Skinhead

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
(Redirected from
Skinheads
)

Skinhead
Skinhead women with straight-cut fringes
Years active1960s-present
CountryUnited Kingdom
Major figuresHoxton Tom McCourt
InfluencesMod, rude boy
InfluencedSuedeheads, Oi!, Trojan skinhead, White power skinhead, SHARP, Sharpies, hardcore punk

A skinhead or skin is a member of a subculture that originated among

steel toe work boots, braces, high rise and varying length straight-leg jeans
, and button-down collar shirts, usually slim fitting in check or plain. The movement reached a peak at the end of the 1960s, experienced a revival in the 1980s, and, since then, has endured in multiple contexts worldwide.

The rise to prominence of skinheads came in two waves, with the first wave taking place in the late 1960s in the UK. The first skinheads were working class youths motivated by an expression of

Jamaican British and Jamaican immigrant youth, as these three groups interacted and fraternized with each other within the same working class and poor neighbourhoods in Britain.[2] As skinheads adopted elements of mod subculture and Jamaican British and Jamaican immigrant rude boy subculture, both first and second generation skins were influenced by the rhythms of Jamaican music genres such as ska, rocksteady, and reggae, as well as sometimes African-American soul and rhythm and blues.[2][3][4]

The late 1970s and early 1980s saw a revival or second wave of the skinhead subculture, with increasing interaction between its adherents and the emerging punk movement. Oi!, a working class offshoot of punk rock, soon became a vital component of skinhead culture, while the Jamaican genres beloved by first generation skinheads were filtered through punk and new wave in a style known as 2 Tone. Within these new musical movements, the skinhead subculture diversified, and contemporary skinhead fashions ranged from the original clean-cut 1960s mod- and rude boy-influenced styles to less-strict punk-influenced styles.[5]

During the early 1980s, political affiliations grew in significance and split the subculture, demarcating the

neo-Nazi skinhead movements existed across all of Europe and North America, but were counterbalanced by the presence of groups such as Skinheads Against Racial Prejudice
which sprung up in response. To this day, the skinhead subculture reflects a broad spectrum of political beliefs, even as many continue to embrace it as a largely apolitical working class movement.

SHARP skinhead

History

Origins and first wave

In the late 1950s the post-war

disposable income among many young people. Some of those youths spent that income on new fashions; they wore ripped clothes and would use pieces of material to patch them up as popularised by American soul groups, British R&B bands, certain film actors, and Carnaby Street clothing merchants.[6] These youths became known as mods, a youth subculture noted for its consumerism and devotion to fashion, music, and scooters.[7]

Working class mods chose practical clothing styles that suited their lifestyle and employment circumstances: work boots or army boots, straight-leg jeans or Sta-Prest trousers, button-down shirts and braces. When possible, these working class mods spent their money on suits and other sharp outfits to wear at dancehalls, where they enjoyed soul, ska, and rocksteady music.[1][8]

Around 1966, a

schism developed between the peacock mods (also known as smooth mods), who were less violent and always wore the latest expensive clothes, and the hard mods (also known as gang mods, lemonheads or peanuts), who were identified by their shorter hair and more working class image.[9] Hard mods became commonly known as skinheads by about 1968.[10] Their short hair may have come about for practical reasons, since long hair could be a liability in industrial jobs and streetfights. Skinheads may also have cut their hair short in defiance of the more middle class hippie culture.[11]

In addition to retaining many mod influences, early skinheads were very interested in

Skinhead culture became so popular by 1969 that even the rock band Slade temporarily adopted the look as a marketing strategy.[14][15][16] The subculture gained wider notice because of a series of violent and sexually explicit novels by Richard Allen, notably Skinhead and Skinhead Escapes.[17][18] Due to largescale British migration to Perth, Western Australia, many British youths in that city joined skinhead/sharpies gangs in the late 1960s and developed their own Australian style.[19][20]

By the early 1970s, the skinhead subculture started to fade from popular culture, and some of the original skins dropped into new categories, such as the

loafers, suits, and the slacks-and-sweater
look making a comeback.

Second wave

Hoxton Tom McCourt, a revival skinhead pictured in 1977

In the late 1970s, the skinhead subculture was revived to a notable extent after the introduction of

National Front and the British Movement.[24] From 1979 onwards, punk-influenced skinheads with shorter hair, higher boots and less emphasis on traditional styles grew in numbers and grabbed media attention, mostly due to football hooliganism. There still remained, however, skinheads who preferred the original mod-inspired styles.[25]

Eventually different interpretations of the skinhead subculture expanded beyond Britain and continental Europe. In the United States, certain segments of the hardcore punk scene embraced skinhead styles and developed their own version of the subculture.[26]

Bill Osgerby has argued that skinhead culture more broadly grows strength from specific economic circumstances.[a] In a BBC interview, he remarked "In the late 70s and early 80s, working class culture was disintegrating through unemployment and inner city decay and there was an attempt to recapture a sense of working class solidarity and identity in the face of a tide of social change."[27]

Germany

By the 1980s street fights regularly broke out in

neo-nazis, led among others by Michael Kühnen, sought to expand their ranks with new young members from the burgeoning skinhead scene. On the other side of the Berlin Wall, in East Germany, the skinhead youth movement had developed two different styles: one was more focused on rebellious youth fashion styles while the other camp often dressed in regular clothes and focused more heavily on political activity. These groups were infiltrated by agents of the Stasi and did not last long in East Germany. After a group of skinheads attacked a punk concert at Zion's Church (East Berlin) in 1987, many skinhead leaders fled to West Germany to avoid arrest.[28]

Style

Hair

Late 2000s female skinhead with 1960s-style extensions

Most first wave skinheads used a No. 2 or No. 3 grade clip guard cut (short, but not bald). From the late 1970s, male skinheads typically shaved their heads with a No. 2 grade clip or shorter. During that period, side partings were sometimes shaved into the hair. Since the 1980s, some skinheads have clipped their hair with no guard, or even shaved it with a razor. Some skinheads sport sideburns of various styles, usually neatly trimmed.

By the 1970s, most female skins had mod-style haircuts. During the 1980s skinhead revival, many female skinheads had feathercuts (The Chelsea, a

fringes
at the front, back and sides.

Clothing

Male skinhead from the UK
Skinhead, wearing a sheepskin coat and ranger boots

Skinheads wore long-sleeve or short-sleeve

parkas. Traditional ("hard mod") skinheads sometimes wore suits, often of two-tone ‘Tonik’ fabric (shiny mohair-like material that changes colour in different light and angles), or in a Prince of Wales or houndstooth
check pattern.

Many skinheads wore

Wrangler); or combat trousers (plain or camouflage). Jeans and slacks were worn deliberately short (either hemmed, rolled or tucked) to show off boots, or to show off bright coloured socks when wearing loafers or brogues. Jeans were often blue, with a parallel leg design, hemmed or with clean and thin rolled cuffs (turn-ups), and were sometimes splattered with bleach to resemble camouflage trousers (a style popular among Oi!
skinheads).

Many traditionalist skinheads wore braces (suspenders), in various colours, usually no more than 1" in width, clipped to the trouser waistband. In some areas, braces much wider than that may identify a skinhead as either unfashionable or as a white power skinhead. Traditionally, braces were worn up in an X shape at the back, but some Oi!-oriented skinheads wore their braces hanging down. Patterned braces – often black and white check, or vertical stripes – were sometimes worn by traditional skinheads. In a few cases, the colour of braces or flight jackets were used to signify affiliations. The particular colours chosen have varied regionally, and had totally different meanings in different areas and time periods. Only skinheads from the same area and time period are likely to interpret the colour significations accurately. The practice of using the colour clothing items to indicate affiliations became less common, particularly among traditionalist skinheads, who were more likely to choose their colours simply for fashion.

Hats common among skinheads include:

winter woollen hats (without a bobble). Less common have been bowler hats (mostly among suedeheads and those influenced by the film A Clockwork Orange
).

Traditionalist skinheads sometimes wore a silk handkerchief in the breast pocket of a Crombie-style overcoat or tonic suit jacket, in some cases fastened with an ornate stud. Some wore pocket flashes instead. These are pieces of silk in contrasting colours, mounted on a piece of cardboard and designed to look like an elaborately folded handkerchief. It was common to choose the colours based on one's favourite football club. Some skinheads wore button badges or sewn-on fabric patches with designs related to affiliations, interests or beliefs. Also popular were woollen or printed rayon scarves in football club colours, worn knotted at the neck, wrist, or hanging from a belt loop at the waist. Silk or faux-silk scarves (especially Tootal brand) with paisley patterns were also sometimes worn. Some suedeheads carried closed umbrellas with sharpened tips, or a handle with a pull-out blade. This led to the nickname brollie boys.

Female skinheads generally wore the same clothing items as men, with addition of skirts, stockings, or dress suits composed of a three-quarter-length jacket and matching short skirt. Some skingirls wore fishnet stockings and mini-skirts, a style introduced during the punk-influenced skinhead revival.

Footwear

Most skinheads wear

loafers
or Dr. Martens (or similarly styled) low shoes.

Dr. Martens boots with Levi's jeans

In recent years, other brands of boots, such as

athletic shoes, by brands such as Adidas or Gola
, have become popular with many skinheads. Female or child skinheads generally wear the same footwear as men, with the addition of monkey boots. The traditional brand for monkey boots was Grafters, but nowadays they are also made by Dr. Martens and Solovair.

In the early days of the skinhead subculture, some skinheads chose boot lace colours based on the football team they supported. Later, some skinheads (particularly highly political ones) began to use lace colour to indicate beliefs or affiliations. The particular colours chosen have varied regionally, and have had totally different meanings in different areas and time periods. Only skinheads from the same area and time period are likely to interpret the colour significations accurately. This practice has become less common, particularly among traditionalist skinheads, who are more likely to choose their colours simply for fashion purposes.

Suedeheads sometimes wore coloured socks (for example, red or blue rather than black or white).[21]

Music

Canadian black metal band Blasphemy, described as "black metal skinheads"[36]

The skinhead subculture was originally associated with

R&B, rocksteady, and early reggae.[1][12] The link between skinheads and Jamaican music led to the UK popularity of groups such as Desmond Dekker, Derrick Morgan, Laurel Aitken, Symarip and The Pioneers.[13] In the early 1970s, some reggae songs began to feature themes of black nationalism, which many white skinheads could not relate to.[1] This shift in reggae's lyrical themes created some tension between black and white skinheads, who otherwise got along fairly well.[37] Around this time, some suedeheads (an offshoot of the skinhead subculture) started listening to British glam rock bands such as Sweet, Slade and Mott the Hoople.[21][38]

The most popular music style for late-1970s skinheads was

2 Tone, a fusion of ska, rocksteady, reggae, pop and punk rock.[39] The 2 Tone genre was named after 2 Tone Records, a Coventry record label that featured bands such as The Specials, Madness and The Selecter.[40][41][42] Some late-1970s skinheads also liked certain punk rock bands, such as Sham 69
and Menace.

In the late 1970s, after the first wave of punk rock, many skinheads embraced Oi!, a working class punk subgenre.[43] Musically, Oi! combines standard punk with elements of football chants, pub rock and British glam rock.[44] The Oi! scene was partly a response to a sense that many participants in the early punk scene were, in the words of The Business guitarist Steve Kent, "trendy university people using long words, trying to be artistic ... and losing touch".[45] The term Oi! as a musical genre is said to come from the band Cockney Rejects and journalist Garry Bushell, who championed the genre in Sounds magazine.[44][46][47] Not exclusively a skinhead genre, many Oi! bands included skins, punks and people who fit into neither category. Notable Oi! bands of the late 1970s and early 1980s include Angelic Upstarts, Blitz, the Business, Last Resort, The Burial, Combat 84 and the 4-Skins.[10]

The British skinhead band The 4-Skins in 1980

American Oi! began in the 1980s, with bands such as U.S. Chaos, The Press, Iron Cross, The Bruisers and Anti-Heros.[48][49][50] American skinheads created a link between their subculture and hardcore punk music, with bands such as Warzone, Agnostic Front, and Cro-Mags. The Oi! style has also spread to other parts of the world, and remains popular with many skinheads. Many later Oi! bands have combined influences from early American hardcore and 1970s British streetpunk.

Among some skinheads,

Øystein Aarseth.[53]

Although many

hatecore
.

Racism, anti-racism, and politics

Hannover
, Germany

The early skinheads were not necessarily part of any political movement, but as the 1970s progressed, many skinheads became more politically active and acts of

An image of a crucified skinhead, a symbol used to convey a sense of societal alienation or persecution against the skinhead subculture. According to the Anti-Defamation League, it is used by both racist skinheads as well as anti-racist skinheads, and it can be considered a hate symbol in certain contexts.[60]

During the late 1970s and early 1980s, however, many skinheads and suedeheads in the United Kingdom rejected both the far left and the far right. This attitude was musically typified by Oi! bands such as Cockney Rejects, The 4-Skins, Toy Dolls, and The Business. Two notable groups of skinheads that spoke out against neo-Nazism and political extremism—and instead spoke out in support of traditional skinhead culture—were the Glasgow Spy Kids in Scotland (who coined the phrase Spirit of '69), and the publishers of the Hard As Nails zine in England.[61][62]

In the late 1960s, some skinheads in the United Kingdom (including

South Asian immigrants (an act known as Paki bashing in common slang).[11][61][63] There had, however, also been anti-racist skinheads since the beginning of the subculture, especially in Scotland and Northern England.[61][64]

On the far left of the skinhead subculture,

all cops are bastards" was popularized among some skinheads by The 4-Skins's 1982 song "A.C.A.B."[66][67] In the United Kingdom, two groups with significant numbers of leftist skinhead members were Red Action, which started in 1981, and Anti-Fascist Action, which started in 1985. Internationally, the most notable skinhead organization is Skinheads Against Racial Prejudice, which formed in the New York City area in 1987 and then spread to other countries.[68]

See also

Sources

  • Brown, Timothy S. (1 January 2004). "Subcultures, Pop Music and Politics: Skinheads and "Nazi Rock" in England and Germany". Journal of Social History. 38 (1): 157–178.
    S2CID 42029805
    .
  • Hebdige, Dick (1979). Subculture: The Meaning of Style. London, New York: Routledge. .

Notes

  1. ^ Bill Osgerby is Emeritus Professor of Media, Culture and Communication at London Metropolitan and author of a number of books on youth culture. See #Further reading

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Brown 2004.
  2. ^ from the original on 1 December 2020. Retrieved 3 January 2020.
  3. from the original on 1 December 2020. Retrieved 3 January 2020.
  4. from the original on 1 December 2020. Retrieved 3 January 2020.
  5. ^ Godfrey, John (September 1988). "Ska Party". Skinheadheaven.org.uk. Archived from the original on 7 April 2010. Retrieved 27 February 2010.
  6. .
  7. .
  8. ^ Edwards, Dave. Trojan Mod Reggae Box Set (Liner notes). London: Trojan Records. TJETD020.
  9. ^ Old Skool Jim. Trojan Skinhead Reggae Box Set (Liner notes). London: Trojan Records. TJETD169.
  10. ^ .
  11. ^ a b c "Britain: The Skinheads". Time. 8 June 1970. Archived from the original on 21 May 2013. Retrieved 23 May 2010.
  12. ^ a b "Smiling Smash: An Interview with Cathal Smyth, a.k.a Chas Smash, of Madness". Archived from the original on 19 February 2001. Retrieved 31 August 2010.
  13. ^ a b de Koningh, Michael. "Reggae In Your Jeggae: The Phenomonen of the Skinhead Movement and Reggae Music". Reggaereggaereggae.com. Archived from the original on 17 December 2008. Retrieved 31 August 2010.
  14. ^ "Straight From His Own Gob – Noddy Holder interview". Soundchecks.co.uk. Archived from the original on 5 April 2005. Retrieved 31 August 2010.
  15. ^ "Ambrose Slade: The Wolverhampton group that became Slade". Brumbeat.net. Archived from the original on 13 August 2012. Retrieved 31 August 2010.
  16. ^ "h2g2 – Slade – the band". BBC. Archived from the original on 5 May 2009. Retrieved 31 August 2010.
  17. ^ Mean Streets, Jon. "Joe Hawkins: Not just an Oppressed-song". Archived from the original on 5 May 2007. Retrieved 11 April 2007.
  18. ^ "British Hell's Angel and Skinhead novels of the 1970s". Stewarthomesociety.org. Archived from the original on 20 April 2012. Retrieved 31 August 2010.
  19. ^ "The Sharpies — Cult Gangs of the Sixties and Seventies". Abc.net.au. Archived from the original on 24 September 2008. Retrieved 31 August 2010.
  20. ^ "Arts & Culture - ABC News". www.abc.net.au. Archived from the original on 29 October 2008.
  21. ^ a b c de Konigh, Michael (2004). Suedehead Reggae Box Set (Liner notes). London: Trojan Records. TJETD003.
  22. ^ "Suedeheads". Film Noir Buff. Archived from the original on 4 June 2012. Retrieved 31 August 2010.
  23. ^
    S2CID 144461518
    .
  24. .
  25. . In 2009 Paul Lazarus and Phil downsborough put on an event in Margate in Kent "the Big 40, the fortieth anniversary of Skinhead" which was attended by Skinheads from Britain, the USA, Europe, Australia and Japan The event ran on a yearly basis until 2012
  26. ^ "Rage with the Machine: A new breed of patriotic punks gets in the pit for Bush". Stuffmagazine.com. 1 November 2006. Archived from the original on 7 May 2008.
  27. ^ Geoghegan, Tom (12 April 2007). "Under the skin". BBC News Magazine. Archived from the original on 17 August 2017.
  28. JSTOR 488465
    .
  29. ^ Peters, Alex (28 December 2020). "Former 80s skinheads reflect on the significance of their Chelsea haircuts". Dazed. Retrieved 24 October 2022. Capturing many of the faces in the scene was photographer Derek Ridgers. Armed with a camera, in the 70s and 80s Ridgers found himself on the front lines of the subcultures that emerged during that time, compiling a definitive record of the kids defining the aesthetics of a movement.
  30. ^ Bose, Mahasweta (22 February 2022). "Chelsea Haircut: Bring an Edge to your Style". Getarazor. Retrieved 24 October 2022.
  31. ^ John, Natasha (22 December 2021). "9 Types of Chelsea Haircuts to Enhance Your Looks". HairstylesFeed. Retrieved 24 October 2022.
  32. ^ Crow, Sarah (25 September 2018). "Women's Haircuts: 17 That Instantly Make You Look Older". Best Life. Retrieved 24 October 2022.
  33. ^ Brolley, Brittany (7 February 2019). "Haircuts You'll Regret In 10 Years". The List.
  34. ^ Panse, Sonal (21 September 2022). "What Is a Chelsea Haircut?". Beauty Answered. Retrieved 24 October 2022.
  35. ^ "5 Things You Didn't Know About the Chelsea Cut". Re-Edition Magazine. Retrieved 24 October 2022.
  36. ^ a b "Blasphemy Black Metal Skinheads T-Shirts". Archived from the original on 24 April 2015. Retrieved 22 April 2015.
  37. ^ Hebdige 1979, p. 58.
  38. ^ "RICHARD H KIRK Interview". Themilkfactory.co.uk. Archived from the original on 17 May 2011. Retrieved 31 August 2010.
  39. ^ "The 2-Tone discography". 2-tone.info. Archived from the original on 17 November 2019. Retrieved 31 August 2010.
  40. ^ "2 Tone Records - 2 Tone & Related Bibliography". 2-tone.info. Archived from the original on 27 February 2010. Retrieved 31 August 2010.
  41. ^ "The Specials.com". Archived from the original on 28 March 2009.
  42. ^ Dalton, Stephen, "Revolution Rock", Vox, June 1993
  43. ^ a b "Oi! – The Truth by Garry Bushell". Archived from the original on 30 August 2009.
  44. ^ "Cockney Rejects". Oisite.tripod.com. Archived from the original on 17 July 2011. Retrieved 31 August 2010.
  45. ^ "The Press a tribute page". Maninblack.org. Archived from the original on 8 September 2010. Retrieved 31 August 2010.
  46. ^ "Dementlieu Punk Archive: Washington, DC: Iron Cross interview from If This Goes on 2". Dementlieu.com. Archived from the original on 21 April 2018. Retrieved 31 August 2010.
  47. ^ "Oi! American Oi! : Anti-Heros". 17 January 1999. Archived from the original on 17 January 1999.
  48. ^ Black Metal: Evolution of the Cult (2013), p. 73
  49. ^ "Metal Archives - Satanic Skinhead Propaganda". metal-archives.com. Archived from the original on 14 May 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2022.
  50. .
  51. ^ "WNP — Memoirs of a Street Soldier Part 8". Aryanunity.com. Archived from the original on 17 February 2012. Retrieved 31 August 2010.
  52. ^ "Skrewdriver- A Fan's View". Punk77.co.uk. Archived from the original on 26 November 2010. Retrieved 31 August 2010.
  53. ^ "Skrewdriver- Press Cuttings". Punk77.co.uk. Archived from the original on 4 July 2010. Retrieved 31 August 2010.
  54. ^ "Diamond in the Dust - The Ian Stuart Biography". Archived from the original on 27 April 2009. Retrieved 22 April 2015.
  55. ^ "Skinhead". Encyclopedia Britannica. 15 January 2024.
  56. ^ Osgerby, 1998, 65
  57. ^ "Crucified Skinhead, Hate Symbols Database". Anti-Defamation League. Archived from the original on 8 September 2019. Retrieved 15 December 2019.
  58. ^ .
  59. ^ "Ska Party". Skinheadheaven.org.uk. Archived from the original on 7 April 2010. Retrieved 31 August 2010.
  60. ^ "Monty Montgomery of the Pyramids/Symarip interview". Archived from the original on 29 September 2005. Retrieved 31 August 2010.
  61. ^ "REDSKINS — The Interview, 1986". Sozialismus-von-unten.de. Archived from the original on 26 February 2010. Retrieved 31 August 2010.
  62. ^ "REVOLUTION TIMES HOMEPAGE - Revolution Times-Interview aus Autonom # 17". Archived from the original on 27 October 2009. Retrieved 22 April 2015.
  63. ^ Groundwater, Colin (10 June 2020). "A brief history of ACAB". GQ.
  64. ^ "ACAB". Anti-Defamation League.
  65. ^ "Skinhead Nation: The Big Apple Bites Back". 9 July 2007. Archived from the original on 9 July 2007.

Further reading

Skinheads in Russia

External links