A witty analysis of ambition in the 1980s as reflected in the music, film, TV and literature of the time and its influence on popular culture since. Plus a look at the motivations for that ambition - be it wealth, status or otherwise - and the impact on this of factors such as class and location.
Enriched with anecdotes inspired by the compilers’ own conflicting adventures in the realms of the high-flyer and the anti-yuppie, Gekkoes and Trotters is an amusing and evocative experience.
Chapters
Prelude: The Luxury Gap
From Sade's Diamond Life to M/A/R/R/S' Pump Up The Volume
Chapter 1: Prospects
I Three piece from Byrites
II A GCSE in statistics
III Basil Fawlty Health and Safety videos
Interlude: "Too much is never enough"
Oliver Stone's Wall Street (1987) vs its British equivalent Dealers (1989)
Chapter 2: Living the dream
IV Dinner jazz
V Broadgate on Ice
VI Skinheads at a Sting concert
Interlude: "It was acceptable at the time"
ITV's Capital City (1989-90) vs Showtime's Black Monday (2019-2021)
Chapter 3: The Prestige
VII Staying in to watch Capital City
VIII Barred from Tie Rack
IX Legless in Leadenhall. Again
Interlude: "No upwardly mobile freeway"
Working Girl (1988) vs The Nest (2021)
Chapter 4: My bloody filofax
X You went to Grange Hill, he went to Eton
XI The runt of London Wall
XII A basement in Bishopsgate
Interlude: Rise of the anti-yuppie
Only Fools and Horses' Yuppy Love (1989),
Colin's Sandwich (1988-1990)
and Mike Leigh's High Hopes (1988)
Chapter 5: Penthouse and Pavement
XIII A basement near Centre Point
XIV The second summer of love
XV A sinister and evil cult
Interlude: "Die Yuppie Scum"
American Psycho (2000) vs A Shock To The System (1990)
Chapter 6: Not an exit. Or maybe it is.
XVI Night classes or classy nights?
XVII Time... and... motion...
XVIII Advance to Mayfair
Epilogue: Crushed by the Wheels of Industry
Rogue Trader (1999), Drag Me To Hell (2009), Wall Street II: Money Never Sleeps (2010), Netflix's Fair Play (2023), BBC/HBO's Industry (2020-)