The Dalai Lama, spiritual leader of Tibet, is welcomed to Edinburgh City Chambers by Lord Provost John McKay in May 1984.The Dalai Lama, spiritual leader of Tibet, is welcomed to Edinburgh City Chambers by Lord Provost John McKay in May 1984.
The Dalai Lama, spiritual leader of Tibet, is welcomed to Edinburgh City Chambers by Lord Provost John McKay in May 1984.

Edinburgh in the Eighties: Here are 28 pictures to transport you back to life in the Capital in 1984 - including visits from the Dalai Lama and Mikhail Gorbachev

They may have been taken almost 40 years ago, but there are still plenty of familiar faces and places in these fascinating pictures from the archives.

Events making the headlines in 1984 included Bob Geldof and Midge Ure’s enormous Band Aid concerts, the Miners strike, and Ronald Reagan being elected US president for the second time.

On television viewers were tuning into the first episodes of ‘Ever Decreasing Circles’, ‘City Lights’ and ‘Fraggle Rock’, while at the cinema ‘Ghostbusters’, ‘Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom’, ‘Gremlins’ and ‘Police Academy’ saw film fans queue around the block.

In the music charts Band Aid had the best-selling single of the year with ‘Do They Know It’s Christmas?’, followed by ‘I Just Called To Say I Love You’ by Stevie Wonder, Frankie Goes To Hollywood’s ‘Relax’ and ‘Two Tribes’, and George Michael’s ‘Careless Whisper’.

It was also the year that the first Macintosh computer went on sale on the High Street.

And there was plenty going on in Edinburgh, including visits of world leaders, showbiz sparkle, and demonstrators taking to the streets.

Here are 28 pictures to take you back to Scotland’s Capital in 1984.

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