Ian Bodenham and Ian Johns met during a night out in 1980s London. 

Ian J was young, good looking and ready for love. He was heading out to a club night at The Bell and he spotted a young man who he just couldn’t forget. Ian B was quite a shy person and therefore ignored Ian J’s many attempts to catch his attention. Ian J persisted and saw him again at a club night called Asylum at Heaven and this time around – they spoke, got together and it was instant chemistry.

A year later, they moved in together, then started a vintage clothes business and are now happily married. This episode will be released on the 37th anniversary of when they first got together – all those years ago at Heaven. Huge congratulations to them and may they enjoy many more years of love, laughter and good health together. 

Ian and Ian are both wonderfully stylish gentleman who are passionate about all things vintage and own a vintage clothes shop in London. 

Ian and Ian found love in 1984 and this is their love story. 

You can read their story and see their photographs on our website blog: https://www.wefoundloveinthe80s.com/post/5-ian-ian

If you'd like to get in touch or have a story to share, or have some suggestions then please send an email to [email protected].

We hope you enjoy the podcast!

x

Subash & Geeta met through matchmakers who knew both families well. They met at Geeta's house in April 1989, with both families present and were given just 20 minutes to speak to each other with a chaperone present who was Geeta's best friend. One week later, they were asked to make one of the most important decisions of their lives. They both said yes to getting married to each other and wedding preparations began immediately.  They share their experiences on discovering each other and falling in love after getting married. For anyone who is curious about traditional Indian weddings and family dynamics - this episode will be a fascinating listen. After Subash & Geeta's grown-up daughters left the family home, they realised that they needed to rekindle that spark as a couple and lovers. They talk openly about going to marriage counselling to revisit their shared values that rekindled their love for each other.

Subash & Geeta found love and had a traditional Indian wedding in August 1989.

You can read their story and see their photographs on our website blog: https://www.wefoundloveinthe80s.com/post/4-geeta-and-subash

If you'd like to get in touch or have a story to share, or have some suggestions then please send an email to [email protected].

We hope you enjoy the podcast!

x

Episode 5 of We Found Love In The 80s features our fifth couple - Alex & Ayan. They met while studying at Leicester Polytechnic in Autumn 1988. They were told to look out for each other at university by mutual friends and coincidentally ended up renting student houses on the same street, opposite one another. 

They shared some poignant discoveries about being in a mixed race relationship, the importance of kindness, persistence, safety & laughter.

This is a lovely story...

Ayan was very shy and she was brought up in Somalia for the first five years of her life and had to escape her father after her parents' marriage broke down. She talks about needing reassurance & safety which Alex provided & ultimately enabled Ayan to be herself. This is when their love blossomed.

You can read their story and see their photographs on our website blog: https://www.wefoundloveinthe80s.com/post/2-alex-and-ayan

If you'd like to get in touch or have a story to share, or have some suggestions then please send an email to [email protected].

We hope you enjoy the podcast!

x

Jitka and Mark met purely by chance when they were both students visiting Prague from different countries. Jitka was from Czechoslovakia and Mark from was from the UK. Their story could be the making of a Hollywood rom-com movie! 

Jitka was sitting on a bench, reading a map when a stranger asked her if she could speak English. It was Mark! Luckily she was one of the few people who could speak English in her country at the time. They began talking and ended up spending 3 days together, exploring the beautiful city of Prague and making some incredible memories together. Jitka and Mark found love in 1982, in the Old Town Square, Prague. They now live in Bristol. 

You can read their story and see their photographs on our website blog: https://www.wefoundloveinthe80s.com/post/6-jitka-mark

If you'd like to get in touch or have a story to share, or have some suggestions then please send an email to [email protected]. 

We hope you enjoy the podcast!

x

The story of Anne and Marius (sometimes referred to as Mark) started when they were 12 years old at primary school. They were best friends throughout school and university. “She had a boyfriend and I had a girlfriend and we cried on each others shoulders when things went wrong”.  One day, Mark realised that the love of his life was right in front of him, it was Anne. They found love in 1985 and got married on the 1st January 1986.

A very inspiring story of love and commitment to each other, no matter what difficulties life may bring.

You can read their story and see their photographs on our website blog: https://www.wefoundloveinthe80s.com/post/7-anne-mark

If you'd like to get in touch or have a story to share, please send an email to [email protected]

We hope you enjoy the podcast!

x

Saroj and Kamlesh (Saz and Kam) met in the student union bar while studying at Leicester Polytechnic in the early 1980s. They shared their ups and downs of married life, throwing off the shackles of outdated Indian traditions and culture of their parents. They lived together before they were married and also had an inter-caste love marriage – very unusual in those days when the traditional arranged marriage’s were the norm in South Asian communities in 1980s Britain. They did things differently and made their own rules together and share their ups and downs in this episode. 

A very inspiring story of love and commitment to each other, no matter what difficulties life may bring.  

You can read their story and see their photographs on our website blog: https://www.wefoundloveinthe80s.com/post/3-saroj-kamlesh

If you'd like to get in touch or have a story to share, please send an email to [email protected]

We hope you enjoy the podcast!

x

Helen & Deirdre who met in 1989, are among the first couples who offered their story for We Found Love In The 80s. Twenty five years after meeting, they were finally able to marry in 2014. They describe themselves as queer and talk about discovering the world of bi-sexuality through books and literature found in independent book shops. They share stories of supporting friends with AIDS and the impact of Section 28. 

Helen and Deirdre share their love story about building a life together over the past 31 years. It is fascinating, heartwarming, honest and inspiring. 

We are proud to launch this episode and the podcast series during LGBT History Month 2021. 

You can read their story and see their photographs on our website blog: https://www.wefoundloveinthe80s.com/post/1-helen-deirdre

If you'd like to get in touch or have a story to share, please send an email to [email protected] 

We hope you enjoy the podcast! 

x 

Welcome to We Found Love In The 80s. 

We launch this podcast with a soundscape made by Martyn Ware, musician and founder of the Human League and Heaven 17. It features soundbites of all of the couples interviewed for this project. Here are a few words from Martyn about the soundscape. 

"The soundscape was created in 3D using our software 3DAudioScape, which enables us to move sounds around in three dimensions. This would normally be played back in a real-world exhibition space, but in this instance we rendered the soundscape into binaural  - best listened to on headphones, which will create a sense of immersion in the experience. If this was in a real world space, the listener would have been able to ‘visit’ the different voices by moving around the space, thereby creating their own personal ‘mix’ of voices within the soundscape, but to make the voices more legible, we have spaced them out more on the timeline for headphones. The selection of comments from the couples was based on the most entertaining and/or emotionally engaging material. Hope you like it"

Martyn Ware

Credits: 

Martyn Ware – composition,producer and 3D spatialization

Charles Stooke – co-composer, co-producer and engineer

Asa Bennett – 3D spatialization

Welcome to we found love in the 80s! A brand new podcast series to celebrate the untold love stories of couples who fell in love in the 1980s. It celebrates different kinds of relationships, people and love in the 1980s. 

Each Sunday, we will release a brand new episode and we hope you enjoy listening to the many different kinds of love stories we have recorded. 

We also have an accompanying soundscape created by Martyn Ware, who is the founder of iconic British 80s bands The Human League and Heaven17. So please check that out. 

If you have any suggestions or ideas for the podcast, please email us at [email protected]. 

Thank you and enjoy! 

X 

Credits: 

Dawinder Bansal - Creator, Producer and Director (Film, Podcast, Blog)

Martyn Ware – composition,producer and 3D spatialization (Soundscape and Podcast)

Charles Stooke – co-composer, co-producer and engineer (Soundscape and Podcast)

Asa Bennett – 3D spatialization (Soundscape) 

Anthony Davies - Director of Photography and Editor (Film and Podcast)

Dee Patel - Photography (Film, Blog)

A huge thanks to the commissioners, funders and supporters who are Waltham Forest, Barbican, Warwick Arts Centre, Here & Now 2020, Future Arts Centres, Arts Council England and the National Lottery Players.