Last hurrah for Fife band with Burntisland Civic Week gig after 66 years

Des Linsley, founder and frontman of Des and the Dingoes, is calling it a day after he plays at this year’s Burntisland Civic Week after performing to crowds across the Kingdom for the last 66 years.

Des was just 17 when the band started in the late 1950s – he’s now 83.

After years of playing in pubs, clubs and community halls across the local area, Des has decided it’s time to take a well-earned break and retire.

The final performance for the band will be at Burntisland Golf Club on Saturday night – an event which sold out in just ten minutes when tickets went on sale a few months ago.

Speaking ahead of the final live performance, Des said: “It’s got to come some time. All good things come to an end.

"We’re all spread out all over Fife, Dundee and Perth, and it’s the travel and we’re all getting older now.”

Des and six other lads came together in the late 1950s playing skiffle in a garden shed in Burntisland’s Kilmundy Drive.

Their first performance as The Lonesome Hobos took place in the Parish Church hall, where many youth activities took place at the time. They only had six songs and with the audience calling for ‘more’ they had to increase their repertoire fast.

Although they started with skiffle, they went on to play rock and roll as names like Chuck Berry, Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis, Buddy Holly and The Beatles become popular.

The Star, which was The Cedar Inn, in Aberdour became their first residency and they went on to have a residency in Burntisland’s The Crown for 12 years.

The band changed their name to Des and the Dingoes on the advice of Des’ cousin in the early 1960s copying the format of many singer/band groups of the day.

Speaking about his time in the band, Des, who was a welder in Burntisland Shipyard as his day job, said “being in amongst the crowd and part of the atmosphere” was the best part of it.

"We’ve found over the years, the smaller the venue, the better the atmosphere.

"Every night was a good night.

"It’s the laughs that we’ve had, the fun times and seeing people enjoying themselves that’s what it’s all about.

"We've had a lot of fun on the way and made a lot of friends.”

The original Dingoes were John Seivwright (vocals), John Beavers (guitar), Walter Stenton (banjo), Ian Workman/Kenny McKerral (drums) and Jimmy Kerr (T. Chest). George Rough on the washboard practised in the shed but never performed publicly.

However life events have seen a constant flow of ‘Dingoes’ over the decades as people came and went, but Des remained at the forefront.

There have also been many ‘guest’ musicians including Charlie Kilgour on piano, but most famous are Darrel Sweet and Dan Macafferty of Nazareth.

He said: “There’s been a lot of Dingoes over the years, some are no longer with us.

“The very first song on Saturday will be for one of the guitarists – Buddy who died at the end of last year.

"It wouldn’t have been possible without all the Dingoes to keep things going over the years.”

So after all these years are there any tracks Des would consider a favourite?

"All the rock and roll I like, but there’s no particular song that sticks out. Probably ‘Move It’ was one of the best,” he adds.

What’s next for Des once he steps away from the mic?

"When we started we were playing in a shed at the bottom of the garden in Kilmundy Drive and now I’m playing over the fence in a shed in the garden in Meldrum Crescent.

“Oh I’ll still be in the shed and I’ll still be recording things for my own benefit.”