Kirkcaldy YM: A look back at one of the town's iconic music venues

When looking at the currently closed venues in our area it led me to examine the iconic venues too.
Jim Cooper was the man behind booking some top names for Kirkcaldy YM over the years.Jim Cooper was the man behind booking some top names for Kirkcaldy YM over the years.
Jim Cooper was the man behind booking some top names for Kirkcaldy YM over the years.

In terms of quality and close encounters with innovative musicians there can be no better place to revisit than the YMCA in Valley Gardens and the man responsible for booking and arranging this historic stage was Jim Cooper.

When the YM moved from Kirk Wynd to its current location, the 23-year-old James, a runner for the Harriers, became general secretary and had contacts in the music industry.

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He would visit London’s legendary Marquee club to seek new acts for the Saturday night slot in Kirkcaldy, only made financially feasible by booking the acts into the Students Union at Edinburgh University on the Friday, YM Saturday and Maryland Ballroom Glasgow on the Sunday.

So, it became a Scottish mini weekend tour, and that Glasgow connection would bring the best of Scottish bands too.

Jim recalls The Pathfinders who signed to the Beatles’ label Apple as White Trash, Dream Police with Hamish Stuart & Onnie McIntyre, later of Average White Band and The Stoics with a young Frankie Miller on vocals.

The Poets (with Hughie Nicolson later of Marmalade) arguably Scotland’s finest played regularly. Marmalade, Bay City Rollers and The Shadettes soon to become Nazareth all played.

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They all loved the Kirkcaldy audience and none more than a young Robert Plant with his Band Of Joy who told a national newspaper of some great nights there.

His drummer was John Bonham, so already here was half of Led Zeppelin.

His driver and roadie was Noddy Holder who would bring his own band to the YM, Ambrose Slade just months before they shortened the name and changed from skinheads to glam to conquer the charts.

I mentioned Rory Gallagher recently, but many local music buffs cite John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers on April 5, 1968 as the biggest coup with Keff Hartley on drums, 15-year-old Andy Fraser on bass (later in Free) and Mick Taylor, soon to be a Rolling Stone on guitar.

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Unlicensed for alcohol and standing room only reports say 800 were in the ‘big room’ downstairs, yet other acts preferred the smaller room upstairs like Jethro Tull.

In August 1969 Earth played their whole debut album at the YM, within a year, with the same line up they would a benchmark for heavy metal as Black Sabbath.

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