1970

Track 1
An Old Raincoat Won't Ever Let You Down
Artist: Rod Stewart
Composer: Stewart

Track 2
Song To The Siren
Artist: Tim Buckley
Composer: Buckley

Track 3
Postcards Of Scarborough
Artist: Michael Chapman
Composer: Chapman

Track 4
Lowdown Popcorn
Artist: James Brown
Composer: James Brown

Main Events
A new era in jet travel was launched as the first giant jet airliner, known as the "Jumbo", arrived at Heathrow airport. It was owned by Pan Am, weighed 350 tons and carried 362 passengers - twice as many as the Boeing 707

Monty Python's Flying Circus became one of the most popular shows on television

British troops were put on standby to keep Britain's ports open following the start of a national docks strike. The seamen were fighting for a basic weekly wage of £20

1971

Track 1
Maggie May
Artist: Rod Stewart
Composer: Stewart/Quittenton

Track 2
Hey Girl Don't Bother Me
Artist: The Tams
Composer: Whitley

Track 3
Without You
Artist: Nilsson
Composer: Ham/Evans

Track 4
Lets Stay Together
Artist: Al Green
Composer: Green/Jackson/Mitchell

Main Events
The legendary designer, Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel, died aged 87. She had almost single-handedly revolutionised the way women looked in the 1920's, freeing them from corsets and putting them into simple yet elegant styles. She even launched bobbed hair, sun tans and costume jewellery

After centuries of dealing in pounds, shilling and pence Britons began struggling with the new decimal currency

The Commons voted to join the EEC

1972

Track 1
Big Eyed Beans From Venus
Artist: Captain Beefheart
Composer: Don Van Vliet

Track 2
My Friend The Sun
Artist: Family
Composer: Whitney/Chapman

Track 3
O Caroline
Artist: Matching Mole
Composer: Sinclair/Wyatt

Track 4
Starting All Over Again
Artist: Mel & Tim
Composer: Mitchell

Main Events
The Treaty of Brussels brought Britain, Ireland, Denmark and Norway into the European Community, it was to take effect from January 1st 1973

Burglars were caught in the US Democratic National Committee's offices in the Watergate complex in Washington. Police said they were trying to "bug" the opposition party's headquarters

Film of the year was Francis Ford Coppola's "The Godfather" in which Marlon Brando played the murderous Mafia chief as a good Italian family man

1973

Track 1
Whisky In The Jar
Artist: Thin Lizzy
Composer: Lynott/Bell/Downey

Track 2
Stuck In The Middle With You
Artist: Stealers Wheel
Composer: Egan/Rafferty

Track 3
Duppy Conqueror
Artist: Wailers
Composer: Marley

Track 4
Jessica
Artist: Allman Brothers Band
Composer: NA

Main Events
At peace talks in Paris an agreement was reached to bring the Vietnam war to an end

The London Broadcasting Company - the first ever legal competition for BBC Radio - went on air. It broke a monopoly of 50 years and would serve London a format of news and current affairs. It was closely followed by a second commercial station in London - Capital Radio

Political leaders from London, Dublin and Belfast agreed to the setting up of a Council of Ireland which would deal with problems common to all of Ireland. It followed months of violence, bombings and tit-for-tat killings

1974

Track 1
Down Down
Artist: Status Quo
Composer: Rossi/Young

Track 2
It's Better To Have (And Don't Need)
Artist: Don Covay
Composer: Covay/Watts

Track 3
I Can't Stand The Rain
Artist: Ann Peebles
Composer: Peebles/Bryant/Miller

Track 4
I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight
Artist: Richard & Linda Thompson
Composer: R Thompson

People in the UK started working a three day week as a result of industrial disputes

US President Nixon resigned over the Watergate Scandal thereby, escaping impeachment

The UK's first McDonald's hamburger restaurant opened in South London

1975

Track 1
Fame
Artist: David Bowie
Composer: Bowie/Lennon/Alomar

Track 2 Slavery Days
Artist: Burning Spear
Composer: NA

Track 3
Long Distance Love
Artist: Little Feat
Composer: George

Track 4
Loving Arms
Artist: Millie Jackson
Composer: NA

Main Events
The Altair, the world's first home computer went on sale at $650

The Ramones and Talking Heads co-headlined the Summer Rock Festival at New York club CBGBs

Television viewers were offered something completely different when John Cleese of Monty Python fame appeared as Basil, the manic and incompetent hotel manager of "Faulty Towers"

1976

Track 1
They Shoot Horses Don't They?
Artist: Racing Cars
Composer: Mortimer

Track 2
Here Come Those Tears Again
Artist: Jackson Browne
Composer: Browne/Farnsworth

Track 3
Croaking Lizard
Artist: Upsetters
Composer: Lee Perry

Track 4
I Don't Wanna Walk Around With You
Artist: Ramones
Composer: Ramones

Main Events
Winds of up to 105 mph swept the UK killing 22 people

In one of the hottest, driest summers the UK had ever seen a Minister for Drought was appointed, Denis Howell. Three days later it started raining

A punk festival was arranged by Malcolm McLaren at Oxford Street's 100 Club in London. Artists included the Clash and the Sex Pistols

1977

Track 1
Do Anything You Wanna Do
Artist: Eddie & The Hot Rods
Composer: Douglas/Hollis

Track 2
Shoplifting
Artist: The Slits
Composer: Pollitt/Albertine/Forster/Romero

Track 3
Dancing The Night Away
Artist: Motors
Composer: Garvey/Mcmaster

Track 4
Stretcher Case
Artist: The Damned
Composer: Scabies/James

The EMI record label sacked the Sex Pistols because of their outrageous behaviour and the adverse publicity they were attracting

Liverpool beat Borussia Moechengladbach 3-1 to take football's European Cup in Rome

Elvis Presley, the undisputed "King" of rock n roll for more than twenty years, died at his home, Graceland. Presley had taken the world by storm in 1956 when his hip-shaking stage act earned him the name "Elvis The Pelvis".

Sci-fi adventure Star Wars was released on film

1978

Track 1
Shot By Both Sides
Artist: Magazine
Composer: Devotos/Shelley

Track 2
I Can't Stand My Baby
Artist: Rezillos
Composer: John Callis

Track 3
See Them A Come
Artist: Culture
Composer: Culture

Track 4
Teenage Kicks
Artist: Undertones
Composer: O'Neill

Main Events
Liverpool won the European Cup for the second year running beating FC Bruges 1-0

The Taito Corporation demonstrated a new kind of computer game in Tokyo - the game Space Invaders was created!

Louise Brown, the world's first test-tube baby, was born and weighed 5lbs 12oz

1979

Track 1
At Home He's A Tourist
Artist: Gang Of Four
Composer: Allen/Burnham/Gill/King

Track 2
There Must Be Thousands
Artist: Quads
Composer: S Jones/J Doherty

Track 3
Man Kind
Artist: Misty In Roots
Composer: Misty Roots

Track 4
You Never Heard Anything Like It
Artist: Freshmen
Composer: Brown

Main Events
The Rubik's Cube went on sale

Space Invaders reached the UK and visitors to amusement arcades went crazy

Now is the winter of Britain's discontent. Unofficial strikes over the government's pay-restraint policy continued to freeze services with rubbish piles growing higher, hospitals turning patients away, bodies going unburied and hundreds of thousands of people laid off work

Margaret Thatcher became the UK's first female Prime Minister
 

This is a copy of a page that was featured within the Radio 1 BBC website. The BBC took the page down in July 2002. Thanks to a Google cache archive we were able to retrieve and present it here.

Copyright BBC 2000 thanks to John Peel. Fiona Hodge. Louise Kattenhorn & the BBC for permission to show this page.

www.michaelchapman.co.uk | john peel @ BBCR1