About the blog

Contact: tonymcmahon@rostraconsulting.org

Hi – I’m TV historian Tony McMahon and I grew up in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. My obsession with these incredible decades spans several topics…

• The music and culture of the last quarter of the 20th century – an incredibly vibrant time for pop, rock, movies, and television. I went through several youth cults in those years from 2Tone to New Wave and punk.
• The politics of those decades was every bit as turbulent as today – though maybe more optimistic. I was heavily involved in the Labour Party battles of that era, very much on the “hard” left of the party. For a period in the early 1980s I joined the Militant and spent five years in Liverpool. Plus I threw myself into the 1984-85 miners’ strike.
• Later in life, I worked in counter-terrorism and countering violent extremism. Now, to be clear, I never endorsed the use of violence as a young man, but I do understand how revolutionary groups operate. As our society becomes ever more polarised, I can draw on my own life experience to understand what is going on.

I have a vast library of books, pamphlets, gig merchandise, leaflets, badges, etc, etc from the 1970s to 1990s. I was both a political activist and something of an avid clubber. In fact, the university newspaper once said of me:

“Tony McMahon must make up his mind whether he is a dedicated Marxist or a decadent disco kid.”

Well, back then, I chose to be both.

Some other bullet points about me:

• Co-author of two biographies set back in the  early 1980s: Neville Staple, vocalist in The Specials, and Errol Christie, ex-professional boxer (the latter book put up for two major literary awards). Both books published by Aurum Press/Quarto. This involved years of research, mainly in Coventry where both Staple and Christie grew up. I became thoroughly immersed in the 2Tone scene and Neville’s book was published as The Specials reformed and toured in 2010
• In 2008, I optioned a screenplay “Ghost Town” about four young British blacks trying to get out of Coventry via music and sport. We had the life rights for Neville, Errol, Pauline Black and footballer Garry Thompson – represented by Blake Friedmann, optioned by EMU Films
• In 2010, Errol Christie was the boxing consultant and trainer to the play Sucker Punch first staged at the Royal Court Theatre in London and starring Daniel Kaluuya who went on to become a Hollywood star
• Author of Quest for the True Cross – published by Bertelsmann in Europe, a historical fiction that led to me becoming a regular on-screen contributor on Discovery, History, Smithsonian and documentaries on other TV channels
• Author of The Battle For British Islam published by Saqi Books and reviewed in The Sunday Times, New Statesman, CNN, BBC, Sky News and other global media
• Former BBC news producer
• Print journalist for 20 years
• 1984/85 Deputy President, Liverpool University Guild of Students
• Early 1980s – Labour Party activist
• I run the Beardy History website and appear on history programmes as a pundit on everything from the Tudors to the Templars!

Join me as we journey through those tumultuous decades.