Pits, picket lines and pop music: the 1984-5 UK miners' strike

We're digging into the archives for a special program looking at the role that music played in the UK miners' strikes: a political, industrial and personal struggle. From Peggy Seeger to Paul Weller, Billy Bragg to brass bands—there's music supporting the striking miners, songs tormenting strikebreakers and tracks referencing (and sometimes sampling) National Union of Mineworkers leader Arthur Scargill and Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. Emeritus Professor of Politics at the University of East Anglia John Street guides us through the history and music of this divisive time, plus we hear interviews from the ABC archives with folklorist A L Lloyd, singer songwriter Billy Bragg, Grimethorpe Colliery Band, folk singers Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger and composer David Lumsdaine.

You can listen to Pits, picket lines and pop music: the 1984-5 UK miners' strike online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

Pits, picket lines and pop music: the 1984-5 UK miners' strike is an episode from The Music Show.

This episode is 0:54:36 long.

This episode was published on Mar 29, 2026.

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