Skinheads Essay Research Paper SKINHEADSSkinheads are working

Skinheads Essay, Research Paper

SKINHEADS

Skinheads are working class citizens that enjoy music and beer, yet they are continually portrayed as racists and bigots. Skinheads are constantly called Nazis, but skinheads originated as working class men from England many years earlier. Skinheads spend most of their time with other like-minded individuals. A group of skinheads is usually called a crew. Unlike gangs, crews are relatively non-violent unless provoked. They dress in simple and classy style at all times to showcase their working class roots. Most skinheads will continue living the Skinhead lifestyle until the day they die.

Skinhead roots began during the late 1960’s when the Jamaican rude boy subculture mingled with the British mod subculture. A rude boy is best defined as a “cool super-hooligan.” Rude in Jamaican vernacular meant wild, violent, or reckless. These rude boys were best portrayed in such songs as Desmond Dekker’s “007 (Shanty Town)”, “Rude Boy Train”, and many other such releases. A rude boy is now portrayed as a person who listens to reggae and ska music primarily, dressing in nice clothes and suits. The term mod is short for modernist. Mod is a direct outgrowth of Post War Britain, when all the teenagers suddenly had a disposable income and a desire to find an identity beyond a schoolboy or workingman. The product of this marriage would be what we today call a skinhead. Skinheads preferred physical labor to the mod ideals of effortless work. There were several theories on why the skinheads cropped their hair short and began wearing boots. One theory is that “the rougher kids began cutting their hair close, both to aid their fashion and to prevent their hair from hindering them in street fights.” The other theory is being that “the shaved head and steel toed boots originated amongst the dock workers who required the safety of steel toed boots and shaved their heads as a precaution against head lice.” After work, skinheads would usually congregate to the mostly Jamaican-owned dance halls, wearing their finest clothes. Skinheads also enjoyed going to the pubs and drinking beer, and watching soccer. Skinheads enjoyed soccer, and were overly supportive at times, attacking supporters of the other clubs. During the mid to late 1970’s a resurgence of the Skinhead subculture arose and with it came a sense of football hooliganism never seen before. These hooligans were strictly devoted to their chosen football clubs and would not associate with supporters of other clubs. It soon became a trademark of the terraces as football hooliganism became a widespread problem. West Ham s East End Boot Crew was one of the first mobs to become overtly skinhead but it wasn’t long before it was the norm at nearly every London ground.

While skinheads weren’t being hooligans, they listened to and still listen to many different genres of music. The most common forms of music listened to by skinheads are as follow: Oi!, a form of street punk, 77 style punk, which was the first years of punk, and ska. Oi! Music expresses the life of being a skinhead. The struggle of labor and social aspects. 77 style punk is the best kind of punk because it is basic with good foot tapping rhythms. Keeping punk pure and full of passion. Ska is what became skinhead s dance music. First-wave ska was a Jamaican dance music that exploded from Jamaica in the early 1960’s. Jamaican immigrants brought ska to England. Which fell loudly on the ears of skinheads to come. First-wave was a mix of Rasta, Calypso, and other Caribbean rhythms mixed with the traditional African sound. Some artists from this period were Judge Dread, Desmond Dekker, Laurel Aitken, and The Skatalites. Second- and third-wave revivals came around during the mid 1970’s, 1980’s, and 1990’s. Second-wave ska was associated primarily with the Two-Tone movement. This movement was dedicated to racial unity and stomping out racist factions. Two-Tone bands played concerts whenever possible to spread their ideas. Second-wave ska was a mixture of R&B, soul and traditional ska. Such major bands as Bad manners, The Selecter, The Specials, and The English Beat were among the defining bands of this movement and did plenty for the non-racist cause. Third-wave ska is the most recent wave to come around. Third-wave is a mixture of ska and punk, not following the traditional ska beat, such as the Skoidats, Skofflaws, Slackers, or Stubborn-All-stars.

Oi! is street punk, plain and simple. The word Oi comes from Cockney slang meaning “Hey.” It is also a shortening of the Greek oi polloi, meaning common people. Oi! Began more as a movement than as a sound. Oi! Bands sung about real issues faced by youth in the UK, such as unemployment, prison, authority, and social injustices. Many of the original and most revered bands had an obvious left-wing slant. The first time the word Oi! was used in a song was by the Cockney Rejects, singing “Oi! Oi! Oi!.” Gary Bushell gave these street punk bands of the late seventies/early eighties the name Oi because they refused to be a part of the plastic punk genre. Bushell also gave the world its first taste of Oi! in the Oi! The Album compilation. This compilation exposed many people to the movement and preceded the numerous Oi! compilations that followed it. The forefathers of Oi! Sham 69, The Lurkers, Cockney Rejects, CockSparrer, Angelic Upstarts, and the Business, played what the smarter pre