Too Much Fighting on the Dance Floor

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Too Much Fighting on The  Dance Floor

Factual: Arts, Culture & the Media

Factual: History

BBC Radio 4 Extra - Too Much Fighting on The  Dance Floor

Violence and tribalism at music gigs in the late 70s and 80s.  Adrian Goldberg presents.

4 Extra Debut. Adrian Goldberg explores the violence, tribalism, clothes and haircuts of British late 70s and early 80s music gigs. From 2015.

Why was British music in the late 1970s and early 80s so tribal and so violent?  

If going to a musical gig now is about having fun and enjoying a “party” atmosphere, it used to be very different. It was an era when music was taken very seriously. For many, it defined who you were. Writer Paul Morley says: “Back then, the music you liked was a matter of life and death."  

It was common for musical differences to end in violence. Peter Hook, of Joy Division and then New Order, says, “There were riots all the time at gigs."    

And it was a time when politics played a much more prominent role in popular culture. Neville Staple of two-tone group The Specials recalls the havoc caused by the far-right National Front. “We used to get a lot of conflict at our gigs.. .we always used to get the NF," he says.   

Adrian Goldberg looks back at a culture divided by haircuts, clothes, class and politics. 

What did this tribalism say about Britain then?  

Featuring: 

Peter Hook of Joy Division and New Order;
Peter Hooton from The Farm
Pauline Black of Selecter
Neville Staple of the Specials
Clare Grogan of Altered Images

Plus music journalists Paul Morley, ex New Musical Express, and Garry Bushell of Sounds.  

There's also a stellar soundtrack from the era.

Producer: Jim Frank         

First broadcsast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2015.

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