HELLO FROM DIZZIES BAR LEITH EDINBURGH SCOTLAND
Hope to tell you a bit about Dizzies bar, Dizzies was a bar i had never heard of, my friend Charlie Low from years ago was doing the karaoke in the bar, Charlie was from a band back in the old days, so i went with Charlie to see what this was all about,karaoke was new in Edinburgh and Charlie was in first. and he was good at it, he could sing that helped, easy going chaz, he had a hat and a drawing of him self like a cartoon, it soon became his gimick, he did lots of places not just Dizzies. Charlie liked to move on always looking to better things,and thats when i got my break,he got an offer to go to Cyprus. dont ask me twice said Charlie,good money and sun he was off . so leaving me to get on with things, in at the deep end, watching chaz and learning from him was easy for me he had set the stage so you would just follow it, no turning back.so i did all the places, used charlies machine etc i made money so did Charlie, it was going good guns. when charlie come back from Cyprus back to karaoke here, then back to Cyprus,so i went to Cyprus, but came back to do my own thing, AT DIZZIES and what a bar it had it all.Friday Saturday night, karaoke, we were never short of singers, the bar was allways full. and i have to say not many bad singers, LEITH could handle it easy, it was a hard pub all the tough ones in one place, fights did break out like most bars in Leith, but a kind of respect when in Dizzies.due to the owner IRENE you did not cross her or any bar staff, she would give you a look and you no not to try anything, she was good for the place you felt safe, funny to say that but you did, some of the hardest men would come in to the pub,but they were no bother to the karaoke and thank god for that, i got on well with them they just wanted to do there songs, and for hard men they could sing, so my job was easy. they would look out for you as well when you were out in other pubs so thanks to them. DIZZIES had all ages come in OAPs in the afternoon they played doms cards etc, week days were ok as well dart team, doms and so on. Saturday afternoon if football was at home full of Hibs fans. i will leave it at that just now , watch for the next part soon.
PART 2 OF THE STORY
This is were the fun begins. Lots of characters came through Dizzies doors. Most of them were regulars. At first it took some getting to know them, but through the aid of a wonderfull karaoke setup and a voice that mesmorised most ears it all just seemed to charm them. We had an A to Z book of songs, most of the songs were unusual for Karaoke. We had old favorites that no-one else in leith had and for me I was never out of place with age. We also had one of the regulars David Winton who would whistle the Ringo Star hit Your Sixteen. After his song he would recieve a huge applause. Having enjoyed the applause so much he decided to stay. On his way back to the bar I could hear him say loudly who will sub me a tenner. Then there was Patricia nicknamed DP, only the regulars knew what that was about. She came all the way from Sighthill to Leith just for Karaoke. DP was one of the biggest Dizzie characters, she would clear ashtrays and tumblers just for a free drink from Irene. She used to give her odd jobs to do just for a drink, it made her feel important. She could also rattle out a song. Please release me, and we did have to let her go. Another character Dennis who used Dizzies long before I arrived, used to scribble things on bits of paper, when asked what he was doing, he said it was notes for his book, Its been over ten years now and no sign of the book yet. If it does come out you will need a wheelbarrow to get it home, it will have millions of pages. Dennis was no youngster it took him about two years to sing a song on Karaoke. You could tell he was a toff by his song choice, (Only a working man). Other characters you can read about them, the gang of gray team, read the stories on this web site http://dizzys1.tripod.com click this link. This site will explain how obsessed we were in dizzies and with Karaoke. Thats enough for now. Watch out for part three soon.
PART 3
Lets talk about the young crew as I called them, without fail Friday and Saturday they were all in early, all the karaoke slips got filled in fast. And it was cabaret time the girls some only 17, I think could sing all the new songs, I say 17 could be younger very hard to tell all dressed up and they look older. They were good fun when you had the girls in the boys followed, they could not keep up with the girls singing, I hide the TV so only the singer could see the words, if you were a stranger in the bar they would say how can they remember the words, well that’s what made it so good, it was a live act on stage, and did not look like a karaoke. We had people come in just to watch, sometimes I would put the music to a different key, it would creep up on the singer and it was to late for them, I said it was them singing not the music I got away with it most times, sometimes we would get young lads come from other pubs to sing at Dizzies. We had a good sound system, some lads wanted to show of to the girls, I will sing Robbie Williams pal they would say ok I would say, they all looked the part till they started, if they were good I would change that change the mike tones, add bass they would look at the mic, I would say come on this is a show can you sing or not, they would just batter on then leave with there ego dented it was my way of doing things, they would come for one song and leave like a hero, not anymore I won, the regulars knew what I was up to and could not wait to listen to them. The young crew loved it all I would write about the each night on the web site to keep them interested in it I would tell them there girl friend was seeing someone else all just lies, they would slag me about it, the fun was endless, at my age I could get away with it. Dizzies was the right size, it was not a big bar everyone was In one part of the bar the atmosphere was electric sometimes no one wanted leave, it was a real pub it was all going on at dizzies, we had to shut the doors when it got to busy. For a back street bar it paid its way it was open at 6am to 1pm 6 days a week Sunday closed at 11am karaoke was on every Friday and Saturday 8pm to 1am then the lockin`s after that began, a knock at the door and still they came in, ok I will leave it at that for now, part 4 next about IRENE the early days ? One woman and hard times
IRENE AND THE HARD TIMES. This story I heard from the woman herself,when she first walked into Dizzies it had nothing,no stock, phone, or most things a bar would need, she spent a lot of money to get it up and running, when she finally opened the doors the pub was looking good.Then only the OAPs would wander in to see what it was like and of course get a heat and save there own electricity, then a few lads came in she thought things were looking up, but that soon changed, the lads asked her if she had any protection for the pub, she said what do you mean, well the lads said people to protect your pub and your gantry, what if something was to happen in the pub, like your gantry getting smashed up with a fight, so for a few quid they would protect it. IRENE said I see what you mean, just wait there a bit and she disappeared then came back with a baseball bat from the back of the pub, the lads thought she would use it on them but IRENE was way ahead of them, she took one big swing at the gantry smashing it to bits then calmly turned to the lads and said so nothing to protect now is there so I wont require your services boys. The cost of smashing the gantry was cheaper than paying the lads each week, a one of payment to replace it and get a reputation of being a MAD WOMAN, well for about 6 weeks the bar was empty the odd one or two would come through the door, IRENE stuck it out and her plan worked, people wanted to see this MAD WOMAN she was far from mad and a very good business woman, tough yes she had to be it was Leith she was in, when the news got round IRENE was a Dizzies hero. She was good to her regulars and OAPs, if she had a good week she always gave something back never greedy, she was a good worker also, she would put a dancer on for the football boys on a Saturday. She knew how to make money not everyones cup of tea but it worked all the staff were female it attracts the drinkers, she was spot on. A song I would sing to her summed her up she was my woman of gold, yes T REX, she always had the gold on she liked to dress well, you could not miss her behind the bar, you would know who the boss was, she had more gold than del boy, when she sold Dizzies she bought a hotel, the Corner Hotel in Carnoustie,I would go and do the karaoke for her again the place was packed, she looked after me just like a brother, now Dizzies has changed hands a few times, but it will never recall the days I knew, we cant turn the clock back, and that’s why we have THE HISTORY OF DIZZIES. I would like to thank some people for there support in the time I was there mostly all the regulars from dizzies. A BIG THANK YOU. also i would like to thank Lillian Stewart who filled in for me when i was away, stage name FAG ASH LIL, THE END. 15/09/2010
EMAIL SID SINGONE@HOTMAIL.CO.UK
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