This Town: How young Black Country music fans forged groups in early 1980s - as shown in BBC drama

This Town, which airs for the first time on BBC One on Easter Sunday, tells the story of how an extended family of four young people were brought together through the music scene of the early 1980s.

Set in 1981 amid the Birmingham riots and a time of heavy social upheaval, the music of the show is one of the showpieces, with every episode featuring a vast and varied soundtrack, with everything from Jimmy Cliffe to Leonard Cohen played in the programme.

For people who lived during that era, the memories are still strong as they recalled different gangs of mods, skins and rockers, a real feeling of social change amid an open volley of racism and aggression and, above all, some really great music which brought people together.

Mick Walker was very familiar with the music scene in the late 1970s and early 1980s after being part of the band Circles, a mod-revival group from Wolverhampton who built up a strong local following, then signed with Graduate Records in 1979.

After two years of recording and touring, the band split up in 1981, just around the time of This Town, but have since reformed and toured, as well as recording new material.

Mr Walker said he had vivid memories of that period, saying that the scene was pretty good when the band started, but the factionalism of the music and culture had become more defined and more volatile by 1981, except for in one Black Country venue.

He said: "When we first started out, it was a pretty good scene, but it began to split into different factions such as skinheads, mods, punks and ska boys and we were getting into lots and lots of trouble at gigs, which was one of the reasons I decided to stop back then.

"I remember taking someone from Sounds Magazine to JBs in Dudley after he'd come to interview us and we saw the whole spectrum of people from bikers to hippies to mods to punks and skinheads and he couldn't believe it, saying that if this was London, the place would go up like a firework.

"However, I knew that everyone got on in JBs and it didn't matter what background you came from as we all got on and spoke to each other, plus there was never any trouble because of the doorman Jimmy Fisher, who kept us all in check.

"I'd love to see that era of music resurrected by this show as it was a fantastic time for us in the band, releasing our first album, and music just creates a special bond amongst lots of people, whatever your genre may be, and still connects people now."

Roy Gennard was 12 years old at the time of when This Town was set, growing up as a mod in Dudley and said that, even today, he was still looking over his shoulder to see if any rude boys were going to chase him.

He said he had heard a lot about the show and the scene it portrayed and said it brought back many memories for him of the music and the fashion.

He said: "I remember a lot about the Zulu thing, a name people were being called, and I know that even in Dudley around the Gardens, the mods and the punks would meet up and they would start fighting.

"We had our own mod cafe and we would meet up midweek after school in Wolverhampton Street at the Zorba, then we'd head over Grange Park and put our music on and wear pork pie hats, which were a mod item in the 60s, but the rude boys in Jamaica wore it.

"When the rude boy fashion came out, which to me was very similar to a skinhead with same music and dress, and when we went on mod rallies, we'd have skinheads and rude boys with us, but you knew as well that there was a big rivalry and culture.

"I think the show can help to bring back a rude boy revival, similar to what Quadrophenia did, and through watching the trailer, it brings back memories of the fashion and the sounds and that's really good as I wish I could go back to it."

Claire Howell, who owns and runs Vinyl and Vintage record store in Wolverhampton, was also a schoolgirl at the time of This Town, growing up in Dorset and seeing the social changes of the time.

She said she was looking forward to seeing how the programme reflects that era and also spoke about the importance of the music as a record store owner and as a fan.

She said: "I was quite aware of the scene at that time and there were certain areas that you didn't go to after 5pm and you could tell that if you wore a mod jacket, you weren't necessarily very favourable to those wearing a leather biker jacket.

"I wasn't really part of any group of gang as I liked all sorts of music and I sort of copied what my friends like, just to get an idea of where I was.

"I took a look at the trailer and I've seen some of the photos, so I'll be very interested to watch it as, initially, I thought it looked a lot like This Is England, so it's going to be interesting to see the different cultures and areas from it.

"It also reminds people that record shops were hubs for people to meet and it still happens as we'll get people who come in and ask about whether we've seen the new album for a band and have we listened to this, so you can learn off people and decide the sort of music you want to listen to."