Mod to Suedehead

[Aces and Eights]

They may not have influenced 60s skinheads but they certainly influenced them in the 70s. I never heared of a skinhead liking reggae music

I assume you are talking about Slade - this has been discussed and they had no influence to the skinheads in 1969. Also in 1969 reggae bas the basic music diet of skinheads together with Tamla and some chart music. Were you in the UK in 1969??

 

[Man-of-Mystery]

Welcome to the General Nostalgia thread!

 

[Lasttye]



It was inportant in 1969 to have the correct pattern brogues to identify you from other brogue wearers.  i still only buy Royals today

Thats right A of Es, if anyone turned up with ordinary brogues you would have been laughed at, even wearing Loak brogues you was looked down at.
Skinheads would spend a weeks wages to get a pair of Royals, or save for weeks to get them.

 

[browniecj]



They may not have influenced 60s skinheads but they certainly influenced them in the 70s. I never heared of a skinhead liking reggae music

Hmm,there were plenty in the Clubs,I used to go to.

 

[browniecj]



It was inportant in 1969 to have the correct pattern brogues to identify you from other brogue wearers.  i still only buy Royals today

Royals were one of the main Items that made Skinheads stand-out.To this day I still regard them as the smartest Shoe of that time.

 

[Brideshead]

I do agree with this POV – up to a point. It does depend on the time period we are talking about, which will vary slightly across the country. Royals – brogues, plains and gibsons - were de rigueur for my lot from some time in 1969 to around the late summer of 1970.

Before then, a much greater variety of styles was ‘allowed’ which included British brogues and Italian styles of footwear (Solatios especially). After that date things began to diversify again, of course.

I certainly agree that during that short ‘purist’ phase any minor deviation from the approved path was met with derision!

As to continuing with such a strict code today – I don’t. Surely, one of the few advantages of living now is that we can sample styles from a much wider spectrum but still remain on the right side of the fence.

Having said that, I agree that Royals had a huge significance – partly due to the high quality and price but also the great style, which was quite unlike anything we had seen before.

 

[stephen churchi]

Well my user name will tell those of you that know of these things where I'm coming from.

I grew up in central London in the 60s and 70s - I'm 47 now.
And I still like to "keep the faith" at ska,soul and reggae gigs
And I still like to wear my DMs, a checked shirt and jeans.

Any other original traditional London skinheads here?

hi spirt of 69 yes iam a traditional skinhead from london now liveing in germany

 

[circustavern777]

I assume you are talking about Slade - this has been discussed and they had no influence to the skinheads in 1969. Also in 1969 reggae bas the basic music diet of skinheads together with Tamla and some chart music. Were you in the UK in 1969??

I second that , if 1969 skinheads didnt like reggae, what did they like, the trojan reggae, and palma label ect ect was the follow on and let colin and the other originals tell me if im not correct here from the blue beat , and ska music from the mid sixtys. funny when you see film of original skins, they are all dancing to wait for it REGGAE, it will be interesting to see the answers to aces post

 

[browniecj]



I second that , if 1969 skinheads didnt like reggae, what did they like, the trojan reggae, and palma label ect ect was the follow on and let colin and the other originals tell me if im not correct here from the blue beat , and ska music from the mid sixtys. funny when you see film of original skins, they are all dancing to wait for it REGGAE, it will be interesting  to see the answers to aces post

Alan,you beat me to it.On Youtube you have plenty of examples of Skinheads and Jamaicans dancing to Reggae-in the same Clubs.Ska was started being danced to by Mods in the early 60s,then the inbetween Period(when I went to Jamaican Clubs)rocksteady was King.Early `69 you started having the Reggae,when Trojan,Pama,Crab,Nu Beat etc.,came into prominence.This was Skinhead Reggae.

 

[Lasttye]



hi spirt of 69 yes iam a traditional skinhead from london now liveing in germany

Hows it going Stephen, Great to see you on here mate.

 

[circustavern777]

Alan,you beat me to it.On Youtube you have plenty of examples of Skinheads and Jamaicans dancing to Reggae-in the same Clubs.Ska was started being danced to by Mods in the early 60s,then the inbetween Period(when I went to Jamaican Clubs)rocksteady was King.Early `69 you started having the Reggae,when Trojan,Pama,Crab,Nu Beat etc.,came into prominence.This was Skinhead Reggae.

ok colin reminds me that in early 1970 there was a family of west indians living across the road from me , and one of the boys was a pal of mine he used to invite me over on a sunday morning his mum would have the windows open and would beat the proper ska , blue beat, reggae out, when i went in they had this massive radiogram could have been a blue spot took pride of place in the living room. Always remember lime green frills on the side board and real fancy type of furniture, my pal would wack on the sounds and off we went listening to the real heavy beat sounds that was not played on the radio or totpops he used to wear the pork pie trilby, tell me colin about the royal brouges, were did you buy them what was the sixtys shop were you got them? cos i heard they wernt made by loake, the originals ,did you wear the high leg officer boot ?

 

[Ed Vaughan]

In Manchester, the traditional 'black' clubs we would sometimes frequent, were here:

http://www.mancky.co.uk/?p=4075

No real racial tensions, and the Nile and the Reno were ideal for me, living south of the city centre.

It didn't stay like that, of course... harder drugs, gang wars and a Chief Constable (Sir James Anderton) that believed he was God - no, really - changed everything. (I'd moved on by then, but the clubs were still going into the Eighties.)

Shabeens were popular too, but could be very, very dangerous places. I have some bad memories of one of those, involving a potato peeler.

 

[soundsnpressure]

I never heared of a skinhead liking reggae music

O.M.G. (no pun intended), are you Serious?

Are you talking modern or original? Either way the affiliation of reggae and skinheads and their symbiotic connection is hard to avoid or ignore.
Unless you class reggae as later 70's/80's Aswad/inner circle/Marley type shite, Fair enough.
Even if a skinhead isn't into ska/rocksteady/reggae, I would find it hard to believe they wouldn't be aware that a large proportion DO embrace this genre.

 

[soundsnpressure]

Check out this vintage KAYS catalogue. To me, these are very nice Mod suits, could easily be skin, matched with the right shirt/shoes, obviously!
I love Lastye's old skin suit with the longer jacket. But don't get me wrong, these 'off the peg' catalogue suits look ok to me. The material may be somrthing nasty tho.

Check out the gentleman on the far right smoking! filthy bleeder.

 

[browniecj]



ok colin reminds me that in early 1970 there was a family of west indians living across the road from me , and one of the boys was a pal of mine he used to invite me over on a sunday morning his mum would have the windows open and would beat the proper ska , blue beat, reggae  out, when i went in they had this massive radiogram could have been a blue spot took pride of place in the living room. Always remember lime green frills on the side board and real fancy type of furniture, my pal would wack on the sounds and off we went listening to the real heavy beat sounds that was not played on the radio or totpops he used to wear the pork pie trilby,  tell me colin about the royal brouges, were did you buy them what was the sixtys shop  were you got them?  cos i heard they wernt made by loake, the originals ,did you wear the high leg officer boot ?

I got mine from Timpsons`-7gns.Lastye and others got theirs from the Ivy/Squire Shops.No,I never wore the high Leg Officers Boot(Boots got banned from Pubs and Clubs etc.,so I wore Work Shoes out with Jeans).Never got stopped.

In Manchester, the traditional 'black' clubs we would sometimes frequent, were here:
http://www.mancky.co.uk/?p=4075
No real racial tensions, and the Nile and the Reno were ideal for me, living south of the city centre.
It didn't stay like that, of course... harder drugs, gang wars and a Chief Constable (Sir James Anderton) that believed he was God - no, really - changed everything. (I'd moved on by then, but the clubs were still going into the Eighties.)
Shabeens were popular too, but could be very, very dangerous places. I have some bad memories of one of those, involving a potato peeler.

Very interesting Ed.I like reading about Old Clubs.1969 was the last time I went to a Black Club.Things were changing .Where there was no real rivalry"Up West" it started to get nasty.Remember being in "Reflections" in Piccadilly,when a Black razored a white Punter.The Atmosphere was changing..Drugs was also becoming big Business.
There was always a chance of you not getting into Clubs(even though you may have gone regular).The Doorman would quiz you on different things-who was your favourite Singer etc.If you answered wrong,you never went in!.All depended what mood he was in.Happened at the Limbo,the Roaring Twenties and it all started at the Flamingo.These things never get written about.