1984: The Year Pop Went Queer

'MAGNIFICENT! A Poppers O'Clock ode to one of pop's most pivotal and best dressed year' -- Caitlin Moran
'A riveting read about a pop revolution hiding in plain sight' -- Pete Paphides
'Plenty of predictions were made about 1984, but one thing no one foresaw was that it would turn out to be the year of British pop's coming-out party. Ian Wade is the perfect guide to a lost pop world more complex and fraught than nostalgia allows, an era simultaneously more exciting and more depressing than our own' -- Alexis Petridis
'Very funny and very moving, a whirlwind tour around a remarkable year by the lovely Ian - a guide alive with the spirit of Smash Hits, and lashings of LGBTQ+ pride and rage' -- Jude Rogers
'Highly energetic, well-informed, opinionated in all the right places and always exciting, this is a rush down memory lane.' -- David Quantick
'A flamboyant take on the 1980s. Everything you wanted to know about the 'Relax' video but were afraid to ask. It shows how Bronski Beat, Dead or Alive, Madonna et al. threw open music's closet on Top of the Pops, shifting society's attitudes to a disco beat. Excellent' * The Times *
'A refreshing take on the "year in pop" format' -- Simon Price
'A loving compendium of what happened during the pinkest 12-month patch of pop history' * Observer *
'[A] brilliantly written book' * Louder Than War *
'A tender and considered exploration and examination of how underground gay culture became subsumed into the official chart' -- Official Charts Company
'Few writers capture the visceral thrill and excitement of pop in print like Ian Wade. Thoroughly researched, erudite and often laugh-out-loud funny, 1984: The Year Pop Went Queer is like Smash Hits edited by both John Taylor and A.J.P. Taylor.' -- Daryl Easlea
'One of the best writers about music, Ian Wade's debut book is worth the wait. 1984: The Year Pop Went Queer tackles big subjects in a knowledgeable and humane way. Crucially, like the best pop music, it also fizzes with ideas and is riotously entertaining. You'll either learn something, laugh or both on every page. Essential reading for anyone who loves pop music, learning the truth about our recent past and anyone who simply enjoys fabulous writing.' -- John Earls
A punchy read...and important cocktail of wit and forensic study * Gay Community News *
A resonant ode to the gay pop revolutionaries who ruled the UK charts during a particularly bleak era for marginalised sectors of society. Does what all the best pop books do - celebrates the music and artists who made it while doubling up as an acute piece of social history. A warm, perceptive, frank and funny writer, Wade states his case persuasively in this rather marvellous book * The Big Issue *
Wade's written style is conversational, informal and fittingly 'Smash Hits' but belies the deep seriousness of his intent. Refreshingly potent -- 4 stars * Record Collector *
Light in tone but still with a very serious message 1984 The Year Pop Went Queer is an important history lesson for the subsequent artists lucky enough to be accepted for their authentic selves to remember the hard work of those that came before them -- 4 stars * Classic Pop *
'Obsessively researched, passionately observed and brilliantly penned' * Blitzed Magazine *