1985 - Road to Nowhere
Front Cover Design (by Maya Harrison)
It’s the summer of 1985 again!
Thatcher's just smashed the miners and is about to do the same to the Travellers. Half of London is falling down while Yuppies in the City down champers like it's going out of fashion. Dressed up, or down, everyone is on the make and Lady Luck is surely lurking around the very next corner. Pick up a guitar today and you'll be on Top of the Pops tomorrow... won't you?
“1985 brilliantly and movingly interweaves vivid fiction with historical fact. If you’re old enough, it will bring memories flooding back. If you’re too young to have been there, you’ll wish you were.”
Matt Beaumont, author of international bestseller ‘e.’
The only photo of me in 1985
“I was nineteen at the time and religiously kept a diary throughout the year - short entries so not much insight into the depths of my soul, but more a series of recollections - places, people, happenings; some of which provided the broad brushstrokes for the fiction within the pages of the novel. The real challenge was setting these scenes against the backdrop of real world events. 1985 was a pivotal year, both politically and culturally. For me, it marked the bridge between my teenage years and adulthood,;for the country, non-conformity and protest were painted as subversive acts by the government. However, it was, thank god, also an analogue era when you could live on virtually nothing and disappear for days on end, with the only 'devices' in your pocket being a Walkman and a Zippo lighter.”
Leo Harrison
What happened on May 17th?
The Diary
PART ONE - Home Comforts in North London
“The first guitar I owned was a second-hand Les Paul copy. I bought it from Blanks on the Kilburn High Road. On my 13th birthday in ’78. We all went down there, mum and dad, when they were together, and Jake. I didn’t have a clue and chose the thing for one reason, and one reason only - it was black. “
— Ben Bolan
The White Horse Pub South End Green
Leo on a bike Hampstead Heath
Upside down on Hampstead Heath
Christie play Alice in Wonderland at Gossips
George Davis is innocent graffiti
Dingwall's 1980s
Victory to the Miners. Graffiti Camden Lock
Wendling Housing Estate Kentish Town with Bacton Tower in background
Job Centre 1980s
Ecstacy tablets
Aiwa Walkman
Zippo lighter welsh dragon
Inside the Hare Krishna Temple
King Tubby poster
Eurovidion Song Contest 1985 Bobbysocks
10 Benson and Hedges
Alice in Wonderland at Gossips
“He isn’t out of place here at all. If anything, he could have been even more flamboyant. Everyone is dressed to the nines - retro 60’s psychedelia and garage, with 70’s glam rock thrown into the mix. Pointy boots, thigh-gripping trousers, brocade jackets, Lennon glasses, short skirts and mini dresses, necklaces of jet and jade. Hair styles that pay homage to Brian Jones, Barbarella, Jim Morrison, Julie Driscoll, Nico. A parade of lace, velvet and floral motifs hark back to long summers of peace and love that might once have existed, but which modern London is trying its hardest to forget.”
PART TWO - Hackney Squats and Beanfield Beats
“I'm still sleeping in my clothes. I didn't like the look of the blankets or the mattress. They have a sheen on them, you know, the kind you get when fabric has rubbed, repeatedly, against the grease and grime of unwashed human hair and skin.”
— Julie Kane
Sinclair C5
Poison Girls Vi Subversa
Stonehenge 1985 flyer
Brougham Road squat
Brougham Road peace convoy buses
Packet of Silk Cut
Stone Henge Festival newspaper headline
Garden Brougham Road 1985
Battle of Stonehenge. Battle of the Beanfield
Dead Kennedys album
Battle of the Beanfield.
“The riot police spread out, an oil slick, oozing down the pasture slope. From vehicle to vehicle, their arms piston, breaking windows, denting metal and cracking bone. Everywhere, the cries of the terrified and howls of the injured, rising to blend with the incessant chopping of the helicopter.
“There is no escape…” The voice in the sky calls down.
And one by one, the travellers of the convoy are captured and led away, many separated from their lovers, their families, their animals. Men, women and children, some limping, others bleeding from head wounds, or nursing broken arms, shoulders, ribs; they are herded back up the field to the hard road where a guarded line grows, ever longer…”
PART THREE - Bristol Breakups and the Wettest Glastonbury Ever
“And all the time, behind the music and the laughter and the shouting, the subliminal buzz-hum of this canvas city, fallen out of the stony sky, along with a billion drops of rain…”
— Fortune Goodluck
Dug Out Club Bristol 1980s
Findus Crispy Pancakes
The Barley Mow Bedminster Bristol
Glastonbury 1985
Glastonbury 1985 mud bath
Doctor and the Medics Glastonbury 1985
Glastonbury 1985 poster
JPS Superkings
Ceefax Teletext
The Wild Bunch Bristol 1980s
The Wild Bunch at the Dug Out.
Grant is there, behind twin Technics turntables, shades down, headphones clamped to his ears. He’s scratching the vinyl on one deck, layering a riding beat on the other. Behind him, Robert is rapping into a mic, while others stand by, ready to take their turn.
Albums and 12 inch singles are stacked up at their feet.
A horseshoe has formed in front of the decks. The watchers. They nudge each other and point, learning new tricks in reverence.
PART FOUR - Never, Ever Go Back
“We got the nod and we was all lined up like a freakshow, ready for the ringmaster’s inspection when they comes strollin’ in. They go along the row of us volunteers, all in our matching yellow t-shirts. ‘And what do you do?’ They ask, alternate, like, and I’m counting in me head, who it’s gonna be first, him or her? And there she is, right there in front of me, Lady Di herself, and I’m thinkin’ me hair’s all a mess, especially compared to hers, which is brushed sideways and back, like that Harmony advert…”
— Danny Morley
Opinel Knife
Rothman Royals
Colin's Wheelchair
Emerald Ring
Live Aid Ticket
Shell Motor Spirit Petrol Can
Falklands South Atlantic Medal
BMX Bike 1980s
Live Aid program
Danny's mum's flat
Live Aid Concert. July 13, 1985.
“A honky-tonk piano plays the opening bars of ‘Rockin’ All Over The World’. Rossi and a pink-shirted Rick Parfitt attack their Telecasters, green and white, a galloping rhythm, riding over a sea of bobbing heads and clapping hands.”
Reviews of 1985
Sex and drugs and rock and roll and suspense and laughs and tears... do it!
*****
Cracking fun and well observed nostalgia filled romp through a London I almost forgot. The clever multiple lead narrative structure keeps you hooked. I guess slightly reminiscent of train spotting, but not as harrowing.
I liked the roller coaster of emotions and fast pace. A page turn can take you from high drama to a belly laugh. My complaint is probably that at times I wanted to kill Fortune for his utter stupidity, but I am guessing that’s exactly what the author intended.
No shortage of swearing and sex and drugs and rock and roll, but never gets too much. Did it in a few days and can’t think of a better holiday read. Hope someone makes a boxset of it, very filmic.
The must-read of the summer
*****
With characters so well drawn, you will feel as if you knew them yourself, on a journey so compelling, you won't be able to put it down. Do yourself a favour and buy it now!
A witty, engaging and moving piece of fiction.
*****
Fantastic book, made me nostalgic for an age I didn't even live through!
Prepare for twists and turns, mishaps and misdeeds. A proper laugh out loud novel that takes you through a summer in the lives of some seriously compelling characters.
Its a page turner, you won't be able to put it down.
This really is a stunning debut novel
*****
The most readable page-turner I have read in recent times, dramatizing the surreal events of a memorable year. The four Camden friends and their convoluted relationships are so recognisable, and their descent (from a low start) is so hilarious and tragic.
It captures the anarchic chaos of the year and culminates on an unbelievably believable high. I don’t want to spoil the plot, but it should be essential reading for anyone who lived through 1985 and has any memory of Dingwalls, Glastonbury, Stonehenge, LiveAid or Sinclair C5s. In the midst of it lies possibly the most traumatically joyful portaloo incident you could hope for.
Great characters who have stayed with me and a great turn of phrase. As the cover design hints at … never mind the bollocks, here’s the real picture of 1985.