1975 - Long Hot Summer (Number One)

The Rams top the League without Brian Clough
Neilson, the Black Panther kills poor Lesley
Thatcher is the new lead Conservative
The Moorgate tube crash, death of a Saudi
King, Lebanese are fighting civilly
North Vietnam finally takes Saigon
In neighbouring Cambodia, the monarchy
Uses the Khmer Rouge to restore the throne
But they don't, they just kill, back to Year One
The London Hilton bombed. Patty Hearst's tough
But the cops get her and she lives. Ali
Beats Smokin' Joe in Manila. In Spain
Franco dies. Queen rhapsodise. Woody's Love
And Death. Hot summer, Devon holiday

1974 - Haile and farewell

Half-days at school, OPEC oil embargo
Lasts til the spring, til Abba's Waterloo
Portugal's people say it's time to go
To those stuffy old men who've ruled for too
Long, and won't leave their colonies. The U
VF bomb Dublin, and Monaghan. It's
The World Cup in Germany - England, you
Stayed home, knocked out by Poland, but the Scots
Are there - the eventual winners, the Krauts
Ali beats Foreman in Zaire, Turks flow
Into Cyprus, Nixon resigns - crooks do
Get away with it sometimes - and Ford trips
(Literally) into the hot seat. Bombs blow
Up Birmingham... Jaws, Tinker Tailor too

1973 - Well oil be damned

UK, Ireland, Denmark join EEC
Elvis live from Hawaii via satellite
US ends its war, Paris Peace Treaty
World Trade Centre and Sears Tower reach full height
Skylab launched, but more leaks on Watergate
Deep Throat and White House Tapes start spilling beans
Allende suicide and Pinochet
In US-backed coup in Chile - oh, please
Kissinger Sec of State, Agnew resigns
Ford new VP, Yom Kippur War, Sinai
Back to Egypt, Sadat more westernised
From now til his death. Slow, the oil pipelines
As crude doubles in price, OPEC turn the
Screw. Sydney Opera House. Blanco's demise

1972 - Glam shock

Bloody Sunday in Derry, the Claudy
And Belfast bombings, retaliation
Aldershot's innocent deaths lead to the
Official IRA ceasefire. Nixon
Visits an ill Mao and Chou, but undone
By Watergate, the original 'gate'
Who paid for the break-in and spying on
The Democrats? Tricky Dicky does beat
McGovern, though. Asians told to get out
Of Uganda by Amin. Atari
Video game 'Pong'. The Munich Games go on
Though terrorists kill Israeli athletes
Last Moon landings confirm the place seems dry
Second Cod War, and Oz PM Whitlam

1971 - The view from space

In Glasgow, Rangers / Celtic fans are crushed
Western oil companies talk with OPEC
Apollo 14 and 15 have splashed
Back down. East Pakistan a flooded wreck
And West Pakistan occupies, but next
Independence is declared, with Indian
Help later on. Soyuz astronauts dock
With Salyut 1 space station, the Russian
Astronauts dying on the way back down
Trouble in Turkey, the Ceylonese clash
Arsenal win the double, UN accepts
Communist China rather than Taiwan
Jimbo dies in his bath, fierce rioters
In Northern Ireland and Attica's bricks

1970 - All kinds of everything

Biafra loses, Jagger's cannabis
Black Sabbath's two LP's, Jeff MacDonald
Kills wife and daughters, pretends it's hippies
Rhodesia alone, SA in the cold
Dana wins Euro Song, Brazil win World
Cup in Mexico, Beatles break up, 'Nam
Slows down, Apollo 13 moon trip stalled
Cambodia invaded, Kent State deaths on
Campus, Peru earthquake, East Pakistan
Cyclone flood deaths, Heath beats Wilson surprise
Isle of Wight, Hendrix and Joplin both fall
Black September in Jordan, Lebanon
Baader-Meinhof rob banks, and Nasser dies
Quebec, Assad, Mishima, Basques, Poland

1969 - All in living colour

March from Belfast to Derry and take part
In the grand old Battle of the Bogside
Burn yourself in Prague for the lack of heart
Your people show, preferring just to hide
Read 'The Godfather' - Mary Jo has died -
Pompidou's President, land on the Moon
And make Charles Prince of Wales, fill kids with pride
Stonewall riots, Manson murders, the tune
Is Helter Skelter, Get Back, Something. Soon
Asia can fight by itself, says Richard
Nixon, and see Russia and China fight
Gaddafi comes, Ho Chi Minh goes, Python
And Sesame Street on TV, which starts
Regularly in colour, all three sides

1968 - 68 Special

Dubcek's Prague Spring - then tanks come rolling in
Paris also rises, students play-act
In 'Nam, the Tet Offensive, Charlie's turn
To turn up the heat, but US reacts
At My Lai. In Chicago, Democrats
Nominate Humphrey, now Bobby's been shot
MLK too, and two Black Power salutes
In Mexico, whose Government shot at
Protesters and passers-by. Also hot
In Brum, with Enoch's speech, though it might win
The next election for Heath. Man U's cracked
That elusive Euro Cup win. Val's shot
Holes in Warhol, Catholics protest in
NI... Dick Nixon, Concorde, Jumbo Jet

1967 - Chemical love

The Doors are open, attend a be-in
Fossils in Kenya and a coup in Greece
Big oil spill and a strangler in Boston
Is caught, while anti-war demos increase
Muhammad Ali says no to service
Britain and Ireland say 'Please' - France says no
Wilson was pro-Europe, not just Ted Heath
Australia drops racism, but below
The sea sinks Harold Holt, PM... Igbo
Of Biafra, tired of Nigerian
Status, go it alone. Israel will seize
Hostile border areas in Six Days, though
They're still there today. Summer of rioting
Not just Love. Pink Floyd. Radio One, Two, Three...

1966 - Bomb on bomb

Changes in Nigeria, Indonesia
Indira Gandhi, Pope meets Kosygin
France leaves NATO, and Mao's anti-bourgeois
Cultural Revolution has begun
Quarter-million soldiers in Vietnam
Bombs on Hanoi and Haiphong, massacres
In the South, but relations have fallen
Between Brezhnev and Mao. Serial killers
In the USA, worldwide plane crashes
The Krays and Harold Wilson are stars here
Syria and Israel clash round the Jordan
England win the World Cup, SA offers
Help to racist Rhodesia. Revolver
Pet Sounds, Blonde On Blonde, Yoko meets Lennon

1965 - Life's a riot

Three civil rights marches, Alabama
Beatings and shootings by Wallace's men
Of black protesters and their white helpers
LBJ's speech says 'We shall overcome'
The troops start to head off to Vietnam
Berkeley students burn their draft cards, teach-ins
Against war there and at the Pentagon
In LA, the Watts riots are burning
Cassius Clay downs Liston in boxing's ring
The Beatles at Shea Stadium and furore
As Dylan goes electric, while the Moon
Is explored by Ranger. Mary Poppins
Wins Oscars. Thunderbirds on TV air
Che leaves Cuba, the Moors Murders sicken

1964 - Burning crosses

The Vietnam War builds up to its flashpoint
More US forces gradually trickle in
A coup in the South, the new regime wants
To attack the North, like the Americans
And soon, a clash in the Gulf of Tonkin
Followed by a US bombing campaign
Approved by LBJ. Meanwhile within
The States, Civil Rights murders are a stain
On Mississippi's soil, while Johnson's name
Is signed on the Civil Rights Act, against
Segregation - he then says let's begin
The Great Society. Soon to be slain
Malcolm X leaves Nation of Islam. Don't
Be left-wing! - Brazil's army coup warning

1963 - Please Feed Me

'63's biggest event - I was born
Although of it I remember nothing
While Plath and Cline declined to less than warm
Dylan and the Beatles both took to wing
Beeching's rail cuts, Big Freeze continuing
South Vietnam regime change, De Gaulle's 'Non!'
George Wallace against Civil Rights struggling
JFK's for them but he gets shot down
While in Manchester, Moors Murders begin
Great Train Robbery, the Profumo storm
John 23 to Paul 6, popes changing
MLK dreams his dream in Washington
Surtsey Island and Dr Who are born
Kenya independent, Cyprus fighting

1962 - Baby, it's cold outside

De Gaulle calls for Algerian freedom and
It's granted, despite French reactionaries
Seattle World's Fair, Century 21
Wal-Mart opens, and Marvel Comics - see
Warhol's soup cans, and see At&T's
Telstar, Marilyn's demise, Mandela
Arrested, Jamaica's free, James Bond, he's
Up against Dr No, Silent Spring, The
Beatles say Love Me Do, Himalaya
Battles, India and China, J. Carson's
Tonight Show, Gay Byrne's Late Late Show, a freeze
In the Cold War with missiles in Cuba
Lawrence of Arabia premieres, London
December, the Big Freeze begins - don't sneeze!

1961 - Freedom riders

The USA tries to replace Castro
The Bay of Pigs invaders run squealing
And Fidel realises he must go
To Russia for protection, thus leading
To the missile crisis. Ike goes, warning
Of the military-industrial complex
JFK's here, stands up for West Berlin
As the Wall goes up, and to combat Viets
Sends 'military advisers'...A Soviet
Spy ring's found in London, but they are so
Quick, with Yuri first in space, exploding
The world's biggest bomb ever, but then let's
Admit the Yanks soon caught up (Apollo)
But their southern civil rights were wanting

1960 - Sunset over Africa

In 1960 many colonies
In Africa become independent
Chad, Mali, Cameroon, the Congolese
Nigeria, Niger... However, in
Algeria it's war against the French
Who won't let go, and this year detonate
Nuclear bombs in the desert there. The stench
From South Africa of its apartheid
Is strongest in Sharpeville - they demonstrate
Against the pass laws and get shot. Patrice
Lumumba is deposed while the western
Powers look on. Mobutu takes the state
Of Congo into dark times. Japanese
Protest their treaty with the Americans

1959 - Miles on wheels

Castro takes Havana, Motown starts up
February 3rd's the day the music dies
Makarios takes charge in independent Chypre
Tibet rebellion, Dalai Lama flies
The Kind of Blue sessions released by Miles
Britain gives its freedom to Singapore
Alaska's the 49th state, Hawaii's
The 50th. Earth's photographed by camera
From space. The hovercraft and Mini car
The South Vietnamese Diem regime's corrupt
The peasants welcome Ho Chi Minh's supplies
The biggest film in '59's Ben Hur
The Clutters killed 'in cold blood' (Truman Cap)
The M1's open - cars flash by like flies

1958 - Has anybody seen our bomb?

January '58 - the EEC
Europe seriously tries to unify
Benelux, France, Italy, Germany
(West), begin what still rumbles on today
I wonder, should we smile, or laugh, or cry
Hydrogen bombs dropped on the USA
By its own forces accidentally
CND marches begin all the way
From London to Berkshire. Fidel and Che
Are taking Cuba militarily
Close but no cigar, Batista. They cry
Over the Munich Air Crash to this day
Brazil, with Pele, win the World Cup. The
French bring back De Gaulle but lose colonies

1957 - Looking at the stars

Elvis gets bigger, Macmillan's PM
That tedious Bergman film, The Seventh Seal
American Bandstand, a new program
The Cavern Club opens in Liverpool
And Egypt opens the Suez Canal
The Cat In The Hat, Euro Song Contest
Sukarno wants no Dutch left on his isles
Howl and On The Road heading way out west
While West Side Story's on stage in the East
A supersonic jet's flown by John Glenn
But Sputniks 1 and 2 are the real deal
In Little Rock the schools are still racist
GB's gay rights helped by Lord Wolfenden's
Report, though it takes ten years to be real

1956 - Tanks for the memory

Not so long ago, back in '56
Nasser was making waves in the Suez
Canal, nationalising it for Egypt
Britain and allies France were unimpressed
And, with Israel, thought they'd invade to wrest
The land from this pushy Arab, but then
They were overruled and told to desist
By the equally pushy new UN
Meanwhile, Cyprus' Greeks wanted union
With Greece, but this plan surely put at risk
The Brits' military base. Hungary was
Keen to leave the Warsaw Pact. Tanks rolled in
From Russia. Suddenly, there was Elvis
Look Back In Anger, and Brigitte was sex

1955 - Commie chameleon

1955, the start of Scrabble
And a rail crash down in Sutton Coldfield
Communist China and Taiwan squabble
And Ray Kroc starts to expand McDonalds
The Warsaw Pact, spies come in from the cold
Claudette Colvin and Rosa Parks protest
Having to give up bus seats when they're told
In Montgomery. Bus boycotts do the rest
Martin Luther King's tactics pass the test
Like desegregated schools, no trouble
Unless from the white right wing. Churchill, old
Man, resigns as PM, Eden is East
This year, the cause now without a rebel
And Ruth Ellis is barbarically killed

1954 - Rebel around the clock

In Algeria, officially part of France
The FLN rebels turn up the heat
Nasser in Egypt sees this as a chance
To assist with colonial defeat
And helps them. McCarthyism is beat
By late '54 - Joe le Senator
Will die an alcoholic. Meanwhile, Viet
Minh rebels win at Dien Bien Phu, and there
Too, France is squeezed out, though, like Korea
An artificial line divides two camps
Hey, crazy cats, the new rock and roll beat
Is here, at the dawn of the teenager
Bill Haley and his Comets make us dance
And want to rip up our cinema seat

1953 - Climb every mountain

In '53, Godot at last arrives
The hydrogen bomb is the latest wheeze
Tito's top in Yugo, Uncle Joe dies
Malenkov, then Khrushchev now have the keys
To the Kremlin. A flood in the North Sea's
Drowned lots, DNA's described (Crick, Watson)
Everest Hill's climbed and Edmund Hillary's
Most pleased, while Fleming's written of James Bond
The Korean fighting comes to an end
The States agrees to help MI-6 spies
Keep the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company's
Oil flowing from Iran, and imprison
Mossadegh, while the Shah runs off and hides
And Ike likes nukes - the States need more of these

1952 - African chessboard

In '52 begins the current reign
Of Britain's Queen Elizabeth Second
George VI dies of cancer, and a plane
Brings her back from Kenya, which is now bound
For trouble, since the best of Kenyan land
Has long been appropriated by Brits
With profitable settlements, hired hands
Paid cheaply. The Mau Mau rebellion hits
Back, although Jomo Kenyatta soon sits
In prison for years. King Farouk in vain
Struts corpulently in Egypt - he's gone
And from their Gold Coast colony, the Brits
Are also leaving soon, Nkrumah's 'reign'
In Ghana bringing hope for Africans

1951 - Murder in Salford

This is to commemorate a young man
Shot down just yards from my home in Salford
(Near Manchester). The end of Ordsall Lane
Where it meets Regent Road, outside the food
Palaces of McDonalds, with its broad
Bright yellow M, and also KFC
Shine M for Murder, right beside the road
KFC means Killed For Crap. One lad, he
Carried a loaded gun on Christmas Day
Early on Boxing Day out with his gang
Was it a new toy? Could Santa afford
To take this risk? His name is Psycho, see?
Psycho Stapleton, Psycho Stapleton
Shot Anuj Bidve, shot him in the head

1950 - The Cold War heats up

In 1950, apartheid is born
As a policy in South Africa
In Belgium, Leopold III is warned
He's seen as an ex-collaborator
Next year his son Baudouin will take over
Klaus Fuchs the spy confesses to the Brits
And later emigrates to DDR
Protests against Brit forces in Egypt's
Suez region. The Cold War now erupts
As North Korea crosses the line drawn
At the 38th parallel after
World War II. The UN desperately fights
To save the South. Communist China joins
In. Stalemate ensues for many a year

1949 - Red stars in the sunset

In '49 the time has come for Mao
To proclaim the People's Republic of
China. The previous republic is now
Mainly confined to Taiwan and removed
From the mainland, assisted by the tough
Stalinist Russia, though they will fall out
There's other fallout nearby from this, both
In North Vietnam and Korea - look out
America, the dominoes no doubt
Will continue to fall. Fred Hoyle says how
The Big Bang started it all, one more move
Away from Biblical doctrine and clout
Eire becomes Ireland, Germans kowtow
To Russia in the DDR, with love

1948 - Your good health

Mahatma Gandhi shot in '48
We now have nationalised British Rail
And later this same year the British state
Also has its National Health Service, pale
But still alive 64 years on. Will
It last much longer? Ceylon, free nation
Czechoslovakia not, Communists steal
Its freedom. Singapore holds elections
Televised Ninth Symphony, Beethoven
In Palestine, end of British Mandate
Then war between the Arabs and Israel
Egypt, Syria, Iraq and Transjordan
And Palestinians all try to unite
To crush the fledgling country, make it fail

1947 - UFO. No, you FO

UK coal mines by Labour nationalised
Nigeria's autonomy authorised
Trieste is split into west and east sides
The city itself will stay westernised
In Poland and Romania they 'decide'
(With Stalin's 'help') to become Communised
In Hollywood some actors are surprised
By being put on a blacklist as spies
Meanwhile UFOs fill American skies
Truman's Doctrine aids Turkey, Greece, and tries
With Marshall's Plan, to stop Red aims to prise
Europe from monarchies, democracies
Dior creates a 'New Look' for ladies
India and Pakistan new-born countries

1946 - Sparks of David

The United Nations is underway
By '46, but soon in Palestine
There's trouble, Jewish paramilitary
Group bombs the Brits' HQ, Britain declines
To rule there further - can the UN find
A resolution? East of the Jordan
That's all Arab. Down in the Argentine
Peron (with new wife) becomes President
Derby win the Cup by beating Charlton
India's promised its freedom by Attlee
Nehru elected Congress leader. Signs
Of major conflict, Hindu and Muslim
Italy abolishes monarchy
While Greece clings to its own for a short time

1945 - The second war to end all wars

Auschwitz and other camps are found and freed
In '45, while Manila is burned
And then freed. Iwo Jima suicide
And Okinawa, Tokyo firebombed. Learn
The futility of war! Of course, when
The atom bomb is subsequently dropped
It seems world war must never come again
But the States' motive was partly to stop
The Red Army in Asia gobbling up
Korea, China, Japan, since Stalin had
Reneged on Poland at Yalta and yearned
To rule the east by force. Labour come top
And Churchill's out, Attlee in. They divide
Up Germany. The Iron Curtain's formed