Interview with a skinhead

"Skinhead" is a term used to indentify members of the skinhead subculture which became prevalent in the 1960s after originating in London. They were originally concerned with working-class ideals, and are believed to be an offshoot of the earlier mod subculture. They are characterised by their extremely closely cropped hair, from where the term skinhead is derived.


I spoke to Geoff, who identified himself as a member of this subculture during the mid 1970s.

Did you belong to any one particular group?

Yes, I was a skinhead.

What year did you become involved with this group?

Roughly I would have been 16, so around 1975.

How did you become aware of this group?

There were some groups into it, such a Slade, the music started it off for me. Some of my friends were into it, including some guys around 17 and 18 who were doing it, so we followed on from them, we had an influence from the older generation.

Did you know many people, or did you have many friends that also subscribed to this group?

Yes, quite a few, not all of my friends, but I would say around half of my friends did, it was fairly popular.

What was the primary ethos or mission of your group?

To me, it was the fashion, it was the fact you looked hard. “Don’t mess with me” was the message. We didn’t have an underlying cause, I think it was just about wanting to be in trouble. I got in trouble, we all did. Mainly fighting, all the time. I was fighting my shadow.

Was there a particular fashion associated with it? Can you describe it?

Doc Martin boots, oxblood, yellow laces, they were a must, the higher the length of boots the better. You’d turn up your jeans, drainpipes or levis or whatever. Ben Sherman shirt, that was the main one, and braces in a cross at the back, and they had to be narrow, they couldn’t be like your grandad’s braces. Everybody had a completely shaven head, or as close to it as you could get.

Did you or anyone you know ever buy clothes/accessories/makeup for the sole purpose of fitting in with the group?

You bought the associated gear, there was a sort of stipulated uniform for it, it was quite strict, had to be a checked Ben Sherman shirt, stay pressed trousers when you were going to a dance, turned up to suit the boots.

What kind of rituals would members of the group perform? (hair dying, piercings)

A lot of people had skinhead burns as they were called, they rubbed the backs of their hands until they burned. I think that was just a silly craze.

Were there any shops that catered to the kind of fashion your group had?

Most shops did, it was fashion, it was what they sold, levis were popular anyway, stay pressed came in different colours, the shops were aware of the trend and they took advantage, one shop in particular opened as a result of the skinhead trend, they totally catered, they opened the shop and filled it full of stuff for skinheads, on the basis of what was selling at the time. He did his research.

Was there any particular kind of music your group listened to?

To be honest, all kinds. At the time it was all discos and what was in the charts, it was nearing the point of glam rock, I got on the bandwagon late. In London they were more into ska reggae, that sort of thing.

Did you attend any events associated with your group?

Not really, we had discos, we met up in the high street, out and about, you were never in your house. We spent most of our time in the street. We drank underage, down the river, down the beach, before we went to the discos.

Were there any activities or behaviours associated with your group? Did you agree with them?

We fought a lot, it was a territorial thing, there were a lot of travellers that came and we fought them. Gangs, people from Forres or Elgin, they were more organized than we were, they fought for leadership and all this kind of thing.

How much money (roughly) do you think you spent?

Well, boots were £20, trousers about £15, then the shirts, roughly £15-£20, they bumped up the price of doc martins because of it. They were aware the trend had caught onto them.

Did you feel as if you belonged, or that your group was a family in any way?

Kind of, we were all different. I would say only 4 of us were proper skinheads, I was probably more insular with those 4. I think some of them were posers.

Was there any signalling?

Other than my clothes and the shaved head, not really, but that was all we needed.

What made you leave the group?

I think we all just left in the end. The older kids drifted into something different, and we followed them. Glam rock kind of came in, and it took over, it wasn’t strict a dress code for one thing.

Was there any point you felt the group was becoming too “corporate?” or commercial?

I never thought about it, it was commercial to begin with, you had to buy a certain kind of clothes.

Do you think your group kept it’s ethos toward the end?

To me, it was just a fashion trend, what I wanted to be was to be hard, to have an attitude, to cast an aura around me that said “don’t come near me, I’ll beat the shit out of you,” it was kind of a shallow interest I had, it was in it’s dying days when I got into it, it only lasted a year or so. We got into the clockwork orange side of things, we ended up dressing like them after a while, we had the checked trousers and Crombie coat, eventually the shops came out with checked stay pressed to meet THAT trend. We went into glam rock from there.

Like Denise, Geoff's experiences with his subculture seem to be somewhat muted as opposed to the experiences of someone living in one of the larger cities. Geoff was involved in the scene as it was beginning to diversify and be overshadowed by other trends. Nevertheless, his experience is interesting because it shows not only how the rural areas of Scotland dealt with subcultures from the south and how they were adapted for the area, but how local retailers began to specialise in fashions that were integral to the scene, and the costs involved in making oneself appropriate in terms of "uniform." 

Interview with a punk

The punk subculture was a music and fashion scene most prevalent around the mid-1970s and early 80s. Members of the movement subscribed to several ideologies, including anti-establishment and anarchist ideals.

I interviewed Denise, a woman who in the late 70's belonged to the punk scene in Nairn, Scotland. My questions were mainly aimed towards how the subculture changed while she was a part of it, and whether or not this effected her opinion of it.

Did you belong to any one particular group?

The punk rockers.

What year did you become involved with this group?

I would have been 14, 78’… 77’ …  around 1977.

How did you become aware of this group?

Well the music was in the charts, Johnny Rotten, The Skids were in, and then of course, the TV, Top Of The Pops, the news was covering it, my friends at school… when I went to the youth club, that was the music they were playing, it was inescapable, you had to conform really, we were pretty impressionable.

Did you know many people, or did you have many friends that also subscribed to this group?

Yes, friends at school, well, I think at that age I’d have been 14, and as you know at that age you tend to be a bit rebellious. So, it kind of fitted in with that time in my life, of course I wanted to rebel, so here comes this punk rock, like the Sex Pistols, who were rebelling against everything.  It was like the perfect storm, it just came at the right time for my age.

What was the primary ethos or mission of your group?

To rebel. To shock, to piss the older generation off. I suppose anarchy came into it as well. There was this group called the Sex Pistols... I’m sure Johnny Rotten was the first one, and they replaced him with Sid Vicious, their behaviour was terrible, they were doing things on the TV, in the media, they were SWEARING! And spitting! Up until that point nobody swore on television. So, anybody took them on a TV show at that time, their behaviour was awful, so that was a big attraction.

Was there a particular fashion associated with it? Can you describe it?

Oh aye, all black, ripped t-shirts, safety pins, the more the better. Black boots, black eyeliner, spiked hair, a lot of the boys had mohicans. They would shave the sides of their hair off then dye it a color. The makeup had to be over the top. The anti-nuclear slogans painted on the back of the boy’s jackets, they were popular, “fuck the pope!” anything that was shocking.

Did you or anyone you know ever buy clothes/accessories/makeup for the sole purpose of fitting in with the group?

Yes. I ripped my t-shirts that my mother had bought me, I put safety pins through my ears. The music was anti establishment, it was anti political, so that rubbed off on us, and at that age we were rebellious anyway. We used to put badges over our jackets, anti-nuclear, anti-war, anything that was “anti” something.

What kind of rituals would members of the group perform? (hair dying, piercings)

Safety pins through my ears, make necklaces out of safety pins, The make up, obviously, dying our hair, especially blue or pink, some of the boys used to put love and hate on their knuckles.

Were there any shops that catered to the kind of fashion your group had?

Maybe in the cities, not in Nairn, we had to make a lot of our own. It was an unkempt kind of look, I never wore dirty clothes, but it was that kind of look, it was to shock. The trousers, the jeans all became drainpipe-y in the shops where they had been flares, so that kind of changed. And the boots, we started to see doc martins in the shop a lot more, the girls would wear them. I was aware there were things we weren’t getting, from people off the TV… that was where we got our ideas from.

Was there any particular kind of music your group listened to?

Sex Pistols was the favourite. There were loads that came off the back of them, I can’t remember their names, one band would appear after another and it was hard to keep track.

Did that kind of music become more or less popular?

Oh for young people it became very popular, much to my parents disdain. There were new bands springing up all the time, it just became this follow-on sort of thing in the charts, loads of new groups copying the formula popped up, and they were after money.

Did you attend any events associated with your group?

Oh aye, we had discos in our day, but we had a youth club and stuff like that, we’d all dress up… we lived in Nairn, so the culture was kind of muted as a result of the location. There wasn’t any live music or concerts up here, but we just got on with it.

Were there any activities or behaviours associated with your group? Did you agree with them?

Smoking, that’s how I became a smoker, even to this day, but we didn’t drink, and we didn’t take drugs… if we were in the city, that might have been different.

We were very anti-social to the older generation. There was no violence that came out of it in Nairn, but in the cities there were. We had quite an attitude, dancing was a big thing too. We kind of just jumped up and down a lot and banged our heads.

How much money (roughly) do you think you spent?

I bought the records and knackered my clothes, make-up… I just spent what money I had. I worked as a waitress, I would spend my wages on it, I earned about £10 a week to give you an idea.

Did you feel as if you belonged, or that your group was a family in any way?

I felt I belonged, the fact they were like minded people.

Was there any signalling?

I advertised the fact I was a punk through dress. A lot of the boys would paint crosses or swastikas on the back of their jackets.

What made you leave the group?

I just grew up. I think we all did, we grew out of it, I had a boyfriend who wasn’t a punk, school I suppose, we had responsibilities ahead, we left school at 16, we were gonna have to do exams, then get a job, music changed, the new romantics came in after that and we were seeing, gone from all the original message of the anarchy and anti establishment to glam rock, weird 80’s stuff… it wasn’t angry anymore, it was all wrong.

Was there any point you remember the group changing in a way you didn’t like?

It became intimidating for the older generation. If there was a group of you together, old people didn’t like it, they felt intimidated, I din’t like that. I woke up to it, I realized it was wrong.

Was there any point you felt the group was becoming too “corporate?” or commercial?

No. I wouldn’t have been aware of it if it was.

Do you think your group kept it’s ethos toward the end?

Yeah… but I think living in Nairn we were presented with a homogenized version of it to start with, I don’t think we ever got the full picture. We saw stuff on the TV, from the cities, doing all these things, squatting, sit-ins… that was the start of having a “right to something,” so they’d all be in squats and protests… can you imagine that in a city, to a small town? We thought we were punks, but we weren’t getting the real version, we never did. The beare bones of the message was always the same, but it got diluted on the way up to Scotland.

What I have learned from this account is that one representation of the punk movement can be vastly different to another. The "version" of punk that Denise was a part of was a much more muted one than that experienced by young people in say, London or Manchester. The underlying spirit or message of the movement remained the same, but it presented itself differently among the young people of Nairn, and it is easy to overlook how cultural and environmental factors effect a subculture. It is possible for a subculture to evolve in an entirely different way depending on it's location.

Carnaby Street Undressed

http://www.identity-films.com/films_carnaby.html

Here is the documentary I based my last two posts on. It is sometimes shown on Yesterday channel, but can be obtained through the internet, I suggest you watch it if you found Carnaby interesting.

Revolution on Carnaby Street (part 2)

In 1967 the hippie youth movement, with it's ethos based on love, tolerance, a connection with nature and an affinity for psychedelic drugs, spread around the world. Hippie has it's roots in the Bohemian culture, much like the "swinging London"archetype. In many ways similar, but fundamentally different, the hippie movement proved to be the death knell for Carnaby Street.

The "Human Be-In" was a social event that occurred in San Francisco and New York City in January of 1967. Many consider this to be the event that popularized the hippie movement, as it was the prelude to the famous "Summer of love,"bringing the counterculture to public awareness and introducing many young people to drugs such as LSD and Cannabis. This sparked a massive political and cultural shift that had a huge effect in Britain as well as America.

As I discussed in my previous post, the Carnaby Street "scene" was heavily based on music and bands that were popular at the time. The bands has a symbiotic relationship with the shops - when the Beatles wore garments bought from Lord Kitchener's Valet or Merc, they fueled the public's interest in fashion, drawing them to the scene and to spend money, and in return the scene was what promoted the music. When the ideals and intentions of the music changed, so did the entire scene. With the summer of love in full swing and social taboos becoming more acceptable, (free love, casual drug use,) the scene in London changed.

The boutiques of Carnaby embraced the shifting trends. Bands such as the Beatles were experimenting with a new psychedelic sound, and had confided in their guru, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. Interest in the middle east had increased, "Everyone was chanting Hare Krishna," recalls Henry Moss. It made good business sense to capitalize on the new wave. Soon "swinging London" was out and hippie was in. Overnight fashions changed, as the shops of Carnaby placed orders for Afghan coats, kaftans and beads.

Things couldn't have been better for business. With new stores opening in New York and Carnaby more popular than ever, the proprietors rested on their laurels. "It was a non-stop party," says Robert Orbach, owner of "I was Lord Kitchener's Valet," "Everybody was walking around going 'Peace man!' Even my bank manager would have a joint with us, and the next morning I'd go in and ask him for money."

Drugs crept into the scene. In 1967 nobody knew how dangerous drugs such as LSD could be, and nobody thought they might be addictive. The summer of love and the festivals that took place were full of drug use that spilled over to the trendy spots in London such as the Marquee, arguably Carnaby's life blood. "When the festivals ended and it started getting to Christmas, it was beginning to get pretty dark," remarks Tommy Calder, founder of Immediate Records, "by the start of 68', we weren't having fun anymore, we were a business. We became the corporations. And we were doing so many drugs, we had to be serious about it."

It wasn't long before mainstream society began reacting against the hippie movement, and all that it was associated with. Artists such as Donovan and The Rolling Stones were targeted in a new anti-drugs policy, and were busted for smoking cannabis. On top of this, the Vietnam war was having a effect on the younger generation. A lot of American teenagers were being drafted, and essentially going off to die. This was at a time when political unrest was high. The people who were originally part of Carnaby were starting to get a little older, and the scene began to run out of steam. People began dying of drug overdoses, the Beatles had broken up, and the novelty had gone. Lost in the hysteria of business, the shop owners of Carnaby found themselves at a loss; in order to maximize profit they had created inferior merchandise, and many corporate backed "copy cat" businesses offering mass produced replications of iconic Carnaby fashions had sprung up. The public were disillusioned and disenfranchised. "If you eat too much candy, you're gonna get sick," remarks Garry Leeds, drummer for The Walker Brothers, "that will bring everything to a halt."

In October 1972 Carnaby street was pedestrianised, prohibiting all traffic. By this time, almost all of the original stores had closed or changed hands. There was a lot of inferior imported merchandise available, nobody made their own garments for sale anymore, and the whole ethos had evaporated. "The bubble had burst," recalls Tom Salter, proprietor of Gear. "It was like getting a boil lanced. It was very different."

Now if you visit Carnaby street you will find it to be quite different. It's been 42 years since the street's hayday, and although it is still lined with clothes shops, they are mostly all corporate-run international businesses that you can find in any city, such as Ben Sherman and Hugo Boss. While the spirit of the street may be gone, a grim lesson is to be taken from the events that took place. In any subculture or counterculture, it is important to cherish your ideals any not allow your movement to become too big or too popular, and not to rely on it for a source of income. If you see your ideologies as a way of profiting from those who think like you, and if you are successful, there will inevitably be more like you who will attempt the same thing. It is possible for something to become so big it collapses in on itself, and while Carnaby and the swinging 60's movement is a good example of how a few elements can create a subculture and how it can be marketed and refined, it is also an example of how too much formalization can be the death of a movement.