The Rock 'n' Roll Years

British coal miners stage their first national strike since 1926; unemployment figures breach the one million mark; Conservative Prime Minister Edward Heath signs the European Common Market Treaty; thirteen civilians are shot dead in Londonderry, Northern Ireland on Bloody Sunday; the IRA bomb the army barracks at Aldershot in retaliation; Arab terrorists attack the Munich Olympics; Sir Francis Chichester and the Duke of Windsor die.

The Vietnam War ends; the IRA continues its bombing campaign; Watergate begins; the Cod War between Iceland and Britain ends; Lord Lambton resigns after a scandal; the Arab/Israeli war results in oil shortages and huge price increases in the West; the Oil Crisis combined with a work to rule by miners and power workers, results in the 'three day week'.

Great Britain votes in two general elections; President Richard Nixon attempts a brave face over the Watergate tapes; streaking makes the charts as well as the headlines; "Glam Rules OK".

Britain's referendum asks whether Britain should stay in the Common Market; the USA finally pulls out of Vietnam; Margaret Thatcher, the new Conservative leader sports her Eurojumper; Triumph car manufacturers are saved; the car industry reels; Britain banks on North Sea oil; the Bay City Rollers and Rollermania come to town; JAWS movie fever strikes.

Liberal leader Jeremy Thorpe resigns; Britain swelters under a heatwave; peanut farming becomes a thing of the past for America's president-elect, Jimmy Cartter; British mercenaries fight in Angola; there are riots in Soweto in South Africa; the Notting Hill Carnival erupts into violence; the heatwave results in water-rationing; John Curry wins a gold medal for skating at the Winter Olympics in Innsbruck.

Jubilee mania hits the country; the young embrace Punk; the Lib/Lab pact; Steve Biko dies; Elvis Presley dies. Music by The Stranglers, The Eagles, Elvis Costello, The Jam, Status Quo, Queen, and The Bee Gees.

1978. The year Roman Polanski skips bail and flees to France, after pleading guilty to charges of engaging in sex with a 13-year-old girl. Rhodesia's prime minister Ian Smith and 3 black leaders agree on the transfer to black majority rule and The Who's Keith Moon dies. Music from Kate Bush, Ian Dury, Blondie and The Police.

1979. Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini returns to Tehran, Iran after nearly 15 years of exile and creates the Council of the Islamic Revolution. The Queen makes a historic visit to the Gulf states. Pope John Paul II arrives in Eire. Mother Theresa is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. The Soviet Union invades Afghanistan. Music from Elvis Costello & the Attractions, Earth Wind & Fire and The Emotions, The Tourists, Tubeway Army, The Police, and The Specials.

1980. Who shot J.R.? Six Iranian-born terrorists take over the Iranian embassy in London. The SAS retakes the Embassy on day six of the siege. One terrorist survives. John Lennon is shot dead in New York. Music from The Jam, The Undertones, The Pretenders, Madness, David Bowie.