 > 0:11:24moved out of the first part of the city to be
0:11:24 > 0:11:27knocked down by the council and into the second one.
0:11:29 > 0:11:31If anyone ever decides to put up a blue plaque to me round here,
0:11:31 > 0:11:33they're going to have to hang it in mid-air.
0:11:41 > 0:11:44The Pollokshaws of today is very different from the wee village
0:11:44 > 0:11:45I grew up in.
0:11:45 > 0:11:48That's my primary school behind me, Sir John Maxwell's,
0:11:48 > 0:11:50now completely derelict.
0:11:50 > 0:11:53And here is the remains of the swimming baths,
0:11:53 > 0:11:56completely demolished, but it was just opposite there that
0:11:56 > 0:12:01I made the most important discovery of my life - the public library.
0:12:09 > 0:12:12Today's library shelves are stowed out with self-help books,
0:12:12 > 0:12:16but when I was ten years old they were something of a rarity.
0:12:16 > 0:12:18So I was very surprised
0:12:18 > 0:12:22when I came across this one in my wee local library.
0:12:22 > 0:12:25It was written by a popular stage and television magician
0:12:25 > 0:12:29called Al Koran and it completely blew my mind.
0:12:29 > 0:12:32It made me realise that I didn't have to live the kind of life
0:12:32 > 0:12:34that was being pencilled in for me.
0:12:34 > 0:12:38His wise words set me on the path that I was to follow for the rest
0:12:38 > 0:12:43of my life and it was a path that began in a rather unusual place.
0:12:43 > 0:12:45The Eastwood branch of the BBs.
0:12:45 > 0:12:48The Boys' Brigade exists to promote the habits of obedience,
0:12:48 > 0:12:49reverence, discipline,
0:12:49 > 0:12:54self-respect and all that tends towards a true Christian manliness.
0:12:54 > 0:12:56For me, it turned out to be the route into what my dad
0:12:56 > 0:12:59considered one of the least manly professions.
0:13:05 > 0:13:10This is my old BB hall, and in 1963 it was also home to the
0:13:10 > 0:13:14Eastwood Parish Church Dramatic Club and one night me
0:13:14 > 0:13:17and my pals came to see one of the productions they were putting on
0:13:17 > 0:13:20and I thought it was really good. And I thought, "You know what?
0:13:20 > 0:13:23"I quite fancy doing a bit of that myself."
0:13:24 > 0:13:26Six weeks later the curtains opened
0:13:26 > 0:13:30and I found myself facing an audience for the very first time.
0:13:30 > 0:13:33It was the beginning of the rest of my life.
0:13:33 > 0:13:36I'm surrounded here by some of the wonderful people
0:13:36 > 0:13:39I worked with on my very first stage production.
0:13:39 > 0:13:43Margaret, you were the artistic director of the club
0:13:43 > 0:13:45when I joined in 1963.
0:13:45 > 0:13:47- Yes.- What did you think?
0:13:47 > 0:13:50Tell me honestly, what did you think when you
0:13:50 > 0:13:52found out that a plukey faced 13-year-old
0:13:52 > 0:13:55wanted to become a member of the club?
0:13:55 > 0:13:59Well, I resisted you joining the club for quite some time!
0:13:59 > 0:14:03You were too young and I said, "Well, we've got late nights
0:14:03 > 0:14:07"and he's just a young boy and I really don't think
0:14:07 > 0:14:11"he should be coming for a bit." But the BB officers kept coming
0:14:11 > 0:14:15back and saying, "We've got this boy and he's dying to be a member
0:14:15 > 0:14:16"of this drama group."
0:14:16 > 0:14:20And I said, "Well, bring him along." And they brought
0:14:20 > 0:14:26him along and he was this wee thin soul, not very tall, very small.
0:14:26 > 0:14:30I thought, "What on earth can I do with him?"
0:14:31 > 0:14:34However, we did quite a lot with you.
0:14:34 > 0:14:36I loved it, I loved every minute of it
0:14:36 > 0:14:38and I can remember it all as clear as day.
0:14:38 > 0:14:42It was so exciting, so thrilling and so different from the kind
0:14:42 > 0:14:44of life that I thought I was going to have to be involved in.
0:14:44 > 0:14:48We thought you might like a souvenir of your very first
0:14:48 > 0:14:54performance and this is something that I think you'll treasure.
0:14:54 > 0:14:57What is this? What is this? Let me see.
0:15:02 > 0:15:04Aw, look at this!
0:15:04 > 0:15:06"Eastwood Parish Church Dramatic Club
0:15:06 > 0:15:09"present their centenary year revue.
0:15:09 > 0:15:11"Spring madness in the church hall at 7.30pm."
0:15:14 > 0:15:18- Aw, look at this. Have I got my name on this anywhere?- You have.
0:15:18 > 0:15:22"Alex Norton." Look at that, "Matt Robertson, Jack Sinclair."
0:15:22 > 0:15:23Third from the bottom of the bill.
0:15:23 > 0:15:26Hey, you've got to start somewhere, haven't you?!
0:15:26 > 0:15:29'I owe a huge debt to Margaret from the drama club for the belief
0:15:29 > 0:15:31'she showed in me,
0:15:31 > 0:15:34'but my parents were divided over my new-found passion.'
0:15:34 > 0:15:37My mother supported me but my father was completely opposed.
0:15:37 > 0:15:40He was a plumber and he wanted me to follow him into a trade.
0:15:40 > 0:15:42The irony is, he was the one who gave me
0:15:42 > 0:15:44my first taste of the theatre
0:15:44 > 0:15:48when he took me along to a variety show at the old Metropole.
0:15:48 > 0:15:51A lot of middle-class actors became actors
0:15:51 > 0:15:55because their parents would take them to the rep theatre.
0:15:55 > 0:15:56They'd go and see plays.
0:15:56 > 0:15:59Well, I didn't. I went to see variety shows.
0:15:59 > 0:16:03I left school as soon as I turned 15 and I got my first
0:16:03 > 0:16:05job at the lighting board of the Lex McLean Show
0:16:05 > 0:16:07at the Pavilion Theatre.
0:16:07 > 0:16:10Lex was one of the most charismatic performers of his day
0:16:10 > 0:16:13and he was a huge influence on me.
0:16:13 > 0:16:15That's a very happy, smiling face, sir.
0:16:15 > 0:16:17Is that your wife?
0:16:17 > 0:16:18Oh, novelty night.
0:16:18 > 0:16:20LAUGHTER
0:16:21 > 0:16:23The thing that struck me most about Lex
0:16:23 > 0:16:25was the way he worked his audience.
0:16:25 > 0:16:29From the moment he came on stage, he had them eating out of his hand.
0:16:29 > 0:16:32Watching him made me realise that what people wanted more than
0:16:32 > 0:16:34anything else was to be entertained.
0:16:34 > 0:16:37I've come here to meet Bob Bain,
0:16:37 > 0:16:41who's helping keep Lex's memory alive in a loft in Auchinloch.
0:16:44 > 0:16:48Oh, look at this.
0:16:48 > 0:16:50This is the motherload.
0:16:52 > 0:16:54That is unbelievable.
0:16:54 > 0:16:58He used to come from the dressing room and he would walk below...
0:16:58 > 0:17:00- Because I was up on a kind of platform...- I know where you are.
0:17:00 > 0:17:03I would see him, you know, walking past,
0:17:03 > 0:17:05and he would just look through the curtains, just like that,
0:17:05 > 0:17:08and watch the audience. Eventually I said to Fergie, my boss,
0:17:08 > 0:17:10"What does he do that for every night?"
0:17:10 > 0:17:12He says, "He's counting the house."
0:17:12 > 0:17:14He says, "He disnae trust them at the box office.
0:17:14 > 0:17:16"He's counting the house."
0:17:16 > 0:17:18Your talking about Lex Mclean...
0:17:18 > 0:17:21- There's something here. - What's that?
0:17:21 > 0:17:23That was Lex McLean's bunnet.
0:17:23 > 0:17:26That was the original bunnet he used in his TV show.
0:17:26 > 0:17:29- In the TV show? This is it? - That's it.
0:17:29 > 0:17:32Good Lord. You know, actually, when you said that, I recognised it.
0:17:32 > 0:17:35I recognised it cos it's almost in black and white.
0:17:35 > 0:17:38- Do you think I might actually...? - Absolutely.
0:17:38 > 0:17:41- Would that be all right with you? - No problem. Pleasure.- Oh-ho-ho!
0:17:41 > 0:17:45This is a moment, to try on Lex McLean's bunnet!
0:17:49 > 0:17:52It fits. It fits an' all!
0:17:52 > 0:17:56Keep it bright! Keep it bright! Lexy, sexy Lexy!
0:17:58 > 0:18:00- Where's ma bunnet? - On yer heid!
0:18:00 > 0:18:04Good job you telt me or I would have went oot withoot it.
0:18:04 > 0:18:06Attitudes have moved on since Lex's day,
0:18:06 > 0:18:10but his traditional male take on life still strikes a chord
0:18:10 > 0:18:11with Glaswegians of my generation.
0:18:11 > 0:18:14I feel terrible, so I do, seeing you staggering oot that pub
0:18:14 > 0:18:17- every night at ten o'clock. - You feel terrible?!
0:18:17 > 0:18:20How do you think we feel, coming oot at ten o'clock?
0:18:21 > 0:18:23You know, it's such a...
0:18:24 > 0:18:27..such a vital part of my life.
0:18:27 > 0:18:30And the Lex Mclean Show, I mean, that was...
0:18:31 > 0:18:35That was an experience I would never have got if I'd stayed on at school.
0:18:35 > 0:18:38And I'm not saying that anybody should leave school,
0:18:38 > 0:18:41don't get an education, but for me that was the best..
0:18:41 > 0:18:44That was university, was going to the Pavilion
0:18:44 > 0:18:46and working backstage, and watching Lex Mclean.
0:18:46 > 0:18:51I reached my teens in 1963 and my hormones were busting onto
0:18:51 > 0:18:53the scene at the same time as Bob Dylan
0:18:53 > 0:18:56and the Beatles were turning the music world upside down.
0:18:56 > 0:19:00I was determined to make myself as appealing as possible to the
0:19:00 > 0:19:03opposite sex, so I had some serious thinking to do.
0:19:03 > 0:19:05Did I want to be an actor?
0:19:05 > 0:19:08Or did I want to be, like, a folk singer?
0:19:08 > 0:19:10For a while, it could have gone either way.
0:19:15 > 0:19:18For me, acting and singing have always gone hand in hand.
0:19:18 > 0:19:21This is me with my old pal Brian Pettifer.
0:19:21 > 0:19:25At the time, I was playing in a duo with his big sister Linda,
0:19:25 > 0:19:27who went on to find fame as this Linda
0:19:27 > 0:19:30from Richard and Linda Thompson.
0:19:30 > 0:19:33# I came to you... #
0:19:33 > 0:19:36I still think Alex and Linda has got a better ring to it.
0:19:36 > 0:19:40# ..I'm sick and weary... #
0:19:40 > 0:19:45The folk scene in Glasgow in the '60s was vibrant.
0:19:45 > 0:19:48There was so much talent around, so much new stuff,
0:19:48 > 0:19:51and it was a great break from the kind of traditional music
0:19:51 > 0:19:53that I'd been listening to. When I say traditional,
0:19:53 > 0:19:56I mean the stuff that was coming out the wireless.
0:19:56 > 0:19:59There was this whole new movement and it was people like
0:19:59 > 0:20:03The Incredible String Band, John Martyn, who I was at school with,
0:20:03 > 0:20:08he was in my school in Shawlands... Bert Jansch, people like that.
0:20:08 > 0:20:11Glasgow's folk revival had its roots in the politics of protest.
0:20:11 > 0:20:15This film from 1961 shows a demonstration against the siting
0:20:15 > 0:20:19of an American Polaris submarine base at the Holy Loch near Dunoon.
0:20:19 > 0:20:22The demonstrators include a group of musicians
0:20:22 > 0:20:23called the Glasgow Eskimos,
0:20:23 > 0:20:26who provided the soundtrack to the Anti-Polaris movement,
0:20:26 > 0:20:30and they were led by my old French teacher Maurice Blythman.
0:20:32 > 0:20:35# Oh, the Yanks have just drapt anchor in Dunoon
0:20:35 > 0:20:40# An' they've had their civic welcome frae the toon
0:20:40 > 0:20:44# As they came up the measured mile, Bonnie Mary o' Argyll
0:20:44 > 0:20:47# Wis wearin' spangled drawers below her goon
0:20:48 > 0:20:51# For ye cannae spend a dollar when you're deid
0:20:51 > 0:20:52# Ding-dong
0:20:52 > 0:20:56# No, you cannae spend a dollar when you're deid
0:20:56 > 0:21:00# Singing ding-dong dollar Everybody holler
0:21:00 > 0:21:04# You cannae spend a dollar when you're deid
0:21:04 > 0:21:07# But the Clyde is sure to prosper noo they're here
0:21:07 > 0:21:12# For they're charging one and ten pence for a beer
0:21:12 > 0:21:15# And if you want a taxi you'll stick it up your jacksie
0:21:15 > 0:21:19# And they'll charge you 30 bob to Sandbank Pier. #
0:21:19 > 0:21:21THEY LAUGH
0:21:21 > 0:21:24That's so funny. That's brilliant!
0:21:24 > 0:21:25Sorry.
0:21:25 > 0:21:29The thing that I remember most of all from when I first started
0:21:29 > 0:21:34listening to protest music was, I knew all the tunes.
0:21:34 > 0:21:35They were all familiar to me.
0:21:35 > 0:21:39Songs that were grafted onto tunes that already existed,
0:21:39 > 0:21:42- popular tunes, weren't they? - Aye, absolutely.
0:21:42 > 0:21:45Well, it was policy because you're trying to write
0:21:45 > 0:21:47songs for a particular purpose.
0:21:47 > 0:21:51These are not just political songs, they're demonstration songs,
0:21:51 > 0:21:54and they've got a kind of enormous demotic energy, so you use...
0:21:54 > 0:21:56Maurice Blythman, I always remember him saying to me,
0:21:56 > 0:22:00quoting General Booth of the Salvation Army, who said,
0:22:00 > 0:22:03apparently, "The Devil always has the best tunes."
0:22:03 > 0:22:07And that was the kind of idea behind that.
0:22:07 > 0:22:09I mean, that was a conscious decision.
0:22:09 > 0:22:12You know, they deliberately chose things
0:22:12 > 0:22:16that were football songs and stuff like that.
0:22:16 > 0:22:19- Sectarian songs. - Sectarian songs.
0:22:19 > 0:22:23Well, I used to describe these songs as being "Vaticanly challenged"
0:22:23 > 0:22:25because they were all set to sort of...
0:22:25 > 0:22:27Rangers-type songs, you know,
0:22:27 > 0:22:29Hello, Hello and so on and so forth.
0:22:33 > 0:22:35- # Hullo!- Hullo! - Hullo!- Hullo!
0:22:35 > 0:22:37# We are the Eskimos
0:22:37 > 0:22:39- # Hullo!- Hullo! - Hullo!- Hullo!
0:22:39 > 0:22:41# The Glasgow Eskimos
0:22:41 > 0:22:43# We'll gaff that nyaff called Lanin
0:22:43 > 0:22:45# And we'll spear him where he blows
0:22:45 > 0:22:49# We are the Glasgow Eskimos... #
0:22:49 > 0:22:54The Glasgow folk wasn't just anti American military,
0:22:54 > 0:22:55it was also anti American culture.
0:22:55 > 0:22:58Now, this was something I could never get my head around.
0:22:58 > 0:23:01I loved America, but not as much as these guys.
0:23:01 > 0:23:06# Mama, don't let your babies grow up to be cowboys... #
0:23:06 > 0:23:10Never mind the Glasgow Eskimos, meet the Govan gunslingers.
0:23:11 > 0:23:16The Grand Ol' Opry has been here on the Govan Road since 1971
0:23:16 > 0:23:20and there's something about the place that just seems right.
0:23:20 > 0:23:22It's a great big slice of make believe
0:23:22 > 0:23:24and I'm all in favour of that.
0:23:26 > 0:23:27GUN POPS
0:23:27 > 0:23:29Even if I'm in a bit deeper than I would like.
0:23:29 > 0:23:31"Please don't think I'm weak,
0:23:31 > 0:23:33"I didn't turn the other cheek.
0:23:33 > 0:23:35"Sometimes you gotta fight to be a man."
0:23:35 > 0:23:39This is the gun fight at Govan Gulch.
0:23:40 > 0:23:44- COMPERE:- Gunfighters, are you ready?
0:23:44 > 0:23:46- Fire! - GUNS POP
0:23:46 > 0:23:50- And Hot Shot wins! You've done this before.- No!
0:23:50 > 0:23:52- COMPERE:- Oh, yes, you have.
0:23:52 > 0:23:53Give him a huge round of applause.
0:23:53 > 0:23:56Does anyone recognise this gentleman?
0:23:56 > 0:23:57APPLAUSE
0:23:57 > 0:23:59Well, there you are. You all saw it.
0:23:59 > 0:24:00I gunned a man down in cold blood,
0:24:00 > 0:24:04so finally I can say, with my hand on my heart,
0:24:04 > 0:24:05"There's been a murder."
0:24:05 > 0:24:07One more time!
0:24:08 > 0:24:11HE SINGS
0:24:18 > 0:24:22'I had no plans to be on stage at the start of the night,
0:24:22 > 0:24:24'but when they asked me I just couldn't say no.
0:24:24 > 0:24:26'There's something about being in Glasgow that brings out
0:24:26 > 0:24:27'the performer in me.
0:24:27 > 0:24:31'I know everybody says it, but you just can't beat a Glasgow audience.'
0:24:31 > 0:24:36# Yes, you went back to the wild side of life... #
0:24:38 > 0:24:40APPLAUSE
0:24:42 > 0:24:43Cheerio!
0:24:43 > 0:24:47Glasgow seems to be in love with country and western music,
0:24:47 > 0:24:49and I think the reason for that is because
0:24:49 > 0:24:53it's actually originally our music.
0:24:53 > 0:24:56When all the Scottish immigrants and Irish immigrants went out to
0:24:56 > 0:25:01America in the 1800s to get work, they took the music with them
0:25:01 > 0:25:03and then they shipped it right back to us.
0:25:03 > 0:25:06So, really, we're listening to the music we used to listen to
0:25:06 > 0:25:07over 100 years ago.
0:25:07 > 0:25:10I think that's why it's so familiar and it's so popular.
0:25:10 > 0:25:13It's certainly popular with me. I love it!
0:25:15 > 0:25:21By 1965, I had definitely decided that I was going to be an actor,
0:25:21 > 0:25:24but I fancied myself as a wee bit of a dandy.
0:25:24 > 0:25:30So me and my pal Brian Pettifer went down to London
0:25:30 > 0:25:32to the Portobello Road and got ourselves the gear,
0:25:32 > 0:25:35which at the time was scarlet military jackets.
0:25:35 > 0:25:39That's right, and we brought them back up to Glasgow.
0:25:39 > 0:25:42- We thought we were the bee's knees. - The cock of the walk.
0:25:42 > 0:25:44And we went out one day, beautiful day, George Square...
0:25:44 > 0:25:48- I remember.- ..wandering around, and we thought, "This is great."
0:25:48 > 0:25:52When all of a sudden, we were surrounded by a bunch of neds.
0:25:52 > 0:25:54And one of them, the guy at the front,
0:25:54 > 0:25:57stopped us and he went, "All right, boys...
0:25:57 > 0:25:59"Love the jackets. Where did you get them?"
0:25:59 > 0:26:03And I said, "London. London, aye. We've just been in London.
0:26:03 > 0:26:05"We bought them, we've come up here, eh? No bad."
0:26:05 > 0:26:08So he says, "Aw-haw, a couple of London boys, eh?
0:26:08 > 0:26:11"Well, as a matter of fact, as it happens,
0:26:11 > 0:26:15"they jackets were stole off us at a party last night. Get them off!"
0:26:15 > 0:26:20And I said, "Stolen? At a party? Where's your proof?"
0:26:20 > 0:26:23So he looked at us, and goes, "There's my proof,"
0:26:23 > 0:26:26and he had a big sword stuck doon his troosers.
0:26:26 > 0:26:28So I grabbed Brian, cos I'd spotted a big polis man
0:26:28 > 0:26:31at the other side of the square, and I grabbed Brian and I said,
0:26:31 > 0:26:33"Brian, run!" And we legged it as fast as we could.
0:26:33 > 0:26:35We got other side of the square and we got to the
0:26:35 > 0:26:39safety of the big Glasgow polis, and we were in a hell of a lather.
0:26:39 > 0:26:42And I said to him, "Look, Officer, those boys over there,
0:26:42 > 0:26:43"they surrounded us.
0:26:43 > 0:26:46"They're a gang. They've got knives, knuckle-dusters, bayonets,
0:26:46 > 0:26:49- "and they threatened us."- And he looked at us and he says...
0:26:49 > 0:26:52- "What do you expect, dressed like that?"- Fair enough, eh?
0:26:52 > 0:26:55'And that was one life lesson that didn't go to waste.
0:26:55 > 0:26:59'I used that encounter with the polis to draw from in future roles.'
0:27:09 > 0:27:10If you were...
0:27:10 > 0:27:12studying Glasgow over the years,
0:27:12 > 0:27:17you could do a lot worst than watch all the episodes of Taggart
0:27:17 > 0:27:20because, of course, Glasgow is one of the central features of Taggart.
0:27:20 > 0:27:22You know, the city itself.
0:27:22 > 0:27:25And you can see the buildings that were there that have gone now...
0:27:25 > 0:27:27up to the present day. I mean, we were filming...
0:27:27 > 0:27:30One of the episodes we were filming was down by the big granary
0:27:30 > 0:27:32that used to be down by the Clydeside,
0:27:32 > 0:27:34and it was there when we started the episode.
0:27:34 > 0:27:37By the time we finished the episode, the granary had gone.
0:27:37 > 0:27:38There he is. One to Charlie Delta 3.
0:27:38 > 0:27:41Suspect heading into the old granary on South Street.
0:27:41 > 0:27:42Follow me in.
0:27:46 > 0:27:49You know, so you can see the changes in Glasgow all through the years.
0:27:49 > 0:27:52I think it's quite a significant series.
0:27:52 > 0:27:55The thing about Glasgow is it's full of stories.
0:27:55 > 0:27:57You could make hundreds of programmes just like this one
0:27:57 > 0:28:01because what makes the place so special is the people who live here.
0:28:01 > 0:28:03Buildings go up and buildings come down,
0:28:03 > 0:28:05but the people remain the same.
0:28:05 > 0:28:07- What's this? - That's bird keech!
0:28:07 > 0:28:09LAUGHTER
0:28:09 > 0:28:12Thank you for everything you've given me, Glasgow.
0:28:12 > 0:28:14You made me the man I am.
0:28:15 > 0:28:19In the mid-'60s, the great Hamish Imlach sang a song called
0:28:19 > 0:28:21Cod Liver Oil And The Orange Juice,
0:28:21 > 0:28:23and it says more about this city in its 11 verses
0:28:23 > 0:28:26than all the chapters of an academic study.
0:28:26 > 0:28:31# From the east there came a hard man
0:28:31 > 0:28:35# Oh-oh, a' the way frae Brigton
0:28:35 > 0:28:39# Ah-haw, glory hallelujah
0:28:39 > 0:28:42# Cod liver oil and the orange juice
0:28:45 > 0:28:47# He went intae a pub
0:28:47 > 0:28:49# He came oot paralytic
0:28:49 > 0:28:53# Oh-oh, VP an' the cider
0:28:53 > 0:28:57# Ah-haw What a helluva mixture... #