Dave Wakeling of The Beat draws himself
Dave Wakeling was the front man of the British ska combo The Beat and here is a self-portrait he penned when the band was at the height of its fame
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WH Smith goes ska in 1980
1979 and 1980 were the glory years of the so-called “second wave” of ska music – first wave in Jamaica twenty plus years before and now the 2Tone wave came crashing out of Coventry. The Specials seized the charts by the scruff of the neck with a string of hits. And even WH Smith felt…
Heroes of 2Tone in the Record Mirror
Heroes of 2Tone in the Record Mirror – from my archives!
Neville Staple: Original Rude Boy
Tony McMahon co-wrote Original Rude Boy – the authorised biography of Neville Staple, vocalist in the legendary group, The Specials
How to survive a nuclear war
Back in 1980, the UK government gave advice on how to survive a nuclear war that was rubbished at the time as Tony McMahon discovers
Queen’s Speech for a nuclear war
In 2003, it was revealed that in the event of a nuclear war the Queen would deliver a special speech before being bundled to safety as Tony McMahon discovers
Back to the Future with De Lorean
The movie Back to the Future featured a DeLorean car but behind that story was a real-life scandal in Northern Ireland as Tony McMahon discovers
Northern Ireland in 1979
The Northern Ireland troubles reached a fever pitch in 1979 with the assassinations of Airey Neave and Lord Mountbatten