A new book celebrates Liverpool in the Seventies. Greg O’Keeffe reports

IT was the decade that gave us glam rock, punk, footballers’ perms and Margaret Thatcher. And now it is being celebrated in a new book Liverpool 70s Souvenir of the Decade.

The Swinging Sixties were over and life went on in Liverpool despite the end of the Beatles.On April 10, 1970 Paul McCartney announced he was leaving the Fab Four blaming the split on: “personal differences, business differences, musical differences- but most of all because I have a better time with my family”.

Mop heads were replaced by hippy chicks, punks and disco divas. The new fashions were big heels, flares and garish tank tops.

Men, footballers particularly being the worst offenders, started sporting perms, Everton won the league in 1970 and then Liverpool went on to reign supreme.

It was a golden era for TV. Talent like Leonard Rossiter, Tom O’Connor, Carla Lane and Eddie Braben proved to the nation that Liverpool humour was top drawer.

In 1977 there was dancing in the street as Liverpudlians turned out to celebrate the Silver Jubilee with a right Royal knees-up and parties in every neighbourhood.

Meanwhile, in Mathew Street, the spirit of punk was rebelling against everything and anything.

The industrial scene was increasingly troubled. More than 92,000 redundancies were announced, culminating in the strike-driven ‘Winter of Discontent’ in 1978-79.

Industry was hit hard, including Ford at Halewood, Vauxhall at Ellesmere Port and Standard Triumph at Speke.