Mod to Suedehead

[Southlondongent]

Originally Posted by albion

I make you about right there mate. I'm from the east end too, and i remember seeing loads of mini-mods about, post Quadrophrenia (my brother was one!). I remember first seeing skinheads around 1979-1980 as a nine year old and i remember being very impressed with their style and attitude. I became one myself when i was 10, until i was 14....decades later and I now dress a bit skinhead-ish, aged 39, as i find the smarter skinhead look is one you can get away with as you get older (and balder).

Albion, we're the same age and were into the skin/mod thing at about the same age too - just out of interest what sort of music were you into back then...was it Ska i.e. 2-Tone, Madness, Bad Manners etc (like myself)) or Oi!, or perhaps both?

 

[Lasttye]

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 .

 

[Southlondongent]

Reggae Brittania season on BBC4, looks interesting...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/tv/seasons/reggaebritannia/


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[albion]

Originally Posted by Southlondongent

Albion, we're the same age and were into the skin/mod thing at about the same age too - just out of interest what sort of music were you into back then...was it Ska i.e. 2-Tone, Madness, Bad Manners etc (like myself)) or Oi!, or perhaps both?

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.

 

[skacore]

Originally Posted by Lasttye

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 .

What are your thoughts of the music during the two tone era? Although you were married and with kids during this time, did you still enjoy the music?

 

[albion]

Originally Posted by Southlondongent

Reggae Brittania season on BBC4, looks interesting...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/tv/seasons/reggaebritannia/


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That looks fantastic, though i am beyond gutted as i cannot view BBC programs on bbc iplayer from my region, so i'll have to wait a long while before i can watch it

But, big consolation, Toots and the Maytals are playing in Sydney in April

Can't wait.

 

[skacore]

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?

 

[Lasttye]

Originally Posted by skacore

What are your thoughts of the music during the two tone era? Although you were married and with kids during this time, did you still enjoy the music?
I Love all music, As i have said reggae was just a little part of growing up in the 60s/70s, Original skinheads got into Glam Rock , Then Heavy Rock... Also our hair got longer, But thats another storey.

 

[Man-of-Mystery]

Wow - here we are at 100 pages!

Originally Posted by Lasttye

Once the Skinhead scene exploded in London, And the style started to developed into the classic Skinhead Look late 68, early 69, The Girls started to developed their own look. 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. She said as it grew.. she just let the sides grow and kept the top cropped. But many would have just short hair, some even had long hair, with about 1 inch on top, One of my Girlfriends had this cut.
I never recall any girls having their hair cropped like a boy's. However the 'centre crop' with the top short and the sides and back getting gradually longer, with an arched fringe at the front (that description of arched is important - skinhead girls of later eras got it totally wrong) was prevalent. It was very feminine and very sexy. Some girls left their hair long - one of my girlfriends called Yvonne did - but not many.

Originally Posted by Lasttye

Girls did not wear Ben Shermans much,
Yes that's right, but I did see many of them in 69 wearing boys' Brutus shirts.

Originally Posted by Lasttye

never boots, rarely jeans, They dressed feminine. I can remember them wearing like fluffy tight tops, Skirts would be mohair, later POW Check, Dog tooth, They would get the material and make them up themselves, Some like the Boys would wear cheap sheepskins from the market, Crombies came a little later, few Skinhead girls would wear them. In saying that my future Wife did.
I did see girls in Crombie style coats. I don't know who made them, but they were tailored to the female figure. Also one shop (can't remember which) made lightweight coats in the same style but of Trevira (imitation mohair). Occasionally one would see girls in Levis, or even Sta-Prest, but they always had a feminine way of carrying off the look. They were never 'butch'.

Originally Posted by Lasttye

Suits was most important to Original Skinheads,
Amen!

Originally Posted by Lasttye

The girls suits was very similar to the boys,
Hmmm... not sure what you mean by this. But anyhow, the fabric was the same. Girls' suits were tailored for the female figue and were skirt-suits of course.

Originally Posted by Lasttye

To see Skinhead Boys and Girls walking up Kilburn High road London.. on a Saturday Summer night, all suited up was a sight to be seen, Some of the Boys and girls had matching Suits, the Girls would have a girls version of the Boys suit.
It was the same South of the River

Originally Posted by Lasttye

Not sure about girls shoes , and i have spoken to Noreen about this , She just said the fashion shoes of the day, I dont remember them wearing loathers, When i started wearing loathers i had long hair. Which would be around late 70.
When I was with a girl I very rarely looked at her feet

But I do remember the clumpy loafers like the girl in the picture I posted earlier. However girls wouldn't have worn stilettos or anything with a skinny heel - that would have been 'Greaser' shoes. They would have gone to Dolcis or Russell & Bromley and looked for something fashionable and modern.

 

[Man-of-Mystery]

Originally Posted by Lasttye

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 .

Reggae was big South of the River, but Motown got played a lot at the clubs. The Reggae hits played at the club were indeed the obvious ones like Liquidator, Return of Django, Long Shot Kick the Bucket, Israelites, and so on.

I was still into soul, and Rocksteady too, having come into the scene in '67 - still a lot of mod influence.

 

[OHT]

at 0:51 seconds, it shows skinheads. What year would this be? This video also shows some skinhead girls(very brief though).
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[Man-of-Mystery]

Originally Posted by OHT

at 0:51 seconds, it shows skinheads. What year would this be? This video also shows some skinhead girls(very brief though).
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Difficult to judge, but by the white guy's shirt and hairstyle I would say late '69, early '70 more probably.

 

[bunty]

Originally Posted by skacore

Do you find yourself still sporting turnups/boots?

I do, sometimes feel a bit self conscious about it though.. I'm 45 years old with grade 4 hair and sideboards 'that nan can put her ornaments on', I'm still quite slim and I think I look ok, put every now and then I get the fear and think I should dress like an old geezer, and then I open my wardrobe and see V necks, cardies, and an assortment of knitwear and braces and realise I already do! I can't really afford all the suits and shoes that I would love at the mo, so have to dress 'day time'
Have any of you been asked these.... joking aside these are all true and have been asked since xmas..

1.Do you like Madness?
2. I never had you down as a Nazi
3. This is England! (thinking skinheads are 80's)
4. You must like Olly Murs then.

Answers
1.No
2. Because I'm not. At all.
3. For ****'s sake
4. See (3)

 

[Man-of-Mystery]

Originally Posted by bunty

I do, sometimes feel a bit self conscious about it though.. I'm 45 years old with grade 4 hair and sideboards 'that nan can put her ornaments on', I'm still quite slim and I think I look ok, put every now and then I get the fear and think I should dress like an old geezer, and then I open my wardrobe and see V necks, cardies, and an assortment of knitwear and braces and realise I already do! I can't really afford all the suits and shoes that I would love at the mo, so have to dress 'day time'
Have any of you been asked these.... joking aside these are all true and have been asked since xmas..

1.Do you like Madness?
2. I never had you down as a Nazi
3. This is England! (thinking skinheads are 80's)
4. You must like Olly Murs then.

Answers
1.No
2. Because I'm not. At all.
3. For ****'s sake
4. See (3)

I'm 60 with a No.1 crop

... and by the way.

1. Actually yes, but not when they're doing Labi Sifre covers!
2. And you were right - I've been an anarchist since 1968.
3. Do me a favour!
4. Who t f is he?

 

[bunty]

Originally Posted by Man-of-Mystery

I'm 60 with a No.1 crop

... and by the way.

1. Actually yes, but not when they're doing Labi Sifre covers!
2. And you were right - I've been an anarchist since 1968.
3. Do me a favour!
4. Who t f is he?

An anarchist? Bloody liberal!

Moving out further to the left meself these days! Just read about the Angry Brigade and Mick Farren's lot in the 60's, really interesting...
As for Olly Murs, he is some teeny idol type who has been told to wear braces, FP, harringtons etc by his publicity/agent whatever (all together now 'Suck Satans's Cock' as the late Bill Hicks said)