Fred Perry and Skinheads - Page 2

it's cuz Fred Perry was the OG skinhead...running down the backstreets of the east end with tennis racket in hand, beating down paki immigrants for race and nation, and still getting to the hallowed grounds of Wimbledon in time to win 2 championships.

btw, Fred Perry was also black.

I had no idea there was a variety of skinheads.

I supposed I'm a tad bit on the sheltered side when it comes to all of the various "subcultures."

There was a time when there were only "skinheads"...who werent racist, but werent anti-racist either. They just were, the way anyone else would be.

but the reason for Fred Perry shirts is simple. It's a carryover from the mod culture just before it transitioned into skinhead. And being the last Englishman to win Wimbledon (in the mid 30s) he was something of a British icon.

If it werent for the skinhead scene the brand would have died off long ago, and it's nice to see that the company still acknowledges their heritage and roots.

Where I grew up, skinheads didn't wear Fred Perry that I know of. I never saw one in a polo shirt or cricket sweater or anything. They were pretty redneck, actually, and I'm not sure what they were up to when they weren't at punk rock shows or Oktoberfest. Probably hunting, fishing, and drinking like everyone else. But I never encountered any other kind of skin than racialist/bonehead until I moved from Florida, and I still don't think I've ever met a mod-leaning skin in person.

you're from the Orlando area i presume? try Jacksonville. still not a great town but some good trad-skins in the area.

I'm from an extreeemely redneck town about 100 miles south of Orlando, but we went to Orlando for shows in the 80s and early 90s.

The cultural wasteland of Mid-Michigan doesn't seem to have any even remotely skin-related folks. There's apparently a rockabilly scene but I'm still trying to hunt it down.

Pretty much every time the topic of being a skinhead (Which I'm reluctant to call myself, though I do take some inspiration from it obviously) comes up, I have to recite the whole I'm not a violent racist talk. Every now and then someone will actually be aware of the original sub-culture, but it's pretty rare.

So my hopes of finding a skingirl to arm-wrestle are pretty slim.

The wasteland that's known as Detroit has had its share of good oi bands throughout the years....back in the late 80s-early 90s there were 2 really good bands that each put out 3 records....The Rogues and Rival. And recently in early 2000s, there was Hated and Proud, by far one of the best American Oi bands ever.

as for a rockabilly scene, The Twistin' Tarantulas come from Detroit as well, so there has to be some kind of cool scene going on, as that band was seriously kick ass, tho they stopped playing a couple years ago due to Pistol Pete finding out he had cancer.

That's reassuring. Maybe I'm running in the wrong circles.

he was also very very very light-skinned:

A lot of the older skins who used to run around and cause trouble in the very early 90s are still hanging around Ypsilanti, and we occasionally get visitors from some of the Detroit suburbs. It's a pretty trad scene too, more sweater vest than flight jacket.

There's actually a decent oi! scene in the Detroit area. There was a big fest on Labor Day that I missed cause of work, I think it was at Blondie's. Last time I made it out to an oi show was when I got thrown into the PA at the Double O in Redford. Good times.

The early skins were into soul and ska, right?

Don't forget reggae.

And Rocksteady.