The (English) Beat Live at Bradford 1982 Audio Cassette

This is a real nostalgic treat. It’s a bootleg tape of The (English) Beat, playing a blistering live set in Bradford on 9th October 1982. Recording quality is poor, but the performance easily makes up for that, and it would have been a crime to let the less-than-professional recording prevent that fantastic performance from being preserved. I bought the tape – dubbed onto a Sony CHF-90 (how typical of the time) – from one of the record fairs held in Birmingham and the West Midlands either in late 1982 or early 1983. The inlay is in most ways typical of those on early ‘80s bootlegs – typed and photocopied onto matt-finish paper in an eyecatching solid colour. However, in this case the paper is thick and stiff enough to be described as card, which was quite a luxury at the time.

The Jam – Dig The New Breed Audio Cassette

Whether it was a happy accident or a brilliantly executed plan, The Jam (fronted by Paul Weller) managed to span a number of the many pockets of youth subculture as the ‘70s morphed into the ‘80s. The number of different music-driven fashion sectors to which kids and youths in the UK could belong around that time was almost mind-boggling. Punk, Skinhead, Mod, Rude Boy/Girl, Ted/Rockabilly, etc… Each fashion had its associated music, and a raft of commercial bands vying for premiership in the genre.

1982 Maxell UL 90 Audio Cassette

These were a common sight in the latter part of 1982 – particularly around the record fairs, where the live gig bootleggers would sit at stalls behind boxes of Type 1 audio tapes. The tapes would feature performances from popular bands of the day, recorded on the sly at various venues, on a pocket tape recorder – typically a Sony Walkman. Names such as The Jam, Echo and The Bunnymen, UB40, Duran Duran, Madness, Bauhaus, Altered Images and Mari Wilson were among those well known from the UK pop charts at the time.