Coventry heroes escaping the Ghost Town
In 1981 – Coventry really was the Ghost Town but local heroes like Neville Staple and Errol Christie were trying to make a difference – as Tony McMahon reports
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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
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…
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
When Thatcher caved in to the miners
In 1981, Conservative Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher caved into the miners but was simply biding her time for a future showdown
Labour PM Callaghan loses to Thatcher
1979 saw Tory leader Margaret Thatcher defeat Labour Prime Minister James Callaghan in a stormy general election as Tony McMahon remembers
1980s Skinhead Gays – a complicated story
The 1980s gay skinhead scene involved both an element of cosplay but also some individuals who were neo-Nazis and LGBT
Racism in 1980s Coventry night clubs
Night clubs still operating a race bar in the 70s and 80s
Bigoted judges in the 1970s and 1980s
The 1970s and 1980s saw some bigoted judges make outrageous comments on homosexuality, race and trades unions as Tony McMahon reports