The Apple Macintosh - Why 1984 Wasn't Like '1984'

1984 - Side-stepping Orwell's version - exciting times...

The new Apple Macintosh came with a computer mouse. The first commercial system sold with a mouse, the Xerox 8010 Information System in 1981, had a purchase price of over $20,000! The Apple Mac was an exciting piece of computer kit which cost much less.

The original 1984 Macintosh blurb...

Introducing Macintosh

In the olden days, before 1984, not very many people used computers - for a very good reason.    

Not very many people knew how.

And not very many people wanted to learn.

After all, in those days it meant listening to your stomach growl in computer seminars. Falling asleep over computer manuals. And staying awake nights to memorize commands so complicated you'd have to be a computer to understand them.

Then, on a particularly bright day in California, some particularly bright engineers had a brilliant idea: since computers are so smart, wouldn't it make sense to teach computers about people, instead of teaching people about computers?

So it was that those very engineers worked long days and late nights - teaching tiny silicon chips all about people. How they make mistakes and change their minds. How they label their file folders and save old telephone numbers. How they labor for their livelihoods. And doodle in their spare time.

For the first time in recorded computer history, hardware engineers actually talked to software engineers in a moderate tone of voice. And both became united by a common goal to build the most powerful, most transportable, most flexible, most versatile computer not-very-much-money could buy.

And when the engineers were finally finished, they introduced us to a personal computer so personable it can practically shake hands.

And so easy to use, most people already know how.

They didn't call it the QZ190, or the Zpchip 5000.

They called it Macintosh.

'Ere, that's not a mouse - they go "eek, eek" and run up your trouser leg!

An advertisement from the "Cambridge Evening News" (England), May 1985. 

Actually, while 1984 wasn't like Orwell's '1984' I sometimes think the present day is rather.

Home Beer And Wine Making In The 1980s

Ugh! Here's a Boots HOME WINE AND BEERMAKING catalogue from 1984-1985. Doesn't it all look complicated? My stepfather's attempts at beer brewing had me running for the loo, clutching my stomach, and although wine making was a bit posh for us, Terry of the BBC's Terry and June '80s comedy series, starring Terry Scott and June Whitfield, tried it in one epsode - and the bottles exploded in June's airing cupboard. Terry also tried his hand at beer making in the same episode - something called "Cock Ale" - which resulted in jippy tum. Believe it or not, "Cock Ale" is actually listed in my Boots reference book!

Ugh again!

What gave rise to the home brewing fad? Various things. The retro urges of the 1960s to return to the times of country frolics in the hay field, galloping inflation later on (cheaper to brew than to buy a pint), and a desire to be posh and show off were major contributory factors.

But, from my own experiences (and Terry's), I would say avoid.

If you're planning to revive 1984, don't go for this catalogue - invite some friends round for a nice game of Trivial Pursuit instead. It was newly released in the UK in 1984, and a far healthier fad.

The Great 1980s Courgette Explosion...

So, the 1980s kicked in, and we grotty working class types still ate bread and dripping and considered curry to be the finest foreign food ever invented. Peppers? No plural - pepper was something you shook over your dinner. Mayonnaise? What the 'ecks that? I'd 'ave salad cream, ta! Courgettes? Never 'eard of 'em, mateyboots!

Alf Roberts of Coronation Street stocked some courgettes in 1981, but failed to sell them because his customers had no idea what they were and were not impressed with them when they were explained. In fact, it was very unlikely that staid old Alf would have tried stocking them in 1981, but then Corrie was a fantasy of very well-heeled scriptwriter types.

But in the mid-1980s, as the credit boom boomed and yuppies arrived and consumers finally had a bit of dosh to consume with, courgettes swept in as the thing to be seen dishing up. Even I fell for them, and my local Sainsbury's seemed to be bursting full of them. In May 1984, Weekend Magazine printed the Greenfingers feature above to tell us what courgettes were and how to grow the little blighters.

Of course, in the 1980s we were bombarded with strange new foodstuffs - as "posh nosh" arrived in force and even impacted on the Great Unwashed (people like me).

Read our feature here.

1984 - Some Things They Said... And An Act Of God At York Minster?

Ah, 1984... Ronald Reagan won his second term in office as President of the USA; Margaret Thatcher had won her second General Election with a landslide in 1983 and in 1984 she and Arthur Scargill went to war against each other as the miners' strike bit hard; the Grand Hotel bombing nearly ended Mrs T's career. And her life; Boy George was insulted by Princess Margaret; Torvill and Dean thrilled us on the ice skating rink; the Apple Mac arrived - "Hello" - as did Trivial Pursuit; bulldog clips were the latest hair craze; break dancing was the main dance craze; Band Aid had a very worthwhile chart hit; and Prince William gained a baby brother - Henry, or Harry, as he was known.

Here's a few quotes from 1984 listed in the Sunday Express 1984 - The Pictures Of The Year magazine...

"The world is swimming in coal." - Ian MacGregor, chairman of the National Coal Board.

"I've even tried to start a rumour that I'm really not that old, that they mixed up the babies in the hospital." - President Ronald Reagan.

"I have a very high success criterion. Monetary values come into it, because I like to live well and I have to earn a lot." - Mark Thatcher accused of exploiting his mother's position.

"Most psychiatrists or analysts are a waste of time." - Boy George.

"Very few overseas visitors are quite sure where Birmingham is." - Michael Montague, chairman of the English Tourist Board.

"It seems silly that more people should see me in 'Jewel In The Crown' than in all my years in theatre." - Dame Peggy Ashcroft.

"If there are to be any explosions in our country, they should take place on the floor of the House of Commons and nowhere else." - Bernard Weatherill, Speaker of the House of Commons.

"If you put things firmly they say you are headmistressy, but they never call a man headmastery." - Margaret Thatcher.

"I know I am going to be President" - Senator Gary Hart.

"No redundancy payment in the world can match the value of a job passed on to the next generation." - Arthur Scargill.

"What is proposed is a monstrous carbuncle on the face of a much-loved and elegant friend." - Prince Charles on the National Gallery extension

"When they address themselves to aesthetic judgements, people fall back on what I regard as very offensive language." - Peter Ahrends, architect of the proposed (and then cancelled) National Gallery extension.

"I won't be photographed with that over-made-up tart." - Princess Margaret on meeting Boy George.

"If men could have babies, they would only ever have one." - Diana, Princess of Wales.

"I just signed legislation that will outlaw Russia forever. We begin bombing in five minutes." - President Reagan during rehearsals for a radio broadcast.

"By all means have a bath or shower as long as you don't forget the object of the exercise is to use less water." - Water Authorities Association.

"The Labour delegates drink gin and tonic. The Conservatives drink beer. Actually the National Union of Students is best for us - they drink lots of Pernod." - Blackpool hotel manager.

"If industrial workers are taking industrial action when they are not working, one wonders what they are doing when they are working" - The Duke of Edinburgh.

"I ended up like some old fag-ash Lil being carted off to the nick." - Angela Wilson, first person to be prosecuted for smoking on the tube.

"This is our last chance for change - because if this doesn't happen we are for the birds." - Bishop Desmond Tutu, winner of the 1984 Nobel Peace Prize.

Some of the above statements seem sane and good, others amusing, others more than slightly bonkers. But that was the '80s!

One of the most memorable quotes listed in the magazine came from Professor David Jenkins, Bishop-elect of Durham, in May:

"I wouldn't put it past God to arrange a Virgin Birth if he wanted. But I don't think he did."

Say what?!! But surely a Bishop-elect of the Church of England must believe?!

But an event some found much odder was soon to come...

The Daily Telegraph 1984 magazine reported:

The previous week had seen the installation at York Minster of the controversial new Bishop of Durham, Professor David Jenkins, who had seemed to many to question fundamental Christian beliefs in his televised remarks about the Virgin Birth and the Resurrection.

Suddenly, out of a clear and calm Sunday sky in July, a bolt of lightning struck the 700-year-old cathedral, starting a spectacular fire that destroyed its 15th-century south transept. Was it an act of God? "I am not," said the Archbishop of Canterbury, "going to put myself in the position of stating where and when there has been divine intervention."

York Minster ablaze in 1984.

The "Now That's What I Call Music" Pig

Ah, the Now That's What I Call Music pig! Here's the original version, lapping up melodies from his farmyard pal. This was how the Pig debuted on the first Now album sleeve in 1983.

Didn't really grip me. It seemed quirky to use a 1920s Danish Bacon advertising picture on the back of an album cover, but it was definitely a "hmmm..." moment rather than a "gasp-in-ecstasy-at-visual-delight" moment.

So, how had this quirky idea come about?

The story began in 1983 at the offices of Virgin Records, London, England. The people responsible for the basis of the NOW idea were the then Head of Licensing and Business Affairs Stephen Navin and General Manager Jon Webster. The idea was simple. A collection of unedited contemporary hits. In partnership with EMI, the idea took wing. Pigs might fly? Not in this case. Solid, long-running success was - and still is - the result.




And how did the pig come in? Well, this was down to Virgin Records supremo Richard Branson, who bought the old Danish Bacon factories poster, reproduced at the top of this blog post, from a bric-a-brac shop in Portobello Road. Framed, it made a perfect present for Richard's cousin, Virgin Records executive Simon Draper. Richard recalled years later:  “He was notoriously grumpy before breakfast and loved his eggs in the morning, so I bought him the poster, framed it and had it hung behind his desk !” 

Incidentally, Richard's main reason for visiting the bric-a-brac shop was the fact that he liked the woman who owned it. He later married her.

Back to the main story. The framed piggy poster soon caught EMI Managing Director Peter Jamieson's eye. He later said: “Seeing the poster with the same title on it that had become so familiar to me was serendipity, ‘fate’ even, and I knew then that this had to be the title of our series. It was a powerful and meaningful statement in its own right, and when abbreviated to ‘Now’, gave the ultimate contemporary message”.

And so, our porker pal was on the road to '80s stardom.


At first, the pig seemed set for just one NOW album cover - the very first. He took a break for Now 2.
 
For Now 3, the pig swept out of its '20s farmyard and into the 1980s by donning dark glasses.

Still a bit "hmmm..." really, I thought...

But for Now 4, in 1984, the album sleeve porker artwork became rather better, far more realistic, almost photographic, and the now thoroughly mid-1980s pig added personal stereo headphones to its trendy glasses and assumed a rather uglier facial expression.

Suddenly, t'was bliss.

I got heavily "into" The Pig.

Clever TV advertising helped.
 
 There were several telly ads for Now 4, and in the shortest Mr Posh-Geezer came across my piggy friend, listening to his personal stereo and minding his own business.

"This SWINE is looking very pleased with himself," said Mr Posh-Geezer, highly annoyed.

"That's 'cos I'm listenin' to 32 chart hoggin' hits and you're not!" said the pig, in a broad Yorkshire accent (Brian Glover provided the voice).

Mr Posh-Geezer said no more.

Pig it! Piggy gets his kit off for this stunning 1984 double page magazine ad.
 
Nows 1, 2 and 3 also had video compilations, but Now 4 was the first to also appear on new fangled campact discs.

On a million trillion T-shirts in the mid-1980s, Frankie said "Relax".

The Pig said "Oink".

I managed to persuade my local record shop to let me have the cardboard window display for Now 4, featuring the adored porker, and stuck it to my bedroom wall.

Whilst the most popular pin-ups of the mid-1980s included the likes of Madonna, Samantha (or "S'manfa") Fox and Linda Lusardi, I had the Now Pig.

Like all good things, my Now Pig fixation came to an end.

Shame.

The cover of Now 5 in 1985 featured the Pig, but the artwork lacked the realism of Now 4, and the Pig had, in my very humble opinion, quite lost it - sporting a colourful 1980s shirt (very nice!) and a lollipop behind its ear - looking every inch a cartoon.

Shame.

I had high hopes for the future - surely Now 5 was just a glitch? But when Now 6 arrived, the Pig was absent.

Shame.
 
The Now 4 pig remains one of my top favourite items of 1980s pop culture.

Sad.

My bedroom in 1985 - complete with the Now Pig cardboard display and my Pye Tube Cube (read all about it here). My bedroom was often described by my friends as "The Pit" back in the day - and indeed I thought it was a bit of a dump myself. But hoovering was beyond me and, looking back now, from the vantage point of a tired, forty-something mortgage slave, my old bedroom and those irresponsible long ago days seem like Paradise Lost!

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED 11 MARCH 2010. UPDATED 22 July 2012.

Break Dancing, Off-The-Shoulder, and The Boy...

The soundtrack album to Breakdance, the motion picture. Could I break dance? Um...

1984 magazine ad for the "Panasonic RXC39 portable hi-fi. Part of the new RX range, it comes complete with separate automatic turntable, detachable speakers and rack. Also available without turntable."

Colourful mid-1980s Toshiba ghetto blaster/boombox. Cover it with stickers and take it to the streets!

These pictures are from the Sunday Express Magazine - 1984 - The Pictures of the Year. The blurb for the top picture reads: 

Take A Break: Take A Dance. Girls wore bulldog clips in their hair, preferably fluorescent. T-shirts bore instructions from Frankie. Leisuretime pursuits were essentially trivial. But the biggest fad of 1984 was break dancing - the latest, most violent offspring of the cha-cha-cha, the twist and rock 'n' roll. In its home, California, there were serious injuries and even one death. This expert practitioner seems simply to let it all go to his head...

.

Trendy girls watch the break dancer. Note the off-the-shoulder-showing-strap-under-dress-look of the girl on the right, which has reappeared in recent years.

Boy George was a 1984 hair-o.

George Orwell - 1980, 1982 - 1984... 2012...

A friend of mine said the other day: "Things seem increasingly like 1984..."

"What, big hair, shoulder pads, shaggy perms, leggings..." I began, having noted the huge revival in 1980s fashion over the last seven years or so.

My friend looked at me, witheringly: "No, I mean George Orwell's version, you twit! Look at CCTV, DNA sampling - you can easily end up on the national database even if you're not charged with anything, the centralising of power to the EU in Brussels, the Nanny State, the refusal of successive UK governments to allow a referendum on EU membership, the West Lothian Question, the Barnett Formula... all the new laws passed in the last fifteen years empowering the police - we don't live in a democracy..."

I must admit to having entertained similar thoughts myself at times, and shuddered.

One of the things which concerns me the most is the disinterest most young people I speak to have in politics. And many older people. If I mention the real 1980s political scene and Reagan or Thatcher opinions for and against usually come thick and fast... but if I mention today's politics I'm usually greeted with a shrug or a blank stare.

Anyway, if you haven't read George Orwell's Nineteen-Eighty-Four, I advise you to take a look. No Marilyn having his handbag nicked, no Apple Mac, no big hair, no shoulder pads, no Trivial Pursuit, I promise!

He was alone. The past was dead, the future was unimaginable. What certainty had he that a single human creature now living was on his side?

He took a twenty-five cent piece out of his pocket. There, too, in tiny clear lettering, the same slogans were inscribed, and on the other face of the coin the head of Big Brother. Even from the coin the eyes pursued you. On coins, on stamps, on the covers of books, on banners, on posters, and on the wrappings of a cigarette packet — everywhere. Always the eyes watching you and the voice enveloping you. Asleep or awake, working or eating, indoors or out of doors, in the bath or in bed — no escape. Nothing was your own except the few cubic centimetres inside your skull.

TRIVIA SPOT: Did you know that Orwell's original title back in the 1940s was 1980? He then changed it to 1982 before moving on to 1984.

The BMX Craze...

Early days - above and below, a two page advertisement featured in "Look-In" magazine, 13/12/1980.

THE RACE IS ON

BMX is the bike-racing sport that has swept across America. The action-packed event that's tougher, faster and more exciting than anything you've ever seen before.

Now Puch Murray and Halfords bring BMX to Britain. And there's never been a better time to take off with a brand-new sport.

Bicycle Motocross is no place for toy bikes or tame riding. You race on a dirt-track downhill course that really separates the men from the boys.

On the left [ABOVE] is an artist's impression of a typical BMX track. It can have as many jumps, bends, hairpins and fast straights as you want.

Thunder down the straights, slam round the bends.

Fly over hair-raising jumps at full speed.

It's a real test of your skill and courage.

No other bike ride has the thrills of BMX.

ONLY THE BEST IS GOOD ENOUGH

If you thought any old bike would do for Bicycle Motocross you'd be wrong. Because most BMX courses are enough to shake any ordinary bike to bits.

When you race a motocross course you need a bike that's really hot.

That's why Puch Murray bikes are made for the job. Prices start from £79.95 for the 5310 model shown here. They have 20" wheels with track-grabbing racing tyres.

Cross braced handlebars for extra strength.

Even frames and forks are specially designed for competition riding.

And you'll find that every model is as tough as steel and lightening quick.

ALL GEARED UP

BMX is a hard sport. And a BMX course is no place to take risks.

That's why the top track stars always wear crash helmets and protective clothing when they're racing.

When you get your bike, make absolutely sure you've got the gear to go with it.

Not only will you look good, you'll be a whole lot safer too. There's trousers at £8.95, Jerseys at £7.45, Helmets at 12.50 and protect your bike with Pad sets at £4.15.

We're sure you'll agree. If you're going to win at BMX it's best to win in style.

STAY ONE JUMP AHEAD

Don't miss out on the incredible BMX action.

Get into Bicycle Motocross today.

Nobody knows more about BMX and the range of Puch Murray bikes than your local branch of Halfords. You'll find they're experts. They'll tell you which BMX bike is best for you.

And who knows, if you've got what it takes, you could soon be Britain's first BMX star.

DAREDEVIL ON PEDALS 

Daily Star, 19/5/1983

Britain's top motor-cycle rider, Eddie Kidd, has switched to pedal power... on a BMX bike.

And after his first crack at the fast-growing kids' sport, daredevil Eddie said: "It's a whole lot of fun."

He was put through his paces by five-year-old [is this a printing error?] David Maw, one of the country's most promising BMX starlets.

BMX stands for Bicycle Moto-cross, and youngsters race round obstacle courses on special rough-rider bikes.

Crash helmets are a must and so is a good sense of balance.

The craze has already swept the United States and is now taking off in a big way here too.

David, of Barnetby le Wold, South Humberside, has competed in five national events so far this season - and won them all.

But he found that Eddie could teach him a few tricks when it comes to leaping off ramps.

Said David: "Motorbikes or BMX, I think Eddie is the greatest in the world."

ET merchandise, including a BMX, on sale in the Brian Mills spring and summer mail order catalogue, 1983.

More from the Brian Mills spring and summer 1983 catalogue - some very excellent Raleigh Burners.

The bikes weren't exactly cheap in that day and age, thank heavens for mail order catalogues - a great way to spread the cost!

The BMX craze swept the country like wildfire.

Macho seems a good name for a BMX. I was a bit too old to take part in the craze and preferred Stella Artois, but there were many young lads, teeth firmly gritted, determined not to disgrace themselves by crying after taking a tumble and grazing knees and/or elbows.

From the John Myers Home Shopping catalogue, autumn and winter 1983 - the Burner GS BMX and Burner GX.

If you're a BMX fan, then this site comes highly recommended.

Raleigh BMX 'Aero Burners' - as featured in the Janet Frazer catalogue, autumn/winter 1984/5.

Agadoo doo doo...

Good old Black Lace. Try it after a couple of pints! I confess to singing along to this, doing all the movements and having a thoroughly good time more than once. I'm quite happy to confess to this as you don't know me and we're not likely to meet!


All together now - 


"Agadoo doo doo, push pineapple shake the tree
Agadoo doo doo, push pineapple grind coffee..."

Interviewed in 1984, Colin Routh of Black Lace, said:

"Our manager found Superman in Europe. It was a hit there some time back. And one night we were playing in a nightclub and someone came to us and said is Agadoo going to be your next single? We thought it was the name of a disease or something. Anyway, he explained it was a record by the Saragossa Band, made for the people at Club Mediterranean, the holiday firm. It's also been a hit in Germany a couple of times, originally being released in 1967. So we thought it was a good idea to do an up-to-date version of it."

Thanks, lads!


In 1986, Spitting Image took revenge with the Chicken Song.

The Mobira Talkman

Meet The One Car Phone That Gives You Full Performance Without The Car...

The Mobira Talkman was released in 1984, and, after the first mobile phone call in England in 1985, we discover this trendy beast available "over here" in a 1986 magazine advertisement. Hefty, eh?

For the full '80s Actual low-down on 1980s mobies, simply click on the "mobile phones" label below.

Marilyn

It's been a fascinating experience to relive the 1980s through the newspapers of the decade - brilliant to escape from the BBC and Wikipedia's "We Glorify The '70s" nonsense, and to see the '80s as they really were again. Brash. Noisy. Violent. Glamorous. Technological. Outrageous. "Stylish" (note the speechmarks). Contrasting. Money loving. Caring. Fast moving...

But sometimes the newspapers rose above the roar and clatter of the decade and contained unquestionably wonderful things like the photograph of the two monkeys above, featured in the Daily Mirror in February 1984...

Hugging each other and clinging on to life, these monkeys are a real handful.

Since they were born three weeks ago, they've left their best friend Molly Badham with scarcely any spare time. Molly, who named the inseparable pair Peter and Pop, has bottle-fed them every three hours at her zoo in Twycross, Leics, because their mother rejected them.

Happily, Peter and Pop are doing fine.

I was, for some reason, deeply moved by the photograph... those adorable little faces, those intelligent eyes, the way they were hugging each other for comfort. Just like humans...

I felt tears pricking into my eyes and began to ponder the mysteries of life...

Then my eyes moved briefly to the right:

Marilyn has his handbag pinched

Only in the '80s!

My reflective mood trailed off into a very un-high minded explosion of raucous laughter...

Pop star Marilyn had his handbag, containing £500 in cash, snatched last night as he sat in a London restaurant.

And the singer, who wears outrageous clothes and make-up on and off the stage, is offering a reward for its return.

"It's awful," he said. "It had my address and my diary in as well as my wallet and all my keys.

"It had every appointment for the next six months in. I just don't know what I'm going to do.

Two men lifted the black rubber bag with grey trimmings from a seat as Marilyn sat with a woman friend in a restaurant near Oxford Circus.

"The fact that someone can actually do that is beyond me," he said. "I know the money's gone but I'm desperate to get the address book and diary back."

Poor Marilyn. Did he get his things back? If you know, drop me a line...

From the Daily Star, October 2, 1984:

Breakfast TV beauty Selina Scott was faced with her spitting image when she ran into chart-topper Marilyn yesterday.

The look-alike couple were among the celebrities at the Variety Club banquet in honour of Radio One.

And even guests who could tell one from the other were stumped when it came to deciding who looked prettier.

However everyone agreed they made an incredible double act.

Nik Kershaw

Nik Kershaw in 1985, sporting that popular mid-'80s look probably best labelled "I-was-going-somewhere-posh-but-got-dragged-through-a-hedge-backwards-on-the-way".

After a brief school days dalliance in a band called Half Pint Hog, Nik Kershaw went to work as a clerk at the DHSS in Ipswich from 1975 to 1978 ("I spent all day handing out Giro cheques to people on the dole, it was really depressing. You'd see the same people every week, and you'd watch them going slowly downhill, yet all I could do was fob them off with a cheque.").

He later worked at his local Co-op hardware store.

Nik was also a member of a band simply called Hog - a spin-off from Half Pint Hog. He then joined an Essex jazz-funk band called Fusion, which split up in 1982.

Deciding to concentrate on song writing, Nik borrowed a friend's Portastudio cassette machine, and began writing and recording at home.

He was getting nowhere - rejection followed rejection, so he advertised for a manager in Melody Maker, got himself a gent called Mickey Modern, and a record deal soon followed.

Wouldn't It Be Good entered the Top Forty at Number 38 in February 1984 and Nik briefly knew tremendous success - becoming a pop idol.

This down-to-earth bloke actually wrote terrific pop songs - and they weren't just "pop pap" (I Won't Let The Sun Go Down On Me had wonderful anti-nuke lyrics).

Excellent. Whenever I hear one of Nik's 80s hits on the radio, a big daft grin spreads right across my face - from ear to ear.

Happy memories!

1984: Band Aid - Do They Know It's Christmas?

What a year was 1984... Sir Alec Jeffreys at Leicester University, England, discovered DNA fingerprinting - entirely accidentally; Trivial Pursuit blasted in; the Miners' Strike brought angst and uproar; and a group of pop stars got together to make a record aimed at "feeding the world..."

Supergroup Band Aid's disc to aid Ethiopian famine victims has zoomed straight to the top of the pop charts.

And the double single, Do They Know It's Christmas? Feed The World has set a record of its own by selling an amazing 600,000 in Britain and 1,250,000 worldwide in just ONE WEEK. This makes the record - made by a host of British pop stars to help the relief fund - the fastest-selling single ever.

Gallup, who compile the official record industry and BBC pop charts, said: "It's incredible. At this rate it'll also be the biggest selling record ever."

The stars, including Boy George and Bob Geldof, hope Ethiopia can now quickly get £1 million for food and medicines from disc sales. For each £1.35 record sold, 96.03p goes to the fund.

Detail from the record cover. Band Aid in 1984 begat Live Aid in 1985. More here.

Duran Duran - Were YOU A Duranie?

Duran Duran - New Romantic moments in 1981 and 1982.

The pop group Duran Duran was formed by Nick Rhodes and John Taylor in 1978, however the classic line-up did not come together until 1980.

In early 1980, the owners of the Rum Runner Club, Birmingham, England - brothers Paul and Michael Berrow - took the band (at that point, after several changes in line-up, consisting of John Taylor, Roger Taylor and Nick Rhodes) under their wings, paying the lads to work as doormen, disc jockeys and glass collectors when they were not rehearsing, and providing them with rehearsal space.

In April 1980, Andy Taylor answered an ad for a "live wire guitarist" with Duran Duran.

In May 1980, Simon Le Bon met the band, introduced by his ex-girlfriend, Rum Runner barmaid Fiona Kemp, who recommended him as a potential vocalist. Apparently, Simon attended his audition clad in pink leopard print trousers.

Duran Duran in the 1982 "Rio" video - note the prototype "Miami Vice" gear. Jacket sleeves had begun to be pushed up as a fashion trend around the turn of the decade - and the trend grew more and more prevalant as the decade got underway. Shoulder pads began to grow (courtesy of the likes of Joan Collins and, judging by this picture, John Taylor) and everyday men began to wear bright colours.

In June 1980, the Berrow brothers formed a company, Tritec Music. Duran Duran signed a production contract with Tritec and the Berrow brothers became the band's managers.

The band's classic line-up of Simon Le Bon (vocals), John Taylor (bass), Roger Taylor (drums), Andy Taylor (guitar), and Nick Rhodes (synthesizers) played their first show together at the Rum Runner on July 9 1980.

In December 1980, Duran Duran landed a deal with EMI Records.

In 1981 the Durans were futuristic dandies (remember Planet Earth?), taking over the charts, their every movement eagerly followed by a growing band of dedicated Duranies.

John Taylor gets touched up for a mid-80s photo shoot.

A 1984 book chronicling the history of the group. Cue hysterical Duranies: "Oh, Simon, Oh Simon, I love you, I love you!"

Duran Duran became one of THE pop groups of the 1980s. In 1981, they'd been New Romantics, flouncing around in out sized frillies, but they outlived that scene well and truly.

1982: all aboard - another "Rio" shot.

Influencing fashion, movers and shakers in the pop video market (remember Girls on Film?!), and purveyors of some highly distinctive and polished '80s pop music, Duran Duran became legends.

And as instantly evocative of the 1980s in the years since as Rubik's Cube, the ZX Spectrum and shoulder pads!

"Cherry ice cream smile..."

Heart throb John discovers something interesting on the beach.

These Duran Duran wrist bands were ideal for sport, or nipping out for a packet of ciggies.

1984: Minder - A Nice Little Earner...

Terry McCann (Dennis Waterman) tells Arfur Daley (George Cole) where to get off at The Winchester Club. Dave (Glynn Edwards) looks on. Launched towards the end of 1979, Minder was not initially a success. Given a nice new coat of humour in the early 1980s, Minder soon hit the big time.

Ah, Minder...

I could be so good for you...

The show was created by Leon Griffiths.

Launched on October 29 1979, after the infamous ITV strike, the series was not initially a success.

TV critic Hilary Kingsley wrote in 1989:

The first [series] went out straight after the ITV strike and should perhaps have been called "Mindless" - it couldn't make up its mind what it was. Audiences were still confused by Dennis Waterman looking and sounding like the tough cop in 'The Sweeney' but playing the thick thug Terry here. Should they laugh? and where was John Thaw?

Brian Cowgill, managing director of Thames Television, was in there rooting for the show to continue.

And so it did.

The non-successful series of October 1979 to January 1980 soon evolved into one of the "must see" shows for millions of viewers throughout the 1980s as the violence decreased and the humour increased.

And what a beautifully written show it became.

Dennis Waterman took I Could Be So Good For You, the Minder theme tune, into the pop charts in November 1980, and the show itself first appeared in the monthly Top Twenty TV ratings (at No 20) in December 1980.

Arthur Daley, sorry, Arfur Daley, and "Minder" Terry McCann (usually wondering just what his boss was up to) became much-loved regulars on the 1980s TV scene.

As did Arfur's "Mrs" - 'Er Indoors - although we never saw her. She did, however, become the subject of a 1983 Christmas novelty record - What Are We Gonna Get For 'Er Indoors? by Arfur and Terry - AKA George Cole and Dennis Waterman, of course.

A vexing question for Christmas 1983...

George Cole had played spivs long before his debut as Arthur Daley - ever seen him as "Flash Harry", in the 1950s film The Belles Of St Trinian's? As Minder continued and the comedy element was upped (indeed, a mid-1980s TV Times I recently acquired suggests that the comedy element was still on the rise), George Cole was clearly a man in his element.

People loved Minder.

People adored Minder.

People copied Minder.

"People COPIED Minder?!" you cry.

Oh, yes, I reply...

From the Daily Mirror, October 1, 1984:

Conmen are doing a roaring trade with a ruse they pinched from the TV series Minder.

They are posing as council workmen authorised to tow away vehicles which are illegally parked or apparently abandoned.

And that's exactly what happened in an episode of Minder two weeks ago.

A car mechanic posed as a council official to steal a parked car. Terry - alias actor Dennis Waterman - was his unwitting accomplice and the racket was financed by Arthur Daley, played by George Cole.

As usual, Arfur's idea of a nice little earner didn't come off. But the thieves who have copied it are making a small fortune in the Collier Row area of Romford, Essex.

They have used the ruse each time in a spate of thefts. Police have now warned residents to keep tabs on each others cars and to watch out for the conmen.

Meanwhile, Thames Television, who make Minder, are insisting: "Don't blame Arfur."

A spokeswoman said yesterday: "Arfur and Terry can't really be held responsible for what's happened in Romford.

"Every Minder story could be carbon-copied, but they are totally fictitious stories.

"Life can sometimes be stranger than fiction."

Would you Adam and Eve it? Better not try it nowadays though. The 1980s, home to Arthur and Terry, were a different planet. Nowadays, with CCTV cameras and DNA Databases sprouting everywhere, you could end up right up the creek without a paddle.

Mind you, I've got a few dozen original 1980s deelyboppers if you're interested...

Only one careful owner.

Bound to sell.

Guaranteed to go "boing boing" when you pop them on your bonce.

Well... at least till you get them home...

1984: Boy George Is A Dummy (At Madame Tussaud's)

Does that nose look quite right to you (the one on the dummy, I mean)?

The Sun June 14 1984:

Pop star Boy George was sitting pretty yesterday with his dummy double at Madame Tussaud’s. Delighted George - 23 today - waxed lyrical as he said: “I love it, but it’s not as pretty as the real me.”

George’s spitting image will rub shoulders with pop “greats” like Elvis and David Bowie.

A soundtrack with the model tells visitors: “I prefer a nice cup of tea to sex - and if you believe that you’ll believe anything.”