Keeping alive the glorious spirit of 1976
Well here we are. It is hard to credit that a full half-century has passed since 1976, the year which gave us that long hot summer which is talked about even today, which provided with so much great television, cinema and memorable events in sport, and which in music served as a cultural crossroads of a kind that we have never quite seen the likes of since.
Continue ReadingBack in November 2022, a very well-written and thought-provoking piece appeared in The Guardian. Entitled “‘Who remembers proper binmen?’ The nostalgia memes that help explain Britain today”, it was penned by one Dan Hancox and became the latest offering from the newspaper’s The Long Read series of articles, which it describes as “in-depth reporting, essays […]
Continue Reading1000 Memories of 1976 is just as the name suggests, except that there are actually many more than a thousand. Each and every memory was solicited through Facebook groups whose admins kindly lent me their platforms, and was crafted together into a veritable mosaic of nostalgia which I hope will serve as a valuable reference point for present and future historians of the era.
Continue ReadingBeing 58 is the first of a series of booklets through which I hope to create some context for my already-published novel, set in 1976, entitled The Best Year Of Our Lives.
Continue ReadingMy introduction to “pop” music came, peculiarly, in the person of Michael Jackson. We were at primary school, I was ten years old. For reasons which I cannot recall, one particular day was declared to be a “free” day – no lessons, no classwork, no booky stuff. Instead we were invited to bring in our 45s, to be played to the class on the old record player brought into school by the teacher.
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