If you’ve stumbled across this zine chances are your days of meadow-dwelling are long since past. You no longer view the world through the hate-veil of the Fox News Corp (although, I think you should since it becomes an endless “Blood Test” scene from John Carpenter’s The Thing), and have deduced that most Muslims are not blood-crazed terrorists, the world won’t fall apart and decay suddenly in 2012, most mothers are not time-bomb murders incognito and most Skinheads are not racist, ignorant hatemongers. At some point one of the proudest, loudest, least politically minded and certainly best looking sub-sects of the Mod culture was adopted stolen by the very people who make civilization a crumbling structure. Entirely, although unsurprisingly, lacking the foresight to see that their newly purloined look was largely a Jamaican/Immigrant/Black creation, these Bonheads chose simply ignore the truth and go on tarnishing a proud crest. The documentary Man Alive was filmed in 1968 and examines the Dancehall roots and Football hooliganism of the skinhead culture and while the sugar-glazed goggles of the past often allow us to overlook glaring flaws of our heroes (Paki-bashing is entirely unacceptable regardless of how great your Merc looks), these gentlemen were simply rudies intent on having a good time. Check out the original English roses after the jump
barack
February 11, 2013 at 2:08 am
What your article fails to mention is that the black skinhead with the iron cross on his jacket in the photo you posted also has swastika tattoos, listens almost exclusively to white power music and dates racist white women because of some kinda weird self hate thing. He’s not the only black skinhead like that by a long shot either.
The whole black skinhead equality thing is kind of bullshit outside of places like new york.
CVLT Nation
February 11, 2013 at 11:19 am
Interesting…you know him? Racist white women who date a black man? Fascinating!
I’m pretty sure there are a lot fewer skinhead “weird self-hating” people of color out there than you are hinting at. Maybe you could send some stats/information/real facts about this my way?
barack
February 12, 2013 at 10:58 am
Believe me I live in New York and there’s loads of hispanics with white power tattoos sieg heiling at oi shows and crap like that. Hell, most of the Skrewdriver bootlegs that were sold around here in the 80’s were put out by two Jews.
As for the guy in your picture I mentioned before, here’s another picture of him. Note the Celtic Cross on the girl’s bomber jacket.
CVLT Nation
February 12, 2013 at 11:45 am
Wow the world is a weird place!!!!!! Thanks for the photos, very enlightening. The exception doesn’t make the rule, but it’s good to note.
Thai Vespa Nguyen
April 7, 2014 at 9:09 pm
Confusing times those were before in the 80’s, loads of people just wanted to be Skinheads and did not know much about the roots. I knew guys that listen to Screwdriver just because they like the music, mostly Punk and Hardcore. I knew plenty people mostly Black, Hispanic, White, etc. We all got along until those hate groups rolled into town, There were so much confusion about how to be a proper Skinhead and many of them fell for those racist ideology that you had to be that way to be a Skinhead, even some of the Black guys want to be involved with Nazi groups. I thought it was silly and at the time was was very into 2Tone and the Mod revival of the 80’s and had many Traditional Skinhead friends from Europe and abroad, I used to be a DJ and would play records like Tighten Up, Skinhead Moonstomp, Skinhead Girl, for those people and most of them were shocked and amazed. I guess you can try to reach some, and some are beyond help.
barack
February 12, 2013 at 11:17 am
more pictures
Stefan Bach
November 10, 2013 at 8:14 pm
The roots of the Skinhead Culture are the jamaican “Rude Boys” and the british “Mods”. In East London there lived kids of the working class and jamaican immigrants together. They learned to know each other and so the skinhead culture was born. Especially the common love for Jamaican music was a reason for this development.
The whole Nazi-Skinhead shit came up years later in the 80s and has nothing to do with the Skinhead-Culture of the late 60s.
Remember the Spirit of ’69! Stay Rude!