Post by marveloushagler on Nov 15, 2004 11:48:40 GMT -5
This article is excerpted from "Here To Stay Here To Fight" issue #3, info-bulletin of the RASH-NYC crew.
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POST-MODERN SKINHEADS
The evolution of skinhead music
Skinheads have been around as a distinct subculture since 1967. One of the greatest things about being part of a culture that spans 37 years is the incredible range of music associated with the style. As skinheads have continued and evolved, so has the music they've listened to.
Skinheads grew from the mods, and many skinheads listen to the original mod and mod revival bands (The Who, The Small Faces, The Kinks, The Jam, Secret Affair, etc.). Also from the mods, skinheads acquired their love of American soul music (Motown and Stax).
The first love of the original skinheads was Jamaican music. Ska, rocksteady and reggae musicians were like patron saints to the original cropheads. If you don't love Jamaican music and you call yourself a skinhead, you just aren't authentic.
As skinheads grew their hair out in the early 70's, they went through their bootboy phase. Bands like Slade evolved from braces and short haircuts to the ghastly glam rock look. Regardless, because of this link you'll find many a skinhead who is an aficionado of 1970's glitter/ glam bands like Sweet, Mott the Hoople, T Rex, etc.
In 1976 and 1977, punk hit the scene. You'd be hard pressed to find a skinhead in this day and age that doesn't love early punk. Groups like the Clash and Stiff Little Fingers have always had considerable skinhead followings. Also, on a more personal note, many American skinheads love the early CBGB's bands like the Ramones and the Dead Boys. After all, without them there would have been no hardcore music, and likely the skinhead subculture never would have reached the USA.
From the belly of punk rock came the proto-streetpunk bands like Sham 69, Menace, Cock Sparrer and Slaughter and the Dogs. You don't get more skinhead than these bands. It was their pioneering efforts, thanks as well to transitional bands like the Angelic Upstarts and the Cockney Rejects, that lead to the birth of Oi! In Oi!, skinheads found for the first time a music that was all their own.
The story would have ended there had it not been for Jerry Dammers and company. Just when skinhead was in danger of degenerating into a style-less mob of kids in faded jeans and glue-stained t-shirts, 2 Tone came along and made it fashionable to get dressed up and go out dancing again. Although it only lasted a short time, 2 Tone produced some of the most fun music the world has ever known.
While reggae of the 60's variety is the one most often associated with skinheads, there are plenty who love the 70's roots and dub variety as well, thanks in part to the "punky reggae" crossover of bands like the CLASH and the RUTS.
Back in the USA, punk splintered in a hundred directions. The most important faction for skinheads developed into American hardcore. Whether it was Washington DC, Southern California, NYC, Boston, Chicago or Detroit, all of the early American hardcore scenes had kids with shaved heads, boots and jeans. Then in the late 80's, NYC bands turned skinhead hardcore into an artform, thanks to groups like Agnostic Front, the Cro-Mags, Warzone, Sick Of It All, etc.
It's unfortunate that the Third Wave ska revival of the mid-90's was such crap that it made everyone associate the music with reject circus acts. There was a time in the late 80's and very early 90's when Third Wave ska was skinhead music, and helped to hold aloft the torch of the original skinhead style. It was also tied in very closely with the birth of S.H.A.R.P. Don't believe me? Check out early releases on labels like Moon, Skank and Unicorn, or listen to early music by the Toasters, Donkey Show and Maroon Town. Third Wave ska was a really stylin' scene when it was underground. Unfortunately, "success" in the form of wide-spread commercialism meant it turned into the horrendous disposable crap it was to become.
In this day and age, you'll find skinheads listening to bands coming from or inspired by all these eras. You'll even find skinheads listening to dancehall and hip-hop as forms of legitimate street music, though they probably won't admit it in public! And that's yet another reason to stay a skinhead for life. For a group of kids who dress so alike, skinheads sure do like a diversity of music. Without a doubt, we're the subculture with the best soundtrack.
Contact:
Here To Stay Here To Fight zine
c/o RASH-NYC
PO Box 364
Canal St. Station
NYC 10013-0364
U$A
----------------------------------------------------------------
POST-MODERN SKINHEADS
The evolution of skinhead music
Skinheads have been around as a distinct subculture since 1967. One of the greatest things about being part of a culture that spans 37 years is the incredible range of music associated with the style. As skinheads have continued and evolved, so has the music they've listened to.
Skinheads grew from the mods, and many skinheads listen to the original mod and mod revival bands (The Who, The Small Faces, The Kinks, The Jam, Secret Affair, etc.). Also from the mods, skinheads acquired their love of American soul music (Motown and Stax).
The first love of the original skinheads was Jamaican music. Ska, rocksteady and reggae musicians were like patron saints to the original cropheads. If you don't love Jamaican music and you call yourself a skinhead, you just aren't authentic.
As skinheads grew their hair out in the early 70's, they went through their bootboy phase. Bands like Slade evolved from braces and short haircuts to the ghastly glam rock look. Regardless, because of this link you'll find many a skinhead who is an aficionado of 1970's glitter/ glam bands like Sweet, Mott the Hoople, T Rex, etc.
In 1976 and 1977, punk hit the scene. You'd be hard pressed to find a skinhead in this day and age that doesn't love early punk. Groups like the Clash and Stiff Little Fingers have always had considerable skinhead followings. Also, on a more personal note, many American skinheads love the early CBGB's bands like the Ramones and the Dead Boys. After all, without them there would have been no hardcore music, and likely the skinhead subculture never would have reached the USA.
From the belly of punk rock came the proto-streetpunk bands like Sham 69, Menace, Cock Sparrer and Slaughter and the Dogs. You don't get more skinhead than these bands. It was their pioneering efforts, thanks as well to transitional bands like the Angelic Upstarts and the Cockney Rejects, that lead to the birth of Oi! In Oi!, skinheads found for the first time a music that was all their own.
The story would have ended there had it not been for Jerry Dammers and company. Just when skinhead was in danger of degenerating into a style-less mob of kids in faded jeans and glue-stained t-shirts, 2 Tone came along and made it fashionable to get dressed up and go out dancing again. Although it only lasted a short time, 2 Tone produced some of the most fun music the world has ever known.
While reggae of the 60's variety is the one most often associated with skinheads, there are plenty who love the 70's roots and dub variety as well, thanks in part to the "punky reggae" crossover of bands like the CLASH and the RUTS.
Back in the USA, punk splintered in a hundred directions. The most important faction for skinheads developed into American hardcore. Whether it was Washington DC, Southern California, NYC, Boston, Chicago or Detroit, all of the early American hardcore scenes had kids with shaved heads, boots and jeans. Then in the late 80's, NYC bands turned skinhead hardcore into an artform, thanks to groups like Agnostic Front, the Cro-Mags, Warzone, Sick Of It All, etc.
It's unfortunate that the Third Wave ska revival of the mid-90's was such crap that it made everyone associate the music with reject circus acts. There was a time in the late 80's and very early 90's when Third Wave ska was skinhead music, and helped to hold aloft the torch of the original skinhead style. It was also tied in very closely with the birth of S.H.A.R.P. Don't believe me? Check out early releases on labels like Moon, Skank and Unicorn, or listen to early music by the Toasters, Donkey Show and Maroon Town. Third Wave ska was a really stylin' scene when it was underground. Unfortunately, "success" in the form of wide-spread commercialism meant it turned into the horrendous disposable crap it was to become.
In this day and age, you'll find skinheads listening to bands coming from or inspired by all these eras. You'll even find skinheads listening to dancehall and hip-hop as forms of legitimate street music, though they probably won't admit it in public! And that's yet another reason to stay a skinhead for life. For a group of kids who dress so alike, skinheads sure do like a diversity of music. Without a doubt, we're the subculture with the best soundtrack.
Contact:
Here To Stay Here To Fight zine
c/o RASH-NYC
PO Box 364
Canal St. Station
NYC 10013-0364
U$A