Am You Taping It?

From the collection of

MACE is the strategic lead organisation for screen heritage for the East and West Midlands regions. An independent charity based at University of Lincoln, MACE preserves and makes accessible a collection of more than 100,000 historic moving images representative of the diverse cultures and histories of communities throughout the heart of England from the Lincolnshire coast to the Welsh border.

Am You Taping It?

Media Archive for Central England
Walsall
1986
Sound

Wham or Five Star, which is your favourite pop group? The teenager of the Noose Lane Arts Project in Walsall tell it like it really was growing up in 1986.

It may be technically a little rough-around-the-edges, but this video produced by Jubilee Arts for the Noose Lane Arts Project provides us with a little window into the lives of a group of teenagers in 1986. They talk to the camera answering a series of questions on subjects ranging from family life and holidays, to the all-important fashion and pop music scene. This film lets us see what was important to young people in the years before social media shaped the lives of Britain's teenagers.

Predictably, school doesn't get much love (nothing changes there), but it's the little bits of pop-culture that define this video for anyone who lived through the era. For example, it's easy to forget just how popular Sylvester Stallone was for a brief period, but here he's considered a heart-throb by one young fan, though don't get too big for your boots Sly, you're not really 'rock hard'!

The Kids Are Alright: Youth Culture on Screen

Teds, mods, rockers, punks, goths, ravers, hoodies, emos... The 20th Century phenomenon of ‘youth culture’ is a dynamic expression of identity, with its hands on music, fashion, language and generational change.

Since the ‘rowdy generation’ of the 1950s, teenagers and youth culture have been defined from the outside and from within. Young people proclaim their social identity through style, music and the spaces they occupy – which also makes them a visible target, and they become a bellwether (or scapegoat) for the state of the nation.

To the establishment, they are a source of anthropological curiosity and hand-wringing moral panic – as well as a key commercial audience, whether for consumer products, political movements or radio and television programming. An obsession with youth against mistrust and misunderstanding; attitudes towards the young are full of contradictions.

Today, youth culture is online, in a vast expanse of communities and identities. The internet has enabled a ‘pick n mix’ approach to music and fashion, while allowing local scenes to set trends globally, and giving young voices the platform to speak – loudly – for themselves.