Dirty Stop Out’s Guide to 1970s Birmingham

It was a decade that saw the city’s capacity for enjoyment largely undented despite industrial unrest on an unprecedented scale and Birmingham suffering one of the country’s worst of IRA terrorist atrocities. Here you can read about the rise of groups such as Black Sabbath, UB40, Dexys Midnight Runners, Duran Duran, Tea and Symphony and many more, plus memories of a wide-ranging music scene, from folk to jazz, from ska to blues – and many of the country’s top rock bands.

The city’s clubs included the night-club empire of Eddie Fewtrell, King of Clubs, and the club John Peel described as the best in Britain. Two very different areas of the city are highlighted: Broad Street, then on the way to becoming Birmingham’s entertainment powerhouse, and Moseley, the hippie village that was home to a diverse and decidedly unconventional community. It was a decade of major change in Birmingham’s theatre and comedy scene – and the book ends with the city’s role in bringing football into the sphere of entertainment, with the memories of the likes of star comedian Jasper Carrott and television presenter Gary Newbon.