In some ways, 1981 was the last year of my childhood as, aged 15, I started 5th form. It was the last year of school for some of my friends. They would be going out to the real world while, though I didn't know it at the time, I had only one more year of education to go. 1981 was also the last year when my world of music was centered almost exclusively on what was in the charts. A group of us started keeping a tally of the records we played at home and totaled them into our own chart each week. Madness was number one most weeks.
Meanwhile, outside of our sheltered little Cotswold world, the hunt is on for the Yorkshire Ripper, royal watchers have a new darling in Lady Diana Spencer and it's going to be a pivotal year for race-relationships in the UK. Welcome to the real world. Welcome to 1981.
