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In all possibility, you may think that when it comes to Richard Allen and the New English Library Skinhead titles there’s little more to be said, almost 50 years on. And like the steel-toed kick in the balls you’d clearly deserve, you’d be wrong, very wrong. Mark Sargeant (Sarge) has written for Scootering since the 80s – many post-decimal currency readers wouldn’t even know the name Richard Allen without the contribution of his spadework in bringing Skinhead to a new audience during that period. Sarge was kind enough to put away his toolbox and answer a few questions on ‘The Richard Allen Legacy’, his late 80s Scootering interview with the author himself and life as a rally-going soul DJ. When did you first come across the Richard Allen books? At school. Skinheads were morphing into suedeheads at the time, it was a mixed grammar school, with quite a strict policy on uniform and colours of uniform. Those of us with a rebellious streak pushed the boundaries with button-down Ben Sherman, or Jaytex Oxford cotton shirts or white Fred Perry polo shirts with black, grey or even navy blue sta-press and black Doc Marten or brogue shoes. Later Brutus jumbo collar shirts and certain combinations of tonic sta-press were favoured by those of us in the know, of course, navy blue or black Crombie coats were worn to and from school. Instead of being sent home for hair being too long, quite a few lads were sent home until their hair grew. New English Library put out Skinhead by Richard Allen, which followed the exploits of East End skinhead Joe Hawkins. I got my copies of Skinhead and Suedehead from WHSmith in Oxford city centre, in fact, I got most of my Richard Allen books from there, and still have those copies today. Some schoolmates would’ve found themselves in trouble at home if they dared to take a copy there, so well-thumbed dog-eared copies of Skinhead, and soon after Suedehead were passed around in a similarly furtive way as soft porn magazines. Some copies of Skinhead and Suedehead were confiscated by school teachers, who probably wanted a sneaky read themselves. Those with grebo inclinations had their own similar books such as Chopper also published by New English Library. One lad in my year selected to read a chapter from Skinhead in a public reading/speaking competition held at the school. Despite several Anglo-Saxon words included in his chosen chapter, the subject of which was football violence, he more or less pulled it off, apart from a minor admonishment by the head of English, for sniggering while reading out loud a line about Joe Hawkins kicking some random opponent in the balls! Cult fiction like Richard Allen books tapped into the impressionable teenage market of the very early 70s, way before the internet, mobile phones and social media. Suedehead sales went into the millions, which literally saved New English Library from going bust. Were you still a skinhead in the late 80s when you were at Scootering and beginning to write about the books or more of a scooterboy by then? More of a scooterboy/soulie, though always have had a leaning towards the original skinhead/suedehead era. Interesting times… Oxford Roadrunners had mods, scooterboys, scooter skins, soulboys, punks and psychobillies as members, with no cultural differences as scoots were what brought us all together. The problem was, I think, uber-elitist mods in the early 80s pushed the more Quadrophenia-inspired away, scooter boys were on the rise, riding serious distances on scoots led to practicalities in the attire stakes. Also while many arrived via mod/Quadrophenia, it soon became an insult to be dubbed a mod, scooter boys were in effect anti-mod in appearance… yet underneath shared a similarly wide taste in music. Personally, I went from a young skinhead/suedehead and later bootboy eras into soul, with a brief dip into early punk, both northern soul going to Wigan Casino events as well as funk/jazz funk Rio Didcot, Lacy Lady and Goldmine down near Canvey Island among others. Then the mod revival reawakened my interest in scoots, having learned to ride Lammys aged 13/14. Mod, skin/suedehead and soulboys/soulies cross-pollinated with each other. I can remember scoots parked up outside Wigan Casino on many an occasion, for example. What caused you to put pen to paper with ‘The Richard Allen Legacy’ for Scootering? If memory serves, it was initially a broad overview of cult fiction, from Absolute Beginners onwards, that very tenuously included scooters. A loose follow-on to Steve Berry’s overview of scoots featured in big and small screen films. Other books included covered The Death Penalty – I can’t remember the author off the top.of my head – which was about a skinhead/bootboy football crew who after their team gets knocked out of a cup competition, track down the referee who awarded a penalty against them. Set in the early 70s, the referee is eventually chased while out training alone by the ‘heroes’ on their scooters, before being kicked to death. Caleb, a West Indian lad on the periphery of the crew, gets fitted up for the killing. The Richard Allen Legacy was kind of a natural progression from the initial cult fiction idea. There were a total of 18 books penned by James Moffat as Richard Allen… some better than others, of course. Demo, the first Richard Allen book about/subject of student/hippy protesters was the only book I didn’t get as a new publication. Skinhead, Suedehead, Boot Boys, Smoothies especially and the last Richard Allen book Mod Rule were part of the formative years of two separate generations of the magazine’s readers at that time. Outside of the novels, there was a fair amount of rucks between those subcultures There were a few, well more than a few, incidents, stand-offs and the like. That the male of the species has an inbuilt natural desire to defend their turf and invade/conquer others, without getting too sociological, goes back to prehistoric times. I can remember being at Tiffany’s Great Yarmouth when Desmond Dekker played live and the gig was halted by right-wing boneheads who had planned the disruption. Of course, it was near impossible to differentiate right-wing extremist boneheads and scooter skins there to see a skinhead reggae legend. The, err, boot was on the other foot so to speak, at Margate rally when Col. Kilgore Vietnamese Formation Surf Team played, right-wing boneheads attempted to disrupt that rally gig but ended up getting battered. Isle of Wight rally when several Oi bands played and ended up in a riot culminating in scooters being banned from the island also marked the end of overt infiltration of the scene by right-wing boneheads. Of course, in the early days of the national rallies locals took exception to their hometowns being invaded by hordes of scooter-riding outsiders, with occasional inevitable culture clashes resulting in scuffles and punch-ups. Riding back from a Bournemouth rally around 1980, a few of Oxford Roadrunners took an unplanned detour which resulted in some local yokel wannabe punks mob-handed in cars attempting to run the scoots and riders off the road. Needless to say, a return visit was paid! Early RSG nights run by Jon Buck in Berkhamsted invariably ended up with mass brawls in the streets with mods, scooterists and soulies against mobbed-up locals. Both incidents being far from unique, similar incidents were rife across the UK from the 60s through to the noughties and beyond. In general terms, rivalries such as mods and rockers, skinheads and grebos, punks and revival teddy boys, football team local derby matches, and the like have, to lesser or greater degrees, been part of teenage and beyond males’ makeup. To quote Madness, oh what fun we had! Subcultural rites of passage and a sense of belonging while looking down on and belittling those not a part of your inner circle was for many decades a quasi-tribal part of growing up, certainly in the UK. In recent times the advent of political correctness along with invariably mollycoddling of their young the British middle classes have created a generation of mummy’s snowflakes, the combination of which has all but eradicated the advent of new youth subcultures with tribal undercurrents sadly. Which has led to youngsters with a desire to be different and to rebel against society to discover for themselves subcultures that are decades old, though the influx of young blood does put a contemporary spin on what’s gone before. At least that’s the way I see it. By the time you wrote that piece Moffat/Allen was largely forgotten about? Apparently so. Certain Richard Allen titles were beginning to command £5 even £10 for near-mint first editions from collectors. But yes, in the main, even with Mod Rule being published at the tail-end of the 79 and early 80s revival, Richard Allen books, along with similar cult fiction novels had been forgotten by the mid to late 80s. Although I didn’t know at the time, James Moffat AKA Richard Allen was not in the best of health, in a care home. I tentatively attempted to get in touch with him (as did a few others with less luck) and I sent a copy of the magazine with The Richard Allen Legacy in it, along with a covering letter to him via New English Library. I believe it was forwarded on to his family, then they forwarded it on to him. He replied by post, he was surprised there was an interest in some of the books he’d written many years before, and pleased with the Richard Allen Legacy piece too. On the back of that he agreed to do an interview (by post), he politely declined meeting in person or speaking on the telephone. His official reasoning being that he didn’t want to shatter any illusions of how Richard Allen was perceived to be like. The stark reality was he really wasn’t in the best of health and couldn’t guarantee he’d actually be well enough to keep to any time or date schedule. Instead by communicating via letter he could respond as and when he was able. I was in communication via correspondence with him for some time until a few weeks before he passed away. He asked that I didn’t, at the time, reveal that James Moffat was Richard Allen. In fact, all correspondence I received he signed Richard or Richard Allen. Did the interview have any immediate impact, either by the readership or outside of it? The magazine had some complimentary comments when it came out. What also transpired as an aside to the interview was James Moffat had retained copyright on his Richard Allen novels. I put James and George Marshall at ST (Skinhead Times) Publishing in touch with each other, the result of which saw ST put out a series of six Richard Allen books, each with three linked titles. For volume one of the series of six James, as Richard Allen, wrote the foreword. Was nice for me to get a namecheck in that. Also, as an aside to the interview, George, just after doing the deal with James for reprinting and represent all 18 Richard Allen titles for several years after published a number of cult fiction books, via ST, alongside his own coffee table-type books on skinheads. A short while after the interview came out I had a few letters from longtime Richard Allen fans, one who generously sent me a copy of, I think, Marathon Man by James Moffat… it was the book he was challenged to write on live Saturday night magazine programme On The Braden Beat. It was in the run into an Olympics, so topically the Olympic Games were worked into the plot. The challenge was to write and (have it) published as a book in one week/seven days… James managed to complete the challenge with one day to spare! As far as I’m aware that Braden Beat appearance was the only time James or one of the very few times, appeared on television. He was quietly quite proud of that achievement, as he mentioned it several times to me. What about yourself after that era of Scootering? I’ve covered a vast number of feature scooters as well as the occasional rallies, events, scooter sport meetings and custom shows. Also interviewing bands, musicians, live shows, specialist music DJ-driven all-nighters and all-dayers, plus on occasion interviews with authors of books, and even films and plays. In 2014 I was commissioned to produce an entire supplement for Scootering, ’50 Years of Mod’, as 2014 was the golden jubilee of the then over-reported and sensationalised bank holiday mods and rockers clashes. Though I say so my self it was rather good as it revealed the realities of some of the ‘happenings’ of 1964 from people who were there at the time. Additionally, there was a short overview of subcultures that were, in effect, the bastard sons of the original mods, skinheads/suedeheads, northern soulies and casuals amongst them. As an aside, albeit linked to writing and photography for Scootering I’ve contributed as a researcher/interviewee to a number of books with specific bands, eras, and subcultures as subject matter. In recent times Scootering editorial policy moved away from the more lifestyle type of features for several years. However, over the past 18 months or so there has been a massive swing back to encompass, embrace and include a wide range of lifestyle, as in music, books, and clothes, subjects in Scootering magazine. source : CreaseLikeKnives

Established in 2011 The Great Skinhead Reunion Brighton was designed to bring Skinhead back home to where it was born in the 1960´s When the Mods and Rockers came to Brighton and hit the headlines, establishing their own youth culture. From those early Mods came the Skinheads, who embraced the new music coming in from Jamaica known as Ska. The Jamaican immigrants to the UK mixing with British working class kids with style and attitude, to form a new youth culture. The second wave of Skinhead began to build in the mid 70´s with the birth of Punk Rock in 76, this time musically the Skinheads adopting the Punk rock sound and aggro of the football terraces, Working class bands forming and putting out their own angry antisocial messages in music, frightening the media into a frenzy of misinformation, who promoted the image of hyper violent bootboys and girls on the loose. This was a time of major political unrest in the UK and extremist groups tried to recruit within working class culture, often targeting Skinheads and football supporters, in the hope of win one, win them all pack mentality. By 79 The skinheads were on the fightback and in London with bands like Madness and Badmanners, linked with British Midlands such as Coventry bands The Specials. The Selector and The Beat and created the 2tone label, which firmly mixed black and white youth together against this media onslaught. In 1981 came the next wave. Oi! music was unleashed by Sounds magazine, bringing back the angry streetpunk energy and protest into the Skinhead subculture, once again giving the media and movie makers something to chew on. Over the years the pendulum swung back and forth, but against all the odds Skinhead in its genuine form found its way across the world, connecting the Working class of Britain with mainland Europe, during the cold war even into communist Eastern block, then across to USA, South America, and in modern times, Indonesia to pretty much every westernised nation. At the Great Skinhead Reunion Brighton you will find the most genuine, real and very friendly welcoming event in Skinhead history. Real people who have lived the life, mixing with new faces just coming in. We actively search for new acts to showcase and tour. We reunite old bands and give them a stage to play, we encourage scene DJ´s from across the worldwide scene, to play and network. Together all of us taking the scene forward, learning from previous mistakes, without selling out our principals of a true Working class subculture. The reunion invites everyone to attend, be you a skinhead or just someone wanting to be part of the event, interested and wanting a great fun weekend. We also actively support charities every year. United We Stand! TICKETS FULL 3 DAYS EVENT, YOUR WRISTBAND IS VALID THROUGH OUT, YOU CAN USE IT FOR AS LITTLE, OR AS MUCH AS YOU WANT. THE EVENT WILL SELL OUT. WRISTBANDS GIVE YOU FULL ACCESS TO ALL THE EVENT, THREE FULL DAYS AND NIGHTS OF ENTERTAINMENT, 12 BANDS, 10 DJ’S PLUS A SPECIAL PRE PARTY BEACH BBQ ON THURSDAY PRE PARTY The line-up maybe subject to change, as so many band members and dj’s are involved, alcohol, world wars and famine can be unforeseen, but the Great Skinhead Reunion, is more about coming to Brighton to see all your friends and making some more, for 3 full days of mayhem. SKINHEAD ONLY HOTELS Add to your experience, by getting a room in our Skinhead only hotels. Conveniently located, with a short walk to the venue, and no moaning neighbours to worry about. The rooms vary in size and cost, to fit your needs. all within an easy walk to the skinhead reunion venue. We have hotels exclusive to the Great Skinhead Reunion guests and bands. Party party !! please email subcultz@gmail.com with your requirements, to be booked into the Skinhead Hotels. For those on a low budget, its worth checking Hostels and campsites, but my advice, is to get in the reserved hotels, for a nice stress free, clean and comfortable holiday in Brighton. TRAVEL INFORMATION Brighton is situated on the south coast of England, approximately one hour from London. London Gatwick is the nearest airport. There are regular direct trains and National Express buses. The next nearest is Heathrow, We Strongly advise NOT to fly to Stansted or Luton as this is a long way and expensive UK public transport, but if you have no choice then use National Express buses from those airports, which you need to book in advance to get cheaper rates, and you risk losing valuable drinking time The nearest ferry port serving mainland Europe is Newhaven -Dieppe . Newhaven is about 20 min drive to Brighton. Dover is about 2 hours to Brighton PARKING ZONES – one of the worst aspects of Brighton, is a lack of affordable parking. my advice is to use street parking on the suburbs of Brighton, its a reasonably safe place. a good bus service will take you into brighton centre (churchill square) and a short walk from there to the sea front. worth allowing the extra hours work, to save yourself serious parking charges. Wilson Avenue is about the nearest free street parking to the venue, jump on a local bus back into town. All Event Enquiries email Symond at subcultz@gmail.com. phone (uk) 07733096571 The Facebook community group Facebook group Facebook page Brighton can lay claim to being a big part of the birth of Skinheads. During the Mods and Rockers battles of the 1960’s when London lads would descend on the South Coast for bank holidays to Peacock and cause ‘Bovver’ the term Skinhead was born, to describe the short haired Mods. Becoming probably the biggest and longest standing of all the youth fashion subcultures, Skinhead has matured and now become a worldwide community. Distinctly recognized by almost military shaven head, boots and braces. The real skinhead is a working class product of the British council estate ‘salt of the earth character’ fiercely proud of his identity,with an obsession for clothing, style and music, equaled only with his love of beer. On the first weekend of every June, since 2011, Brighton has seen an ever increasing number of Skinheads and their lovely Skinhead Girls invade Brighton. Boots, Braces, pristine clothing and a cheeky smile. Attracting scene members from right across the globe, to Madeira Drive, overlooking the beach. A full three days of Skinhead related entertainment is laid on. DJ’s playing hyper rare vinyl, from the early days of Jamaican Ska, through to modern day Street Punk and Oi. Live bands hit the stage of the Volks bar each night. With various aftershows happening until the early hours, to keep the party buzzing. Buy Your Ticket Here is previous Great Skinhead Reunion back on 2014 : MORE INFORMATION CHECK OUT SUBCULTZ.COM

The skinhead band from Malaysia, A.C.A.B, which has been synonymous with skinhead culture and oi! music since its formation in 1994, will be ending their musical journey after 30 years with the "30th A.C.A.B Final Concert" at Zepp Kuala Lumpur on December 21. With the theme "Bring Back The Bootboys," symbolizing their style at the peak of their career, the concert will also feature the original members of the band and a special performance by the European band, Haymaker. Lead vocalist and guitarist Megat Hafiz said that he and the other band members wanted to celebrate their 30 years of musical journey through this concert. It is said that after the 30th A.C.A.B Final Concert ends, each member will go their separate ways. "I am proud of what A.C.A.B has achieved over the past 30 years, so we want to celebrate it with a final concert at Zepp Kuala Lumpur. What better way to end it than with those who shaped us into who we are today? "Some have asked why we are disbanding. The answer is that A.C.A.B has accomplished its goal in the local music scene by uniting listeners from diverse backgrounds." "Thank you all for your support since the beginning. I hope to see everyone as we celebrate A.C.A.B for the last time," he said during the press conference for the 30th A.C.A.B Final Concert at Timeless Studio, Mutiara Damansara, here today. To ease the longing of their loyal fans, Megat will be joined by both former and current members of A.C.A.B, including Edy (guitar), Zul (drums), Sham (bass), Azrin (drums), Irfan (drums), Mono (bass), and a special appearance by Andy from Flop Poppy as a bassist. A.C.A.B promises a "setlist" comprising 37 songs from various albums such as Eastern Oi!, Skinhead 4 Life, Orang Timur, Bangun, and This Is The A.C.A.B, which have been released since 2006. Their iconic hits like Unite & Fight, We Are The Skins, Streets Of Uptown, Anti-Racist, and Demonstration '95 Revisited (a 2020 mini-album) will also be performed. A.C.A.B, formed in late 1994, is recognized as one of Malaysia’s earliest skinhead and Oi! bands. The band carved out their unique brand, style, and genre known as Eastern Oi!, with their track Skinhead 4 Life gaining global recognition, even being covered by bands from various countries, including Europe and Latin America. After three decades of shaping Malaysia's music scene, legendary Oi! and skinhead band A.C.A.B is set to bid farewell with a special final concert. This emotional event marks the end of an era for the group, which has united fans across diverse backgrounds and established a distinctive musical identity known as Eastern Oi!. The concert, dubbed the 30th A.C.A.B Final Concert, will feature both current and past members of the band, performing a memorable 37-song setlist, including fan favorites like Unite & Fight, We Are The Skins, and Skinhead 4 Life. A.C.A.B's influence has reached beyond Malaysia, with their music resonating globally and inspiring bands in Europe and Latin America. The farewell show promises to be a fitting tribute to the band’s remarkable legacy, bringing together fans and musicians to celebrate the journey of A.C.A.B one last time.

This is what working class youth in revolt looks like If you hear “skinhead” as a synonym for neo-Nazi, think again. This British-born subculture has a long and varied history dating back to the 1960s when working class mods split from their more bourgeois counterparts. Distinguished by practical clothing—work boots, suspenders—and the close-cropped haircuts of industrial laborers, skinheads became a subculture unto their own, overlapping with the nascent punk rockers, Jamaican rude boys, ska and reggae dancehallers alike. By the late 70s, a second wave of skinheads had emerged, in part a humble reaction to the commercialization of punk. From there a mixture of influences—including football hooliganism and right wing politics—contributed to any number of variations on the style, a small minority of which were predicated on racial identity. By the time Gavin Watson started making photographs of his friends and neighbors in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, the first wave of 1960s skinhead culture had come and gone. Watson’s heyday was the 1980s—a decade marked by Thatcher’s dour austerity and the artistic movements which developed in response. Punk and New Wave were happening, and skinhead subculture was part of a cross-mingling within this working class underground milieu. © Gavin Watson/Youth Club Archive Watson’s work is notable for a few reasons, not least the tenderness he lends to a group long vilified in the media. His pictures feel real because they bring us inside a circle of friends the same way we might experience life: variances of closeness and distance, a metered consistency of looking, tinges of sentiment belied by pragmatism. In short, the end of youth. A self-acknowledged teenage “div” (“geek” in American terms) when he made these pictures, Watson’s assurance is that what we are seeing is real. His frame unhurried, he’s comfortable in addressing identity as something too complicated for titles—a string of quiet moments punctuated by stillness. Like someone who believes things will stay the same forever. And though we know that can’t ever be the case, making pictures is a great way to put the awkwardness off for just a bit longer. Portrait of the photographer as a young skin. © Gavin Watson/Youth Club Archive all photos by © Gavin Watson/Youth Club Archive Gavin Watson’s SKINS was published in 2007. His photographs appear courtesy of the artist and London’s Youth Club Archive.

Pauline Black received an Honorary Doctorate from the University Of Warwick this morning. She is now an Honorary Doctor of Letters (D.Litt) She would like to thank Helen Wheatley for her lovely presentation address & Chancellor, Baroness Catherine Ashton. Also, a shout out to Coventry music historian Pete Chambers for telling Helen that “Pauline is a woman of many hats”;-)

Award-winning writer Steven Knight is to create a new BBC drama series set in the era of ska and 2 Tone music. Two Tone will tell the story of an extended family and four young people drawn into the scene which grew out of Coventry and Birmingham in the late 70s and early 80s. Unifying black, white and Asian youths at that time, Knight said the series' soundtrack would be "sensational". It will start filming later this year at Knight's new Birmingham studios. The sixth and final series of his hugely successful BBC drama Peaky Blinders, also based in the city, concluded earlier this month. This new six-part series on BBC One will be set in the West Midlands at a time of "real cultural and historical progression", Karen Wilson, from producers Kudos said. The music scene - which fused traditional Jamaican ska music with punk - produced bands including The Specials, The Selecter, The Beat and Madness, who went on to cement their place in popular culture. "This is a project that's literally very close to home and I'm developing characters and themes that are set in the early 80s but hopefully are very contemporary," the Academy Award-nominee and Bafta-winning writer said. Ben Irving, acting director of BBC Drama said: "Steven has taken his knowledge of this time and place and used it to weave a brilliantly original and characterful drama, set against the musical backdrop of ska and 2 Tone. "We are thrilled to be able to bring this unique piece to viewers on the BBC." Source: BBC

Growing up on a council estate in High Wycombe in the late 1970s, skinhead culture just spoke to me. It was all about camaraderie, fashion and music. We were listening to 2 Tone bands such as the Specials and aping what Madness wore on their album covers. Back then I was heavy-handed, angry and rough around the edges, and there was a definite suppression of anger in the lyrics of the bands we were listening to. I liked the attention that being a skinhead got me, too. School was a nightmare for me. I loved art but couldn’t transfer what was in my head to the page, which caused me massive frustration. But in 1979, aged 14, I went to Woolies to buy a pair of binoculars and got a camera instead – a little 110 Hanimex. Getting my first set of prints developed was a life-changing moment. I remember the voice in my head: “I’m going to be a photographer.” That was it. I never wavered. I would get my mates to nick camera film from Boots for me because I was too scared. The only downside was that anywhere I went, I’d get: “Oh, look who it is, David Bailey.” A year after getting the camera, I started photographing skinheads. There are no strangers in my photos: they’re my schoolmates, my girlfriends, my mum and dad and my younger brother Neville, who was a skinhead too and extremely stylish, refined and sophisticated. I managed to make the people I loved – normal people – into stars. Skinny Jim was one of those 15-year-old kids who think they are the hardest because they haven’t been punched on the nose yet. That expression is Skinny Jim all over. My God, what a face. London was scary back then. We had to keep our heads down. There were gangs roaming. You couldn’t go anywhere without getting your head kicked in. But I was never intimidated. I was six foot tall and I remember using my Hanimex as a weapon when some bloke tried to get funny with me in Trafalgar Square. He got it over the head. That picture is perfect. I’m not blowing my own trumpet, but I stare at it myself and it’s up there with anything that any of the big boys have done. I’ve seen so many variations of my skinhead photos over the last 30 years, but everything is so contrived and they all use models. I was in a tiny little gang on a tiny little council estate, in a tiny little town that no one had ever heard of at the time, taking pictures I thought no one would ever see just because I enjoyed doing it. So there’s an honesty to it, and that’s where the power lies. There is no narrative attached. What blows my mind is that I was only 15 years old when I took that photo, on a moving tube train. It’s the level of confidence. Something very strange was going on, that I came out as such a confident photographer when I was so insecure at the same time. If you talk to most people about skinheads, they think it’s about the right-wing and Nazis. The demonisation was continuous. But the skinhead movement, when it started, came out of the philosophy of black and white kids uniting and dancing to 60s ska music from Jamaica. That’s where my photographs come in. Because when I do exhibitions, people usually come in tight-lipped, expecting to see fat, balding 30-year-olds with bulldogs. But if you’re at a gig dancing to ska music – that’s a skinhead. Simple as that. I don’t know what happened to Skinny Jim. No one bloody knows. I heard he went off and invented stuff. I heard that somebody bumped into him the other day on Facebook and they said he was a lovely bloke, involved in charity. Somebody else said he was dead. So I don’t know. I would never have remembered him at all if I hadn’t taken that photograph. Gavin Watson’s CV Born: Kingsbury, London, 1965 Training: “Absolutely zilch. I didn’t need it.” Influences: “None.” High point: “My Vice exhibition in Milan.” Low point: “Too many to count.” Top tip: “Don’t expect instant fame unless you photograph stars – and that’s boring as ****.” Gavin Watson’s photobooks, Time Has Creative Power and Oh! What Fun We Had, are available now through the Museum of Youth Culture. Source: The Guardian