Specials among those to appear in book that lifts the lid on Coventry’s music scene

An author will be signing copies of her book which lifts the lid on Coventry’s thriving 1970s music scene. Ruth Cherrington chronicles the days of the legendary Specials and Selectar in The Dirty Stop Out’s Guide to 1970s Coventry.

She will be at Waterstones in the city center on Friday June 21 from 2pm. The period covered by the book saw the birth of the 2-tone musical genre, which at the time was a welcome distraction from the city’s collapsing car industry. It was written after Ruth interviewed musicians, DJs, punters and venue owners who were there at the time.

She said: “The Locarno Ballroom in Coventry led the way in after-dark entertainment in the early 1970s – it already had a decade of entertaining the city’s partying hordes. But it wasn’t long before he found it. itself with competition in the form of Mr George and the City Center Club, later Tamango’s’.

The book also contains rare photographs and memorabilia. Editor Neil Anderson describes it as “probably the most comprehensive look at the 1970s that we have ever produced”. At the signing, guests will have the chance to share memories with Ruth, who grew up close to Canley Social, one of Coventry’s most famous nightspots.

Other locations to be featured include the Bear Inn, Golden Cross, Cottage and Climax and Walsgrave. The Dirty Stop Out Guide to 1970s Coventry costs £21.95 and is available here.

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