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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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
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
Robert Plant on Tiswas
In 1981, Led Zeppelin front man Robert Plant found himself on children’s programme Tiswas as Tony McMahon discovers
Kraftwerk releases Computer World
In 1981, Kraftwerk released the Computer World album at a time when synth pop was dominating the charts and Tony McMahon was there
Punk and Ska movies of the 1980s
The start of the 1980s saw some cultish punk and ska movies that captured the rebellious spirit of the time
Pen pals – making friends pre-digital
In an age before social media, dating apps and mass travel, Pen Pals was how we found out about far off exotic parts of the world
The 1980s Mod Revival
The Mod Revival of the late 1970s to early 1980s saw an attempt to recapture the glory days of Mod in the 1960s
Yes and the Buggles in disastrous merger
In 1980 prog rock group Yes and New Wave electro band The Buggles merged in one of the oddest musical marriages of all time
Siouxsie Sioux says pop is rubbish…
Siouxsie Sioux of the Banshees declared in 1982 that pop was over in terms of its excitement and daring compared to the 1960s