TALKIN’BOUT 1976! - 'zine

TALKIN’BOUT 1976! - 'zine

50 years since year zero for UK Punk & the Manchester connection...

By Craig Johnson

The summer of 1976 in Manchester was hot… very hot. And amid the bubbling tarmac and the brutal concrete housing estates, something seismic was happening down in the city’s ripped backsides…

This year marks the 50th anniversary of punk arriving in the UK in 1976. Notable events included the release of the first British punk single (The Damned – “New Rose”) and the first independently released punk single (Buzzcocks – “Spiral Scratch”), as well as the two Sex Pistols gigs at the Free Trade Hall — where, famously, several people in the audience went on to form a large part of the musical, cultural, and creative heritage of modern Manchester. But that’s a different story…

This 'zine revisits the post‑industrial Manchester of the time — the places, the music, the people — and features selected imagery alongside a narrative built from first‑hand accounts of those who were there. Some people say nothing was happening in the city… but these young punks say otherwise…

Based on the exhibition held at the modernist in June and July 2026 - designed and curated by Craig Johnson.

With contributions by Jon Savage, Paul Morley, Malcolm Garrett, John Cooper Clarke, Peter Hook and many more!

32 pages b&w and colour

A5 Staple bound

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