The 1980s, the fashion photographer David Bailey recalls, were “the first time the Americans wanted to come to London instead of Londoners wanting to go to New York.” And London delivered. The Rolling Stones. David Bowie. Elton John. As Mick Jagger’s American girlfriend Jerry Hall said, “Mick and I just really liked each other a lot. We talked all night. We had the same views on nuclear disarmament.”
Britain was situated between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R., two warring superpowers locked in an uneasy armament stalemate. Leaflets were circulated in the U.K. with grim warnings: “Even the safest room in your home is not safe enough.”
