Born on 1 January 1973

Back in 1973, Britain felt like it was wobbling between two different worlds, usually by the flickering light of a candle during the power cuts. I remember sitting in the lounge with a plate of Findus crispy pancakes, waiting for the telly to warm up just to catch *Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em* or the latest glitter-drenched performance on *Top of the Pops*. It was the year of Slade’s "Merry Xmas Everybody" and Wizzard, but you’d hear The Sweet’s "Block Buster!

" blaring from every transistor radio on the high street. Outside, the roads were full of Hillman Avengers and the brand-new Austin Allegro, though we were all worried about the petrol crisis making every gallon a luxury. Kids were obsessed with Clackers—until they were banned for bruising everyone’s wrists—or trying to swap football stickers for the 1974 World Cup qualifiers.

It was a scorching summer, I recall, the kind where the Tarmac got sticky, and we’d rush to the cinema to see Roger Moore’s debut as Bond in *Live and Let Die*. Even with the Three-Day Week looming and the news full of VAT being introduced, there was a peculiar warmth to it all; a Watneys Party Seven in the kitchen and the simple joy of a Marathon bar before they went and renamed it.