1982 - Fun on the dole

A plane crashes into the Potomac
UK unemployed over 3 million
Laker crashes and Haughey's the Taoiseach
Chariots of Fire, the Argentines land on
The Falklands, Gotcha, Rejoice, we have won!
Villa Euro Champs, the World Cup in Spain
Prince William and the SDP are born
Geoffrey Prime, Sun Myung Moon, Michael Fagan
IRA bombs London, Beirut camps shame
Schmidt becomes Kohl, we're rolling down the track
From Calella to Barcelona in
September sunshine, Mary Rose regained
Brezhnev expires, CD players, Mike Jack-
son's Thriller, Grace dies, The Tube and Countdown

1981 - Class of '81

Greece joins EC, and earthquake in Athens
Hostages released, deal struck by Reagan
Poland has martial law against unions
Brand new stainless steel car, De Lorean
Tejero waves his gun around in Spain
And I go on a school camping trip there
Reagan shot, Bobby Sands self-starvation
London Marathon, Buck's Fizz, streets on fire
In Brixton and Toxteth, Columbia
Space shuttle, Pope shot, in France Mitterand wins
Yorkshire Ripper jailed, AIDS, Ian Botham
Charles and Di, MTV, Sadat beware
CIA helps Contras, Marley succumbs
Tom Baker morphs into Pete Davison

1980 - A kick up the eighties

Andrei Sakharov exiled to Gorky
Banisadr PM of Iran briefly
Israel and Egypt become more friendly
Carter's hostage rescue crashes badly
Mugabe is PM of Zimbabwe
Moscow Games boycotted by USA
Bristol riots, SAS embassy
Tito dies, Mount St Helens skies heavy
Quebec stays Canuck, Pac-Man game's funny
Lech Walesa and Solidarity
At Ayer's Rock, dingo takes a baby
Iraq attacks Iran, new Pres Ronnie
Who shot JR and Lennon, NYC
Ian Curtis hangs himself, closer to thee

1979 - Apocalypse postponed

Bantry Bay French oil tanker explosion
Shah of Iran flees, hi Ayatollah
Airey Neave, Warrenpoint, Mountbatten bombed
Carter/Brezhnev SALT II in Vienna
Manchester tragedy, the Woolworth's fire
Pope goes to Poles, shows solidarity
Afghans invaded by USSR
China begins its One Child policy
Maggie Thatcher, union-basher, Tory
PM. First Euro Parliament election
Films - Muppet Movie, Apocalypse Now
Alien, Manhattan. Music - at ten, the
John Peel Show, with Banshees and Fall sessions
Joy D, Ruts, Jam, Two-Tone and Gang of Four

1978 - Can't wait for '78

Managua riots against Somoza
Tehran riots against Iran's old Shah
Roman Polanski flees America
Swiss ski-trip for me, keep falling over
Ted Bundy is caught down in Florida
Bob Marley's One Love Peace Concert, Kingston
Italian Reds kidnap and kill Moro
A military coup, Afghanistan
In Argentina, the home team has won
Thessaloniki earthquake, Greek quiver
Louise Brown delivered, the test-tube star
Three popes, Paul 6, and John Pauls 2 and 1
Camp David, Begin and Sadat friendlier
Jonestown, spilt Milk, Viets in Cambodia

1977 - Two sevens clash

'Roots' on TV, and Pompidou Centre
The Clash LP, big Zep gigs, Red Rum's third
Taksim Square deaths, Tenerife air disaster
Begin begins as Israel's PM, word
Grows about Star Wars, Close Encounters, stirred
And shaken by The Spy Who Loved Me, New
York blackout, Queen's Silver Jubilee, tried
My first pint at the street party, a few
More months til I like it. I Feel Love grew
All summer, the Pistols, Stranglers, Jam were
On the tranny, holiday near the Broads
(Few broads though, sadly), Elvis on the loo
Drops one then drops, Liverpool conquerors
Of Europe, Bjorn Borg, poor Lynyrd Skynyrd

1976 - Long Hot Summer (Number Two)

The Yanks veto Palestinian statehood
London's direct rule of Northern Ireland
Argentina's generals up to no good
Harold Wilson resigns, Jim Callaghan
New PM, Chou Enlai and Mao are gone
Concorde to Washington, Soweto fights
Against Afrikaans in schools, the Ramones
First album, heatwave, Butlin's Bognor nights
Learning the hustle, playing pinball, White
Lightning at Montreal, Son of Sam's dread
Patrols in NYC, Lauda is burned
Ford beats Reagan but Carter wins the White
House race, Belfast peace women, Viking's stood
On Mars, and punk's in Manchester, London