School gym horror in the 1970s
In the 1970s, the school gym was a torture chamber as TV historian Tony McMahon recalls less than fondly from his time at grammar school
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Irish skinheads, rude boys and punks
1980 was a the high point for the whole late 1970s revival of skinheads and there were Irish boot boys and girls around too
It’s a Sin – LGBT in the Thatcher era
The Russell T Davies series It’s a Sin shows what it was like to be young and gay in the 1980s under Margaret Thatcher and with AIDS
Mary Whitehouse versus Rambo hunks
Here is Mary Whitehouse in 1985 arguing against the movie director Michael Winner and a group of hunks dressed as the cinematic hero Rambo
Remember your first pocket calculator?
Most of us got our first pocket calculator in the 1970s but were then told by maths teachers that we were forbidden to use them in our exams
Science fiction obsessed 1970s kids – like me!
1970s kids were obsessed with science fiction as we were influenced by the Apollo space missions and the Soviet cosmonaut program
Kojak advertises Bacardi Rum in the 1980s
An advert from 1983 – the late Telly Savalas advertising Bacardi Rum. Best known for his starring role as the tough New York detective, Kojak. That police series was big in the 70s.
The look of new technology in 1983!
New technology in 1983 involved TVs with text services, washing machines with computer chips and a new generation of microwave ovens
Travelling back to 1980s Liverpool clubs
The 1980s Liverpool club scene was an amazingly vibrant and fun affair with clubs like Cagneys and the Mardi Gras as well as The Raz and The Caz
Misery of unemployment in the 1980s
As mass unemployment returns after Covid, Tony McMahon looks back at unemployment in the 1980s which scaled horrific heights