Subway Template

On 1978: The Year The UK Turned Day-Glo, we investigate the sounds of 1978 as the original punk template fractured into a dazzling day-glo riot of sub-genres: new wave, post-punk, proto-Oi, power-pop, punk poets, the mod revival, ska-punk, synth-oriented electronic/industrial music and a whole load of additional noises that, over forty years later, have still to be classified by the fifth estate, the fourth column or even the Third Reich. We document various regional scenes, paying close attention to the likes of Manchester, Scotland and, in particular, Northern Ireland, where the arrival of punk was a life-affirming relief from the horrors of everyday life.