 | |
| Years active | 1960s–present |
|---|---|
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Major figures | Hoxton Tom McCourt |
| Influences | Primarilymod andrude boy subcultures;punk subculture influenced the second wave of skinheads |
| Influenced | Suedeheads,Oi!,Trojan skinhead,White power skinhead,SHARP,Sharpies,hardcore punk |
Askinhead orskin is a member of a subculture that originated amongworking-class youth in London, England, in the 1960s. It soon spread to other parts of the United Kingdom, with a second working-class skinhead movement emerging worldwide in the late 1970s. Motivated bysocial alienation andworking-class solidarity, skinheads are defined by their close-cropped orshaven heads and working-class clothing such asDr. Martens andsteel toe work boots,braces, high rise and varying length straight-legjeans, 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 ofalternative values and working class pride, rejecting both the austerity andconservatism of the 1950s–early 1960s and the moremiddle class orbourgeoishippie movement andpeace and love ethos of the mid to late 1960s. Skinheads were instead drawn towards more working class outsidersubcultures, incorporating elements of early working classmod fashion andJamaican music and fashion, especially from Jamaicanrude boys.[1] In the earlier stages of the movement, a considerable overlap existed between early skinhead subculture,mod subculture, and therude boy subculture found amongJamaican British andJamaican 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 asska,rocksteady, andreggae, as well as sometimesAfrican-Americansoul andrhythm 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 emergingpunk movement.Oi!, a working class offshoot ofpunk rock, soon became a vital component of skinhead culture, while the Jamaican genres beloved by first generation skinheads were filtered through punk andnew wave in a style known as2 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-strictpunk-influenced styles.[5]
During the early 1980s, political affiliations grew in significance and split the subculture, demarcating thefar-right andfar-left strands, although many skins described themselves asapolitical. In Great Britain, the skinhead subculture became associated in the public eye with membership of groups such as the far-rightNational Front andBritish Movement. By the 1990s,neo-Nazi skinhead movements existed across all of Europe and North America, but were counterbalanced by the presence of groups such asSkinheads Against Racial Prejudice (SHARP) 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.
In the late 1950s the post-wareconomic boom led to an increase indisposable 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 Americansoul groups, BritishR&B bands, certain film actors, andCarnaby Street clothing merchants.[6] These youths became known asmods, a youth subculture noted for itsconsumerism and devotion to fashion, music, andscooters.[7]
Working class mods chose practical clothing styles that suited their lifestyle and employment circumstances: workboots orarmy boots, straight-legjeans or Sta-Presttrousers, 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 enjoyedsoul,ska, androcksteady music.[1][8]
Around 1966, aschism developed between the "peacock mods" (also known assmooth 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 classhippie culture.[11]
In addition to retaining many mod influences, early skinheads were very interested in Jamaicanrude boy styles and culture, especially the music: ska, rocksteady, and earlyreggae (before thetempo slowed down and lyrics became focused on topics likeblack nationalism and theRastafari movement).[1][12][13]
Skinhead culture became so popular by 1969 that even the rock bandSlade 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 byRichard Allen, notablySkinhead andSkinhead Escapes.[17][18] Due to largescale British migration toPerth,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 thesuedeheads (defined by the ability to manipulate one's hair with a comb),smoothies (often with shoulder-length hairstyles), andbootboys (with mod-length hair; associated with gangs andfootball hooliganism).[10][11][21][22] Some fashion trends returned to the mod roots, withbrogues,loafers, suits, and theslacks-and-sweater look making a comeback.
In the late 1970s, the skinhead subculture was revived to a notable extent after the introduction ofpunk rock.[23] Most of these revivalist skinheads reacted to the commercialism of punk by adopting a look that was in line with the original 1969 skinhead style.[citation needed] This revival included Gary Hodges andHoxton Tom McCourt (both later of the band the4-Skins) andSuggs, later of the bandMadness. Around this time, some skinheads became affiliated withfar right groups such as theNational Front and theBritish 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 tofootball 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 thehardcore 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.[27] 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."[28]
By the 1980s street fights regularly broke out inWest Germany between skinheads and members of theanti-fascist, andleft wing youth movements. Germanneo-nazis, led among others byMichael Kühnen, sought to expand their ranks with new young members from the burgeoning skinhead scene. On the other side of theBerlin Wall, inEast 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 theStasi 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.[29]
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Skinheads wore long-sleeve or short-sleevebutton-down shirts orpolo shirts by brands such asBen Sherman, Muses Cuya,Fred Perry,Brutus, Warrior or Jaytex;Lonsdale orEverlast shirts orsweatshirts;Grandfather shirts; V-necksweaters;sleeveless sweaters (known in the UK as atank top);cardigan sweaters orT-shirts (plain or with text or designs related to the skinhead subculture). They might wear fittedblazers,Harrington jackets,bomber jackets,denim jackets (usually blue, sometimes spattered with bleach),donkey jackets,Crombie-style overcoats,sheepskin ¾-length coats, shortmacs,monkey jackets orparkas. Traditional ("hard mod") skinheads sometimes wore suits, often of two-tone 'Tonik' fabric (shinymohair-like material that changes colour in different light and angles), or in aPrince of Wales orhoundstooth check pattern.
Many skinheads wore Sta-Prest flat-fronted slacks or other dresstrousers;jeans (normallyLevi's,Lee orWrangler); 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 withbleach to resemblecamouflage trousers (a style popular amongOi! 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 awhite 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:Trilby hats;pork pie hats;flat caps (Scally caps ordriver caps),winter woollen hats (without a bobble). Less common have beenbowler hats (mostly among suedeheads and those influenced by the filmA 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) withpaisley 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 nicknamebrollie boys.
Female skinheads, (who are sometimes calledskinbyrds orskingirls,) 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.
Most skinheads wearboots; in the 1960sarmy surplus or generic workboots, laterDr. Martens boots and shoes. In 1960s Britain, steel-toe boots worn by skinheads and hooligans were calledbovver boots; whence skinheads have themselves sometimes been calledbovver boys. Skinheads have also been known to wearbrogues,loafers or Dr. Martens (or similarly styled) low shoes.
In recent years, other brands of boots, such asSolovair,Tredair Grinders, and Gripfast have become popular among skinheads, partly because most Dr. Martens are no longer made in England.Football-styleathletic shoes, by brands such asAdidas orGola, have become popular with many skinheads. Female or child skinheads generally wear the same footwear as men, with the addition ofmonkey 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]
The skinhead subculture was originally associated withblack music genres such assoul,ska,R&B,rocksteady, and earlyreggae.[1][12] The link between skinheads andJamaican music led to the UK popularity of groups such asDesmond Dekker,Derrick Morgan,Laurel Aitken,Symarip andThe Pioneers.[13] In the early 1970s, some reggae songs began to feature themes ofblack 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.[31] Around this time, somesuedeheads (an offshoot of the skinhead subculture) started listening to Britishglam rock bands such asSweet,Slade andMott the Hoople.[21][32]
The most popular music style for late-1970s skinheads was2 Tone, a fusion of ska, rocksteady, reggae, pop andpunk rock.[33] The 2 Tone genre was named after2 Tone Records, aCoventryrecord label that featured bands such asThe Specials,Madness andThe Selecter.[34][35][36] Some late-1970s skinheads also liked certain punk rock bands, such asSham 69 and Menace.
In the late 1970s, after the first wave of punk rock, many skinheads embracedOi!, a working class punk subgenre.[37] Musically, Oi! combines standard punk with elements offootball chants,pub rock and British glam rock.[38] The Oi! scene was partly a response to a sense that many participants in the early punk scene were, in the words ofThe Business guitarist Steve Kent, "trendy university people using long words, trying to be artistic ... and losing touch".[39] The term Oi! as a musical genre is said to come from the bandCockney Rejects and journalistGarry Bushell, who championed the genre inSounds magazine.[38][40][41] 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 includeAngelic Upstarts,Blitz, the Business, Last Resort,The Burial,Combat 84 andthe 4-Skins.[10]
American Oi! began in the 1980s, with bands such asU.S. Chaos,The Press,Iron Cross,The Bruisers andAnti-Heros.[42][43][44] American skinheads created a link between their subculture andhardcore punk music, with bands such asWarzone,Agnostic Front, andCro-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 Britishstreetpunk.
Among some skinheads,heavy metal is popular. Bands such as the Canadian actBlasphemy, whose guitarist is Black, has been known to popularise and merchandise the phrase "black metal skinheads".[30] As the group's vocalist recounts, "a lot of black metal skinheads from the other side of Canada" would join in on theBritish Columbian black metal underground. "I remember one guy... who had 'Black Metal Skins' tattooed on his forehead. We didn't hang out with white power skinheads, but there were some Oi skinheads who wanted to hang out with us."[45]National Socialist black metal has an audience among white power skinheads. Black metal pioneer and right-wing extremistVarg Vikernes was known to adopt a skinhead look and wear a belt with the SS insignia while serving time in prison for thearson of several stave churches and the murder ofØystein Aarseth.[46]
Although manywhite power skinheads listened to Oi! music, they developed a separate genre more in line with their politics:Rock Against Communism (RAC).[47] The most notable RAC band wasSkrewdriver, which started out as a non-political punk band but evolved into aneo-Nazi band after the first lineup broke up and a new lineup was formed.[48][49][50] RAC started out musically similar to Oi! and punk, but has since adopted elements from other genres. White power music that draws inspiration fromhardcore punk is sometimes calledhatecore.
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The early skinheads were not necessarily part of any political movement, but as the 1970s progressed, many skinheads became more politically active and acts ofracially-motivated skinhead violence began to occur in the United Kingdom. As a result of this change within the skinheads, far right groups such as theNational Front and theBritish Movement saw a rise in the number ofwhite power skinheads among their ranks.[23] By the late 1970s, the mass media, and subsequently the general public, had largely come to view the skinhead subculture as one that promotes racism andneo-Nazism.[51] The white power and neo-Nazi skinhead subculture eventually spread toNorth America,Europe and other areas of the world.[23] The mainstream media started using the termskinhead in reports of racist violence (regardless of whether the perpetrator was actually a skinhead); this has played a large role in skewing public perceptions about the subculture.[52] Three notable groups that formed in the 1980s and which later became associated with white power skinheads areWhite Aryan Resistance,Blood and Honour andHammerskins.[23]
During the late 1970s and early 1980s, however, many skinheads andsuedeheads in the United Kingdom rejected both the far left and the far right. This attitude was musically typified byOi! bands such asCockney Rejects,The 4-Skins,Toy Dolls, andThe Business. Two notable groups of skinheads that spoke out against neo-Nazism and political extremism—and instead spoke out in support oftraditional skinhead culture—were the Glasgow Spy Kids in Scotland (who coined the phraseSpirit of '69), and the publishers of theHard As Nailszine in England.[54][55]
In the late 1960s, some skinheads in the United Kingdom (includingblack skinheads) engaged in violence againstSouth Asian immigrants (an act known asPaki bashing in common slang).[11][54][56] There had, however, also beenanti-racist skinheads since the beginning of the subculture, especially inScotland andNorthern England.[54][57]
On the far left of the skinhead subculture,redskins andanarchist skinheads take a militantanti-fascist and pro-working class stance.[58] The phrase "all cops are bastards" was popularized among some skinheads byThe 4-Skins's 1982 song "A.C.A.B."[59][60] In the United Kingdom, two groups with significant numbers of leftist skinhead members wereRed Action, which started in 1981, andAnti-Fascist Action, which started in 1985. Internationally, the most notable skinhead organization isSkinheads Against Racial Prejudice, which formed in the New York City area in 1987 and then spread to other countries.[61]
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
Media related toSkinheads at Wikimedia Commons
