“BOPPING MAD!” was our headline when Showaddywaddy had a no-show at the Oasis exactly 33 years ago.

The Teddy Boy revivalists had last seen the top 10 in 1978 with Pretty Little Angel Eyes but they remained a big live draw.

They had been due on stage in Swindon two evenings earlier, but then disaster struck.

We reported: “They cancelled their sold-out concert at the Oasis Leisure Centre just four hours before it was due to start – and left 1,500 fans shakin’ all over with rage and disappointment.

“The group called off the show when one of the four singers was pronounced too ill to perform.

“But many fans – some of whom came from as far as Bristol and London for the show – thought the eight-piece group should have gone on without him.”

The singer in question was called Buddy Gask, and had strained a chest muscle.

One fan, 15-year-old Brian Perrett from Calne, told us: “We were really choked. It was a big let-down after coming all this way.”

With mass mobile social media not due for another 25 years or so, venues had problems getting vital messages to customers. We said: “The Oasis immediately informed television and radio services – but it couldn’t stop hundreds of fans turning up hours later. Many were wearing crepes and drapes and other rock’n’ roll regalia. They had paid £4.50 and £3.75 for tickets.”

Lurching from Showaddywaddy to sexism, a front page photograph days earlier of women wearing Union Flag knickers – it was a different era – lit the fuse on a battle of the sexes in the Adver newsroom.

Columnist Shirley Mathias printed a photo of Swindon former boxer Eddie Neilson flexing his muscles and pointed out what she saw as a double standard in the media.

She quoted the editor of the day: “Half our readers are men – and men like looking at pictures of pretty girls.”

In her riposte, Shirley commendably and fearlessly took no prisoners: “Does it ever occur to these chauvinists that women aren’t just scantily-clad beings put on this earth to occupy the bed, the typewriter and the kitchen sink?

“Countless secretaries are embarrassed and irritated by having to face the daily insult of their boss’s girly calendar with its ever-changing displays of bottoms, boobs and thighs.

“Yet if the average Girl Friday pinned a full-frontal centre spread of Burt Reynolds over her desk, her employer would probably order it to be ripped down and accuse her of being sex mad.”

The week also saw us highlight the activities of a woman who just might turn out to have been a global pioneer. We photographed her with a dog and what looked like one of those little plastic spades children use to make sandcastles.

“As the fur flies in the battle over doggy wrongdoings,” we said, “a new contender has entered the fray.

“Swindon’s answer to Barbara Woodhouse, Miss Jayne Bishop, has the solution to the whole messy problem – the ‘poop scoop.’ “When she takes her three fox terriers out – on their leads, of course – any call of nature is deftly scooped up and put in the nearest drain or gutter.”

Mrs Bishop, of Banwell Avenue, Park North, told us: “It’s a simple solution to a problem that has got completely out of hand.”

Mrs Bishop was secretary of the Swindon branch of a charity called Pro-Dogs, which is apparently still around as Pro Dogs Direct (prodogsdirect.org.uk), a volunteer-run rescue and rehoming organisation with a firm ‘no destruction’ policy.

On a somewhat less cheery note, we also spoke to a local couple with an unusual set of responsibilities.

We said: “The wail of a siren may be our only warning that Britain is under nuclear attack. In the time it takes to boil an egg, man’s ‘genius’ could be delivering death and destruction to millions.

“And it will happen one day, say a Chiseldon husband and wife team of nuclear war advisors.

“Sandra and David Archer, both 38, of Norris Close, are two of Wiltshire’s community and technical advisors in case of war.

“They have taken two important training courses to know what to expect in and after a nuclear holocaust – and how to help us survive it.”

What nobody realised in those days, on account of it being a state secret, was that because this area was home to several military bases it would probably have been turned into an unsurvivable moonscape in the event of a Soviet attack.

Many people believed war was inevitable, and the couple were among them: “I’m not being a pessimist,” said Sandra, “but there will be a nuclear war, you know.

“The tension in the world is so great now.”

IN OTHER NEWS...

MONDAY, MARCH 2, 1981: “A SWINDON man who claims he was shot at from a car has been exposed as a hoaxer. Police said today the man had retracted his statement and confirmed they were dealing with a malicious allegation. They are considering taking action against the man for wasting police time. He alleged that a shotgun was fired at him from a passing car at the junction of Station Road and Whitehouse Road last Thursday.”

TUESDAY, MARCH 3, 1981: “IT’S not easy to flip a pancake and dodge puddles at the same time, as several brave souls found out yesterday. The great Adver and Jif Lemon pancake race wasn’t quite the sizzling success everyone had hoped for – as torrential rain watered down the enthusiasm. But a few people ignored the flipping awful weather and armed with pancakes tore up and down one of the Oasis’ soccer pitches. First across the soggy line, after a bit of sprinting and adroit flipping, was Suzanne Akhurst of Cloche Way, followed by Anne Hewlett of Morrison Street and Pete Acton of Ferndale Road.”

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 4, 1981: “WHAT a bargain! The entire Swindon Town football team can be snapped up this Sunday – for just 50p. But don’t take a lorry along to pick them up – a camera will have to do. For the players will be available from 10.30am to noon for a big photo session at the County Ground. And you can take as many snaps as you like for 50p. The Town men will willingly pose for special shots with members of the family. The players are holding the session to raise funds to sponsor a close-season trip abroad. Because of their current financial position, the club cannot afford one.”

THURSDAY, MARCH 5, 1981: “JUMPING Jean Martin flashes into Swindon today for a dizzy disco bonanza. The Lancashire lass is the star attraction at a disco dancing extravaganza at Saks nightclub in Theatre Square. She has just returned from a dazzling disco tour of India. Jean, 25, will be appearing alongside twinkle-toed twins Dale and Lissa James – the world’s disco doubles champions from Swansea.”

SATURDAY, MARCH 7, 1981: “THE M4 near Swindon was thrown into chaos when a lorry and its massive container parted company. Nine vehicles were involved in collisions, blocking the westbound carriageway, but only two people were slightly hurt. The container slid off the 13-ton truck at Wootton Bassett at about 7pm last night. Three cars ploughed into it, one of them bouncing off into a crash barrier. As another articulated lorry pulled up with a Cortina behind it, a Lancia hit the Cortina and pushed it into the lorry. A Land Rover which managed to avoid the second collision was then struck by a sports car and thrown into the wreckage.”