This is the other copy of the Daily Mirror from the 1980s that I kept, a dramatic wraparound cover from the day after the IRA tried to assassinate Maggie Thatcher in Brighton. Together with the front page from Live Aid they’re like the light and dark sides of the 80s coin.

I’m not sure how I feel about this now but I have to admit that at the time there was a moment when I wished they’d got her. The woman did inspire a rather irrational level of hate.

See the full-size version here.

Download: Suspect Device – Stiff Little Fingers (mp3)

RIP Alex “Hurricane” Higgins.

Bit of a change of pace today. The quality of this video isn’t all that good but it’s LAURA NYRO (who is indeed worthy of all caps) and footage of her performing is rarer than… well, something very rare and precious but I can’t think what right now.

Inspired by today’s post at The Vinyl Villain I had the urge to serve up some vintage Wah! Heat. Leader Pete Wylie might not be as well known as fellow Liverpudlians (and, briefly, fellow band members) Julian Cope and Ian McCulloch but at his best Wah! were more than a match for them.

This is both sides of their 1979 debut single. Not everything I heard on John Peel way back then still lights my fire today but these do.

Download: Better Scream – Wah! Heat (mp3)
Download: Hey (Disco) Joe – Wah! Heat (mp3)

And, what the hell, here’s a storming track from their terrific 1981 debut album Nah+Pooh-The Art of Bluff — I still have no idea what that means, those wacky Scousers!

Download: Otherboys – Wah! Heat (mp3)

Yes, that’s Rachel Welch wearing a Chelsea kit.

Even though I know this picture is real because Raquel was one of the many celebrity fans Chelsea had in the 60s and 70s it still looks like something from a dream I had when I was 12 years old.

Download: When I Dream – The Teardrop Explodes (mp3)