As a kid, I never owned a space hopper and I must admit I never harboured a desire for one. It’s only now that this huge rubber satsuma has started to intrigue me. For a start, how did they inflate…
Category: Fads and Fashions Of The 70s and 80s
Fads
8 Track Cartridge Players
These continuous loops of tape enclosed in plastic which were seen in any Ford Cortina that was a… er…Ford Cortina did not die when car cassette players became popular, ooo no ! Who cares that you could only fast forward…
Soda Syphons
The past few years have seen an increase of interest in 60s/70s instrumental music – I believe it’s called Elevator Music in the States. It has been another string to the record companies bow as they revive old tracks and…
The Stylophone
David Bowie may have used this instrument for one note on Space Oddity and Chicory Tip sounded like they had the mains powered deluxe model on some of their hits, but this forerunner to home keyboards didn’t last too long,…
Coloured Vinyl
1978 was a good or bad year for record collectors depending on how you viewed it ! No more boring black vinyl singles in plain white covers. Surely any single released this year wasn’t even worth listening to if it…
Space Invaders
Somethings never change. I’m hopeless at computer games now and I have always been. Tele-tennis or the latest PC game, it makes no difference. I avoid them all. Space Invaders was different. Back in 1981, all the pubs had a…
Furry Dice
Such is the popularity of this feature, I have started to receive requests…well, one so far, but it’s a start ! So, feel free to drop me a note with suggestions for future fads, but beware – you lay yourself…
The Trimphone
Brrrrrpppp, Brrrrpppp…..Brrrppp,Brrrppp……. OK, so it loses a bit in translation, but that’s what the trimphone sounded like. Before the privatisation of the British telephone system, the GPO as it was then known would only allow subscribers to rent telephones from…
The 1980s: A Decade Still Among Us
Take a Chill Pill, the ’80s are here to stay Why does there continue to be a fascination with the 1980s? Just recently, Delta Airlines created an in-flight safety video based on the stubborn decade. Everywhere we turn, we see…