1982. Toto Coelo and Kid Creole. Pelican West and The Number Of The Beast. Marines yomping into Port Stanley and Socrates gliding into the opposition penalty area. English Settlement and Upstairs At Eric's. Martin Fry's gold lamé suit and Kevin Roland's dungarees. Duran Duran on a yacht in Sri Lanka and The Fall in a disused cinema in Hitchin. Ozzy Osbourne vs. The Alamo and Alex Higgins vs. Ray Reardon. The Young Ones and The Kids From Fame. Combat Rock and Thriller. E.T. and The Thing. The Day Before You Came, House Of Fun, Mickey, Promised You A Miracle....
Whatever your memories of 1982, chances are Eddie McKenzie has mentioned them in his monumental [in every sense of the word] romp through the year in music, movies, art, sport, news, politics and more. The activism and idealism of the late seventies gave way to escapism and indulgence and Thatcherism's icy grip tightened, all of which was reflected in the charts....and in what failed to set the charts alight.
McKenzie's massively-researched book tracks and traces all the year's developments, major and otherwise, giving a socio-political context for the changing face - and changing faces - of music. You might not agree with all of his opinions - and McKenzie has a lot of opinions - but his enthusiasm is irresistible, simultaneously ridiculing the silliness of pop stars and reveling in the glories they created.
If you listened to the chart rundown with your fingertips hovering over the REC button, this book is for you. If you pored over the pages of Smash Hits and Blu-Tacked the centrespreads to your bedroom wall, this book is for you. If the intro to Goody Two Shoes still gives you the chills and the headlong rush of A Town Called Malice still leaves you gasping for air, this book is for you. Don't be put off by the length - just dive in and enjoy.
1982: From One Extreme To Another is available from Amazon and Amazon UK.
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