Steve's teenage memoir of rollercoaster 1970s
Football hooliganism, crimes against fashion (platform shoes, and 18ins Oxford bags), and days when new technology was having a colour telly – now all evoked in a memoir of being a teenager in the 1970s by Steve Grainger.
"70s Glam, Grime and Petty Crime" is a step back in time to a decade when political correctness was frowned on and teenage Steve, aka "Grange," had free rein to get up to all sorts of mischief.
From working on a fairground at the age of 11, to following his beloved Manchester United around the country by the age of 14, it is billed as an eye-opening exposé of a young man who stumbled in and out of court during his teenage years.
The national backdrop included the miners' strike and power cuts, leading to eating tea by candlelight.
Born in Kingstanding, Birmingham, in 1960, Steve lived at Aldridge, near Walsall, from the age of eight until his early 40s. He now lives in Rugeley with wife of 24 years Angie, and has recently become a grandfather.
"It is my first published book and tells of my, bitter-sweet, rollercoaster teenage years, growing up in a very dysfunctional family in Walsall, in the 1970s," he said.
"I ‘officially’ left school at 15 years old and was semi-literate, but fortunately I turned the corner in my early 20s.
"Besides describing the many scrapes I got into in the 70s, my book draws comparisons to the strange innocence and the laid-back feel of the 70s, compared to today's crazy, social media-led, PC-mad world.
"One of the main inspirations for the book was witnessing a generation of teenagers, which includes my youngest son, spending their formative years in their bedrooms, and only communicating with each other via a virtual world.
"I was in my late teens before I first went abroad, which was to France, to watch my beloved Man United, and Australia, well, seemed like a world away!
"Today's society and youngsters are on and off planes like I used buses in the 70s and our world seems a lot, lot, smaller and far more complicated place."
Steve's personal turnaround in young adulthood came when he found himself working in the exhibition industry.
"After working for some of the biggest names in the exhibition industry, I found myself running my own design and build workshop and studio for over 20 years. In 2006 I moved to Dubai with my family for almost four years and continued working in the exhibition industry, not only in the UAE, but all over the Middle and Far East.
"My bread-and-butter work is still exhibitions and events."
Steve says "70s Glam, Grime and Petty Crime" is available online from Amazon and at Waterstones stores.
