Young, black and British in 1970s Coventry
Being young, black and British in 1970s Coventry was tough but Neville Staple and Errol Christie escaped from the Ghost Town
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1980s Psychedelic Revival
From 1979, Britain saw a brief Psychedelic Revival born out of punk and the Mod Revival as Tony McMahon discovers
Disability Rights punk pioneer Ian Dury
Punk icon and polio sufferer Ian Dury was a pioneer for disability rights with this song Spasticus Autisticus
The Adventures of Thin Lizzy
The Adventures of Thin Lizzy – a promotional ad for the band’s 1981 album
Ghost Town – my ska 2tone optioned drama
Ghost Town is a ska 2Tone drama set in Coventry and optioned by author Tony McMahon based on real-life stories from the 1980s
Bands playing Northern Ireland during The Troubles
Bands often avoided Northern Ireland during The Troubles so the province generated its own punk scene as Tony McMahon discovers
1980s Rockabilly and the Teddy Boy revival
1980s Rockabilly fused rock’n’roll and punk but traditional British Teddy Boys were not amused as Tony McMahon discovers
Walthamstow – Mecca of Punk and New Wave
Walthamstow in north east London has a proud Punk and New Wave history centred on Small Wonder Records as Tony McMahon reports
Berlin and the 1980s German pop craze
In the early 1980s – British indie kids got into German pop especially the so-called Neue Deutsche Welle as Tony McMahon recalls
Robert Plant on Tiswas
In 1981, Led Zeppelin front man Robert Plant found himself on children’s programme Tiswas as Tony McMahon discovers