Mod to Suedehead

Originally Posted by Man-of-Mystery

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Google "Occam's Razor".

I choose to ignore Mr. Occam except when my wife tries to convince me that our house is haunted.

That 'Yell' is fascinating stuff. And ahead of it's time - kinda reminiscent of the punk 'zines that came a few years later...

Gotta give credit to IT for giving space to what was seen as the 'enemy'.

'Gent, looking back I can now see the punk correlation. Maybe I invented the genre, LOL

to M-o-M
I really liked the Karate article/review . Off topic here but did people portray boxing the same way? I know boxing is rather huge over there but highly appreciated.

Originally Posted by OHT

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to M-o-M
I really liked the Karate article/review

. Off topic here but did people portray boxing the same way? I know boxing is rather huge over there but highly appreciated.

I'm not really qualified to comment. I never had any mates who boxed or went to watch (except later I had one work colleague who had boxed when he was younger). All I will say is that Henry Cooper was a bit of a national hero.

...which nicely brings us back round to Brut.

"Splash it all ovah!"

Originally Posted by Southlondongent

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...which nicely brings us back round to Brut.

"Splash it all ovah!"

I rested the temptation to say that myself!

Originally Posted by Get Smart

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copy/pasted bit about Neat Change...

Quote from Jimmy Edwards of the Neat Change on where they got their look:


"We were the first mod-skinhead group. The Who weren't, their management said: look at your audience, you've got to dress like them. They were all greasers originally. The Neat Change were from the audience for The Who, that's why I say we were the first, because no one told us to dress like skinheads. We were the audience members who got up on stage and played. Bands like The Action and The Creation were more naturally mod than The Who, but we stood out by becoming skinheads. Steve and Brian in our group looked at these American servicemen and what they were wearing, and there weren't many skinheads at all in the mid-sixties, about 10 in the whole of London and two of them were in The Neat Change. They just looked at what the black American GIs who were going to the jazz clubs were wearing and dressed the same. Sta-Prest, fell boots, Harringtons . The reason they had crops was that when they fought no one could grab their hair. We were the first but other people nicked our style: Slade copied us and became skinheads too, but they never had success until they grew their hair out again."

Backtracking to the 'Neat Change' issue and their claim to be the 'first mod-skinhead group'.

Undoubtedly the first member of a 'name' British group to have a 'hard mod' image was Eric Clapton in the Yardbirds a good 4 years before the Neat Change. I can't find the full length pic but complimenting the crew-cut and Harrington are a pair of turned-up Levi's and Weejun-style loafers.

There is a photo that I've seen (Terry Rawlings bio of Ronnie Wood if you're interested) of The Birds (a fine Mod R&B group if you like that sorta thing) from 66/67 I've been trying to find without success. A few of the band have the usual bouffants but one of them (Tony Munro?) has short cropped hair w/long sideburns, a button down shirt and braces.

Honoury mention has to go to The Equals. The kaftan's well dodgy but check the fella with the braces and rude boy pose!

^^ nice one. I was gonna put up some pics of Clapton from his early Yardbird days too but forgot! **edit, the jacket that looks like an MA-1 in this pic is NOT an MA-1 so there's yet any real photo proof that the original skinheads wore a USAF MA-1

Originally Posted by Southlondongent

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Backtracking to the 'Neat Change' issue and their claim to be the 'first mod-skinhead group'.

Undoubtedly the first member of a 'name' British group to have a 'hard mod' image was Eric Clapton in the Yardbirds a good 4 years before the Neat Change. I can't find the full length pic but complimenting the crew-cut and Harrington are a pair of turned-up Levi's and Weejun-style loafers.

There is a photo that I've seen (Terry Rawlings bio of Ronnie Wood if you're interested) of The Birds (a fine Mod R&B group if you like that sorta thing) from 66/67 I've been trying to find without success. A few of the band have the usual bouffants but one of them (Tony Munro?) has short cropped hair w/long sideburns, a button down shirt and braces.

Honoury mention has to go to The Equals. The kaftan's well dodgy but check the fella with the braces and rude boy pose!

The Neat Change quote is familiar. Wasn't that posted earlier.

Here's a couple of photos of Clapton on his "journey". Firstly with John Mayall's Bluesbreakers...



... and then with the Yardbirds - I think this is the look you were referring to. It's probably coincidental, but it's interesting to see how the Yardbirds interpreted the early mod look.

Here are some more shots of the Yardbirds with "Slowhand". I think he looks phenomenally cool.

More.



Getty Images have a few too (with their copyright stamp right across them)

Clapton had to cut his hair short so he could visit his mum at a german military base, at least that's what I've been told. Couple of kids in sheepskins.

I just have to say that this is one of the best threads, if not the best thread, I have ever read on an internet forum. The information from GS and M-o-M is amazing, and brilliantly informative.

Though I am only young (20 in January), I was interested in the whole Mod thing from the age of 16. Though, in the past year, I have drifted away from that. I am now getting extremely interested in the whole skinhead/suedehead style (thanks, in part, to this thread).

The information you guys have is really useful, and the pictures are just amazing.

Keep it up!

MoM, did you have a suit back then? if so, off the peg or MTM?

would you say most guys had relatively normal english cut suits, or did you see a lot of peacocks suits out at night (long 18" centre vent, multiple ticket pockets, sleeve butons going up to the elbows etc)?

I often wonder how much of what we consider to be "correct skinhead gear" is actually based on the original style, or if we're just basing it on a later (late 70s/early 80s) interpretation of what original gear was. Not that it matters to me, I think it's cool there is about 40+ years of "skinhead style" to choose from so to speak. It may not all be "authentic" but I think most of it is relevant.