Life in Britain in the early 1980s

[tex]

Does anyone remember those badged-sized coloured plastic lights that you could put on your bike, and was available free in packs of Kellogg's Corn Flakes? - I think that they called them "spokey-dokeys" or something. When you cycled, they would light up. They were advertised during Children's ITV ad breaks.

Indeed!...also the esso petrol giveaway tiger tails that you would put on the handlegrips, plastic brake pull covers, spoke clackers, stick on frame transfers,the little square solenoid powered lights, puncture repair kit pouch on the back of the seat, bulb style horns......Wow talk about pimp my ride!

[George 1978]

Some would also say Thatcher's too after the Falklands as she could play left wingers like Scargill like a fiddle.

The TV-am interview with Scargill from 1984 is worth watching on YouTube - fascinating to see John Stapleton interview him, and you know that Scargill looks out of place on that Thatcherite TV-am sofa.

[George 1978]

It's also debatable whether it was the bikes or the sport that was the driving force behind sales of BMX in the early 1980s. It is notable that the predominant sport was racing in the early 1980s whereas it was tricks in the late 1990s. BMX tracks sprang up in every town in Britain during the early 1980s.

There was a craze for plastic mag wheels in the early 1980s but experienced riders (as opposed to kids who wanted to show off to their friends) knew they were a gimmick more than anything else. They never really made a comeback during the revival of the late 1990s.

Does anyone remember those badged-sized coloured plastic lights that you could put on your bike, and was available free in packs of Kellogg's Corn Flakes? - I think that they called them "spokey-dokeys" or something. When you cycled, they would light up. They were advertised during Children's ITV ad breaks.

[Arran]

I remember by early 1990s BMXs were on they way out because Mountain Bikes were popular by then.

The legend was that the day when the last BMX rolled off the production line at the Raleigh factory was the day that BMX in Britain officially died. The exact day is one of the nation's best kept secrets but it illustrated the power that Raleigh once had in deciding which type of bike was mainstream and which wasn't.

Raleigh had started working on mountain bikes in 1985 because they wanted to manufacture a type of bike that could appeal to both children and adults. The adult bike market in the early 1980s was very small both in comparison to the children's bike market at the time and the adult bike market of the 2000s.

Adults in the early 1980s generally didn't go cycling. My mother says that a man riding a bike in the early 1980s was often viewed as being unemployed (remember Norman Tebbit) and a woman was often viewed as not having a driving licence, unless they were clearly a university student or a lycra clad racing bike enthusiast out on a Sunday.

[George 1978]

Miners strike of 1984

Scargill's finest hour.

[Arran]

It's also debatable whether it was the bikes or the sport that was the driving force behind sales of BMX in the early 1980s. It is notable that the predominant sport was racing in the early 1980s whereas it was tricks in the late 1990s. BMX tracks sprang up in every town in Britain during the early 1980s.

There was a craze for plastic mag wheels in the early 1980s but experienced riders (as opposed to kids who wanted to show off to their friends) knew they were a gimmick more than anything else. They never really made a comeback during the revival of the late 1990s.

[Arran]

I know that Raleigh bikes were very popular at the start of the 1980s and pre-dated BMX by a couple of years - Raleigh used to have their factory here in Nottingham (Radford, I think), and they were to Nottingham what Rolls Royce was to Derby.

Raleigh was quite slow to get into BMX; didn't understand BMX very well; and didn't really like BMX, but was faced with a dilemma of either manufacture BMX or the company goes bust. To further complicate matters, Raleigh was also mired with outdated manufacturing technology (like brazed frame joints rather than welded frame joints) and complex politics (including matters relating to Sturmey Archer gears) that was prohibitive to establishing themselves as a BMX manufacturer.

Despite these setbacks, BMX was a commercial success for Raleigh and the Burner has established itself as Britain's national BMX and a true icon of the 1980s. They are very collectable nowadays and people pay silly money for them.

[George 1978]

I know that Raleigh bikes were very popular at the start of the 1980s and pre-dated BMX by a couple of years - Raleigh used to have their factory here in Nottingham (Radford, I think), and they were to Nottingham what Rolls Royce was to Derby.

[Arran]

BMX was such a huge thing in the 1980s, although I think that the BMX craze actually kicked off from around 1983 onwards - mostly due to the Australian film from that year, BMX Bandits which was noticeable for an early appearance from Nicole Kidman in it.

The early 1980s BMX boom took off suddenly and rapidly (in contrast to the late 1990s BMX revival which took off slowly and gradually) but I'm unsure what exactly was the trigger.

E.T. undoubtedly increased the popularity of BMX but it was certainly not the trigger as it was shown in British cinemas in December 1982 after the Raleigh Burner went on sale some time during the first half of 1982.

There is a theory that as soon as kids saw their first BMX they would abandon Chopper bikes as if they were toxic. There is probably some truth to this as BMX bikes are agile and fun to ride whereas Chopper bikes are clumsy and unwieldy, although in reality Chopper bikes were on their way out as early as 1978.

It's notable that BMX was generally a pre-teenage bike in the early 1980s whereas it became commonplace for teenagers and young adults to ride a BMX in the late 1990s and 2000s.

[George 1978]

The most famous networked programme from Border in the 1980s was BMX Beat. I have wondered how many kids at the time from outside of the Border ITV region actually knew that Border was an ITV company as opposed to an independent TV production company.

I would have thought that Mr and Mrs was the most famous Border programme to be networked - all Border networked programmes had either Derek Batey, Stu Francis, or the Krankies in them!

BMX was such a huge thing in the 1980s, although I think that the BMX craze actually kicked off from around 1983 onwards - mostly due to the Australian film from that year, BMX Bandits which was noticeable for an early appearance from Nicole Kidman in it. And BMX Beat was known for its theme tune as well - the ripoff of the 1973 cover version of the Shadows' Apache. And the ident at the end which had "=D- BORDER TELEVISION - OUTSIDE BROADCAST" written on it.

[George 1978]

Newspapers and magazines, along with postage, appear to have increased in price above the rate of inflation more than anything else (except housing) since the early 1980s.

New Scientist cost 70p in 1982. WH Smith is now selling it for an eye watering £5.95.

When my father went to Sainsbury's in the early to mid 1980s and we were at the checkout waiting to pay, they had magazines such as Living and Family Circle at the till which were a lot more expensive, probably twice the price as ordinary magazines - these were in the days when supermarkets didn't really sell magazines.

[Arran]

Every kid in the early 1980s wanted a BMX bike.

The popularity of BMX was so high that nearly 30% of all bikes sold in Britain in 1983 was a BMX.

[Arran]

Smaller ITV companies did get some shows networked on CITV - remember Border's efforts such as The Joke Machine and Crush a Grape, the Stu Francis Crackerjack ripoff? I have always thought that anyone who watched in the Border region probably thought that their local station had opted out of the network to show the programme as they hardly ever got networked programmes on air from Border, and the Border "bow and arrow" logo ident was associated with Cumbria and south Scotland only.

The most famous networked programme from Border in the 1980s was BMX Beat. I have wondered how many kids at the time from outside of the Border ITV region actually knew that Border was an ITV company as opposed to an independent TV production company.

[Arran]

In 1981 for example, Woman magazine was around 20p, TV Times (both IPC Magazines) was around the same price - my family had the Charles and Diana wedding issue for many years. A tabloid newspaper like the Daily Star was 12p, a middle market paper like the Daily Express was 15p, and a broadsheet like The Times was 20p. I would hazard a guess that they are around six or seven times that amount now.

Newspapers and magazines, along with postage, appear to have increased in price above the rate of inflation more than anything else (except housing) since the early 1980s.

New Scientist cost 70p in 1982. WH Smith is now selling it for an eye watering £5.95.

[Arran]

I think CD players were reasonably mainstream by 1987 but were still a product for audiophiles with Hi-Fi separates rather than teenagers.

There was a rise in the popularity of cassettes in the late 1980s - possibly as a result of the music industry that had abandoned vinyl records but CD players and even CDs themselves were generally too expensive for the average teenager. Also, most cars now had cassette players fitted as standard.