Mod to Suedehead

Originally Posted by bunty

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Mick Farren

It'll not surprise you to know that I knew him. He was working at IT while I was editing 'Yell'.

Regarding girls hair being cropped right off, i dont think Noreen meant a No I, back then it was all new and maybe she did not have anything to go by.

With the suits the girls style was based on the Boys , ticket pockets etc, Never trousers , [ I have seen some present skinhead woman wearing trouser suits, looks awful.]

All Boys and Girls suits was bespoke Made by George on Kilburn High road, We would spend hours in there, a suit would be around £26 in 69, and he would allow us to pay weekly. George was a Asian Lad.
Same as Crombies we had them made, they would be heavy material and very warm, not like a genuine Crombie, which is freezing to wear.
Just to add all suits and crombies would be well wasted, which gave a flared look, from the waist down.

Later once the retailers copped on, One could get off the peg stuff, I remember the Squire shop stocking nice off the peg To- tone Trousers.

Last even in London their was different variations of the style, For example the Hendon Mafia Mob, which was only 4 miles up the road would have their hair and eyebrows completely off, this lasted only a short time as most of them kept on getting nicked.

Just to add again, Got to say not every Skinhead Boy and Girl walked around in Suits in the 60s, some could not afford, some was not interested in looking the part, One mob which was the enemy was the Burnt Oak Mob, They was the smartest i ever saw, Somers Town was another smart Crew.

Originally Posted by Lasttye

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Last even in London their was different variations of the style, For example the Hendon Mafia Mob, which was only 4 miles up the road would have their hair and eyebrows completely off, this lasted only a short time as most of them kept on getting nicked.

Just to add again, Got to say not every Skinhead Boy and Girl walked around in Suits in the 60s, some could not afford, some was not interested in looking the part, One mob which was the enemy was the Burnt Oak Mob, They was the smartest i ever saw, Somers Town was another smart Crew.

My lot were mainly from the Lewisham area, in SE, and hung out at the bowling alley and at the Savoy Rooms in Catford. I got the impression we were more into casual gear like Harringtons and Sta-Prest than suits. That's not to say no one wore suits; I had a couple myself including one in a darker Prince-of-Wales check.

I used to have loads of photos - hardly any now

Originally Posted by Man-of-Mystery

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My lot were mainly from the Lewisham area, in SE, and hung out at the bowling alley and at the Savoy Rooms in Catford. I got the impression we were more into casual gear like Harringtons and Sta-Prest than suits. That's not to say no one wore suits; I had a couple myself including one in a darker Prince-of-Wales check. I used to have loads of photos - hardly any now

I had mates fro Bermondsey and Abbey Wood, one i still see, Yes they never had suits, and was never interested in getting one. I would get over the Wellington Old Kent Road, Dun Cow, The Pineapple, Walworth Rd, Did you ever get in the Surrey Rooms at the Oval Cricket ground MoM, They would have the odd Disco over there. Regarding Photos got a couple but with long hair, My mate from Abbey Wood has some, again trying to get them, but he has not a clue about a PC .

Originally Posted by Lasttye

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..., back in the 60s we did not know we was Skinheads, It was just fashion, The press gave us this title.

Yeah, and that's why it looks funny to me when skinheads of today start to cry everytime the press uses the term "skinhead". I just always say "the press invented this term so they can use it as they want". I don't really undertstand why skinheads of today are so much concerned about what the media write about skinheads and they still have a need to convince everyone that skinheads aren't bad. I guess that 60s skinhead were never interested what press writes about them and they just lived with ignorance to them. Am I right or not?

Originally Posted by Big Muscle

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Yeah, and that's why it looks funny to me when skinheads of today start to cry everytime the press uses the term "skinhead". I just always say "the press invented this term so they can use it as they want". I don't really undertstand why skinheads of today are so much concerned about what the media write about skinheads and they still have a need to convince everyone that skinheads aren't bad. I guess that 60s skinhead were never interested what press writes about them and they just lived with ignorance to them. Am I right or not?
Their was a very negative press back in the 60s, skinheads was hated by the press, My Mob the Kilburn Aggro Boys was all over the National papers in 69 following a riot up at Burnt Oak, 37 of us got nicked, The BBC Made a Documentary about us, some bits are still on UTube. an American TV Station also made a Documentary about our gang. We fcuking Loved all the bad press, We thought we was invincible, But one thing our Mums and Grans loved us lol. I agree some present day Skinheads are trying to change our history... as you say to convince everyone that skinheads was not so bad, believe me they was bad. The 60s, early 70s was a very violent place, and Skinheads main past time was violence, be at Football, rolling Homosexuals, and Asians, Gang Warfare with West indians and Fighting other Skinheads, The 50s,60s,70s was a Racist Society, but not all people was racist, thats the way it was back then, people knew no different, I find it amusing that people that never lived through it, think it was a great time, Well it was not, I know as i was there.

Originally Posted by Big Muscle

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I don't really undertstand why skinheads of today are so much concerned about what the media write about skinheads and they still have a need to convince everyone that skinheads aren't bad.

yes, skinheads since the later 80s esp, have always been apologetic about something or other. Isnt the most important part of "skinhead attitude" a "**** you" mentality to what others think of you? Not being white I've always gotten stick for being into skinhead like "why you want to go around looking like a nazi when ya aint even white" etc. **** them.

Originally Posted by Lasttye

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I agree some present day Skinheads are trying to change our history... as you say to convince everyone that skinheads was not so bad, believe me they was bad.
I find it amusing that people that never lived through it, think it was a great time, Well it was not, I know as i was there.

good point and always made clearer by someone who was there. The way some go on about original skinheads and their "racial black/white unity", you'd think they were sitting around holding hands singing kum-bah-ya

Well I had fun in '69.

Didn't sing kum-bah-ya, but I had fun.

One thing I would say about the Originals, We was not political, politics just never entered our minds.
We was just kids, still very innocent. the average age for a skinhead around my way was 15/16 in 69.
Some of the leaders would be maybe 17, They was Men we was just Boys. I also had a great time in 69, but Great Britain was a fcuking bleak place back then.

I was political, but 'we' weren't as a bunch - I'll go along with Lasttye on that. What was important was the clothes, the girls, the music, all the usual stuff for young men in their teens.

Originally Posted by Lasttye

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I agree some present day Skinheads are trying to change our history... as you say to convince everyone that skinheads was not so bad, believe me they was bad.
The 60s, early 70s was a very violent place, and Skinheads main past time was violence, be at Football, rolling Homosexuals, and Asians, Gang Warfare with West indians and Fighting other Skinheads,
The 50s,60s,70s was a Racist Society, but not all people was racist, thats the way it was back then, people knew no different, I find it amusing that people that never lived through it, think it was a great time, Well it was not, I know as i was there.

Well there was full employment and things were getting better. 'You've never had it so good' as MacMillan pointed out.

You could still walk through Harlesden at night without getting mugged. Some skinheads looked for 'aggro'. Others saw it more as a fashion/music thing. Guns and knives were not commonplace.

Originally Posted by Lasttye

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If you ask a Original Skinhead about music today, Reggae will get a small mention. Between 68 and 70 maybe 30 Reggae tunes was played, we would listen to Motown, and the pop music of the Day.
To- tone, Oi was Ten years later i think, By then I was married with kids .

1968 Rock Steady

1969 Reggae - Trojan/Pama

1970 James Brown.

Motown/soul/pop was also part of the mix.

Originally Posted by albion

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Southlondongent, i was into the 2tone stuff at first, and through that, i discovered all the original Jamaican Ska artists. First ever gig i went to was Madness, at the Dominion theatre in London, aged ten. When i was 11, my oldest brother gave me a Trojan records box set called The Trojan Story and that was me hooked for life on Ska, Reggae, Rock Steady etc. I never really got into Oi very much..I was well into Punk though, as my sister was several years older than me and used to be well into it.

Yeah, similar to me, I really got into punk kinda retrospectively in the early/mid 80's, particularly the trad late 70s stuff, but never really got into Oi! (though don't mind Sham 69). Did have some US Hardcore records though (DKs, Black Flag, Minor Threat etc) but that stuff was never particularly big in the UK.

It's funny but the impression I get is that for Brits of a certain age (30-40's) it was the Ska revival that got them into Skin but with the Americans Oi! tends to be the starting point.

Originally Posted by skacore

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Over the summer I went to a Wakeling/English beat show near Boston, has anyone caught any of the Beat/Ranking Roger shows over in England? Do they draw a large crowd?

I saw 'em last summer headlining an urban festival in South London. There were a quite a few thousand people there, though due to the fact that it was a festival not particularly to see the band.

Originally Posted by Lasttye

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Just to add again, Got to say not every Skinhead Boy and Girl walked around in Suits in the 60s, some could not afford, some was not interested in looking the part, One mob which was the enemy was the Burnt Oak Mob, They was the smartest i ever saw, Somers Town was another smart Crew.

LOL, I know Burnt Oak well, I had relatives who lived there. A well-rough area considering it's suburban NW London location.

Originally Posted by Southlondongent

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It's funny but the impression I get is that for Brits of a certain age (30-40's) it was the Ska revival that got them into Skin but with the Americans Oi! tends to be the starting point.

this.

nearly every skinhead I knew in my generation (mid 80s) got into it through hardcore and Oi. A lot of the early US hardcore bands (Agnostic Front, Cause for Alarm, Effigies, Iron Cross etc) were influential in kickstarting the american skin scene. I listened to 2-Tone around 1983, but didnt get into skinhead until I listented to hardcor/Oi a few years later. The 2-Tone era seemed to be for the American mod scene, what Oi was to the American skin scene.

Originally Posted by Lasttye

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Starting with the hair, Not all girls had the classic Skinhead girl feather cut, one has to remember parents was still very strict back then, so would not allow their teenage girls get away with it.
My friend Noreen who i have known since 68, She was 13, i was 14 in 68, She had long hair , but wanted it cut off, the hairdresser would not do it, so she went to the Barbers and had it cut off like the boys.

I think I know the kind of hairstyle you mean (I've seen a couple of photos of Skinhead Girls from the '60's with short hairstyles (under 2") but not extreme (done with clippers) like the lads - the photos were quite early, before the media-encouraged influx of later '69).

Originally Posted by Lasttye

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I can remember them wearing like fluffy tight tops

Were these jumpers? Fluffy like mohair (jumpers not suits) or shorter pile?