Mod to Suedehead

[Dr Huh?]

Originally Posted by Get Smart

they're pretty soft, esp if you compare it to a cheaper cotton/poly blend harrington that feels stiffer. But i never thought it felt anything like a sweatshirt

I went back to the store to confirm if it was a Harrington or not, and my conclusion is that it was not. The back is different than what is shown on Ben Sherman's site, and the material definitely feels more like a sweatshirt. Still, the pocket placement and collars were almost identical.

 

[OHT]

I've notice that Crombie is a very expensive brand. Did any 60s skinheads own Crombie Coats or were they just other coat brands in the same style?

 

[browniecj]

Originally Posted by OHT

I've notice that Crombie is a very expensive brand. Did any 60s skinheads own Crombie Coats or were they just other coat brands in the same style?
The real Crombies were certainly expensive.I bought mine in early `69(I think-could have been late `68),the Crombie was Cashmere and Wool-got it at a "Gentemans`Outfitters".The later models were Wool-they were certainly cheap versions of the Crombie.

 

[Man-of-Mystery]

Concurring with browniecj. Maybe the better-off (i.e. already working in a well-paid blue collar job) skinhead version of a "face" would have had an actual Crombie(c); the rest of us would have settled for second best in a decent style. Mine was.

No such shortcuts when you bought a sheepskin, though!

 

[Southlondongent]

...or perhaps some could have acquired the genuine article 'off the back of a lorry'?

There were certainly lads at my school, this is the 'Casual' era of the early/mid 80's, who had very expensive sportswear and they certainly did not have jobs (we're talking 13/14 year olds) even part-time, and did not come from wealthy families.

 

[Man-of-Mystery]

Originally Posted by Southlondongent

...or perhaps some could have acquired the genuine article 'off the back of a lorry'?

There were certainly lads at my school, this is the 'Casual' era of the early/mid 80's, who had very expensive sportswear and they certainly did not have jobs (we're talking 13/14 year olds) even part-time, and did not come from wealthy families.

Ah the 80s - era of Thatcherite entrepreneurs and "genuine" goods on market stalls!

 

[browniecj]

Originally Posted by Man-of-Mystery

Ah the 80s - era of Thatcherite entrepreneurs and "genuine" goods on market stalls!

`ere John,

want to buy a new Motor?

 

[Man-of-Mystery]

Originally Posted by browniecj

`ere John,

want to buy a new Motor?

Mmmm... Cortina... kushti!

 

[Southlondongent]

Originally Posted by browniecj

`ere John,

want to buy a new Motor?

Dontcha mean 'Allo John, got a New Motor'... Nice outfit

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..these boots are made for walking, and er, booting...

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[Ikouja]

Originally Posted by Man-of-Mystery

Concurring with browniecj. Maybe the better-off (i.e. already working in a well-paid blue collar job) skinhead version of a "face" would have had an actual Crombie(c); the rest of us would have settled for second best in a decent style. Mine was.

No such shortcuts when you bought a sheepskin, though!

That's why I don't have a sheepskin! The fakes look dreadful and the real ones I'd have to sell the clothes off my back to afford! MoM, back in the day you say you listened to Ska/Reggae and Soul mainly, did you just enjoy those types of music or did you really get into them and follow the roots to Calypso and other precursors to Ska? I find myself listening to Calypso, Big Band and Swing a lot, it makes me appreciate Ska a lot more, hearing its roots. Or would you ever hear those kinds of music playing from West Indian houses or clubs?

 

[Man-of-Mystery]

Originally Posted by Ikouja

MoM, back in the day you say you listened to Ska/Reggae and Soul mainly, did you just enjoy those types of music or did you really get into them and follow the roots to Calypso and other precursors to Ska? I find myself listening to Calypso, Big Band and Swing a lot, it makes me appreciate Ska a lot more, hearing its roots.

Actually I always listened to all kinds of music. It comes of having a dad who played in the RAF Wooton Bassett Dance Band in WW2 and belonged to "Classics Club" (so Sunday mornings were always something like Mozart). I think the first record he ever bought me was Harry Belafonte's Jamaica Farewell / Banana Boat Song. Dad was also a keen cricketer, and we would both sing Lord Beginner's "Victory Test Match" ("Cricket lovely cricket, at Lords where I saw it...") which is probably my first-remembered calypso.

I remember one day he came home with armfuls of records he had got from a friend - the friend was a whoesaler and was having a clear-out. There was shedloads of stuff, loads of jazz. I remember finding an EP of the "Modern Jazz Quartet at Music Inn" which was a knock-out!

My mate next door was a couple of years older than I was, and all of his mates in the early 60s were mods. They half-tolerated me and half took the pi$$ out of me, and I used to break my adolescent heart over their girlfriends! But one thing they did for me was to clue me in to music - they were listening to Muddy Waters and so forth. I couldn't afford to buy the clothes (parents wouldn't let me anyway) but I could afford to buy records, and I came home with loads of stuff on the Pye International R&B label - Howling Wolf, Willie Dixon and stuff like that. I bought Bob Dylan's first album when I was twelve, and I bought "The Country Blues of John Lee Hooker" sometime later. Also when I was 12 I heard this incredible track called "Green Onions" with a guitar solo which was about eight years ahead of its time, and I bought that too. I was already into modern jazz - MJQ, Brubeck, etc - and R&B, and so Booker T and the MGs got me hooked on soul.

There was a record shop in Blackpool where the guy sold jukebox rejects. the shop was just a room with trestle tables in it, and small piles of singles sitting on them. They were cheap, but I picked up loads of weird and wonderful stuff. I remember finding Tommy McCook's "Ska-Ba", and a Jamaican EP of stuff by Millie Small, but also rare mod stuff like "Try It" by The Attack (incidentally, they brought out "Hi Ho Silver Lining" before Jeff Beck ripped it off).

That takes us to 1967, which is when I actually managed to get some decent clothes, go to the Twisted Wheel, pull birds, etc. All very hard work!

The rest I have been over a few times on this thread.

When the skinhead scene fell apart in 1970, I didn't really like much in the way of glam, prog rock, and so on, so I went back into jazz and, thanks to London DJ Charlie Gillet and BBC's John Peel, obscure music from all over the world. Charlie introduced me to Cajun music, for example, and I looked back for old Doo-person of Italian descent and R&B tracks. For a few years I even sang traditional folk songs and played a squeeze-box at folk clubs - I just liked MUSIC. My girlfriend had mainstream pop tastes, so I used to treat her to The Carpenters and Gilbert O'Sullivan gigs...

I guess if I posted a list of all the gigs I have been to (barring classical concerts) the list would amaze you...

Originally Posted by Ikouja

Or would you ever hear those kinds of music playing from West Indian houses or clubs?

The short answer to that is yes, but it wasn't really till the 1980s (by which time I had moved again to near Liverpool) that I ever went to "Blues Dances" in WI flats.

 

[Man-of-Mystery]

@ 'Gent

Had that on a 12-incher!

 

[browniecj]

Originally Posted by Ikouja

That's why I don't have a sheepskin! The fakes look dreadful and the real ones I'd have to sell the clothes off my back to afford! MoM, back in the day you say you listened to Ska/Reggae and Soul mainly, did you just enjoy those types of music or did you really get into them and follow the roots to Calypso and other precursors to Ska? I find myself listening to Calypso, Big Band and Swing a lot, it makes me appreciate Ska a lot more, hearing its roots. Or would you ever hear those kinds of music playing from West Indian houses or clubs?
If you keep your eyes peeled,you can pick up a bargain.A few months ago I purchased a Kosher Sheepskin for £30.Hardly worn and with dark Lining.Firs like a Glove.

 

[Man-of-Mystery]

Originally Posted by browniecj

If you keep your eyes peeled,you can pick up a bargain.A few months ago I purchased a Kosher Sheepskin for £30.Hardly worn and with dark Lining.Fits like a Glove.

I hate you.

 

[elmore]

Originally Posted by browniecj

`ere John,

want to buy a new Motor?

them locks are easy, them locks are easy