Growing up in 1970's rural Britain, gigs weren't as accessible as they are as an adult.

I only lived twelve miles from Manchester but it may as well have been the moon.

1976 punk exploded. I was ten.

I hated disco with a passion, I dismissed everything to do with it. Some of the songs that I look back on now are classics but as a ten year old you can't see this.

I recall the bands of the time that were catchy for a ten year old.

Showadywady!  WTF!

I had an older friend who was into rock and I started listening to Led Zeppelin, Yes, ACDC and a lot of prog.

I never got into it. 

Punk interested me but parents that disapproved of the scene and the fact i didn't have access to owning my own records limited my enthusiasm.

Then 1979 happened. Two Tone, Ska, blasted onto the scene. 

I was hooked.

Gangsters was released the 4th of May 1979.

Im not sure how soon after this I actually heard it. It was given full release a few weeks later and reached number 6 in the UK charts.

I attended a boys grammar school and a lot of the lads got into the new scene. Everyone tying their school tie backwards so we all had pencil ties. Black school trousers with white socks and loafers or docs.

We were part of something and it felt great. 

The hits came thick and fast and we would listen to the radio on Tuesday lunch times when the latest chart was released.

We were sharing mix tapes with all the hits, Madness, The Specials, The Beat, The Jam, Bad Manners plus other artists. Lads were wearing eye liner emulating Jimmy from Quadrophenia. 

We were buying the singles from Woolworths.

Friday nights at the local disco a huge gang of us with fishtail parkers. 

For a couple of years we were the ace faces.

Then it all unraveled as quickly as it exploded.

By the time I was able to go to a gig The Specials had already split.

The first gig I went to was The Beat, Manchester Apollo, May the 4th 1981.

I will never forget the energy and excitement of that night. Down at the front sweat dripping from my two tone shirt.

I needed more. The next gig was Madness and then Bad Manners. 

But then the Ska scene pretty much finished.