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In 1969, skinhead culture emerged on the streets of London’s East End slums and within the newly constructed brutalist housing estates. Alienated from the bourgeois hippie scene that flourished during the ‘swinging ‘60s’, a new generation of working-class youth came of age searching for their roots. 

BROWN ATTACK - Kenang Kembali

But the scenes in West Bromwich were all for the new BBC drama This Town by Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight OBE.

It focuses on an extended family of four young people as they are drawn into the exploding Two Tone and ska music scene of the 1970s and 1980s. As filming continued yesterday, people flocked to the Coach and Horses pub on Kesteven Road, to take part after an appeal for skinheads was put out by filmmakers.


West Bromwich resident Alex Angell, who is a supporting actor playing a skinhead, said: “It’s been a lot of fun filming the scenes.

“It’s amazing really being so close to home too, I only live around the corner. The portrayal of the skinheads in this series is great, the majority of us are in the culture already so we are wearing clothes that we bought from home.”

The actors, who are mostly local to the area, donned authentic period clothing to portray the music based sub-cultures of the era, including some vintage articles from their own wardrobe.

Skinheads: Variations Within the Subculture

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.

 

International Reggae Day is observed on July 1st, 2022! The music genre finds its roots etched in Jamaica and is an integral part of the country’s culture. Reggae is a mix of rhythm and blues, calypso, African, and Latin American music.

Here are five ways you can celebrate this special day:

1. Listen to some of your favorite reggae songs and tunes on the radio, online, or in your car.
2. Watch some inspiring reggae films and documentaries.
3. Learn about the history and importance of reggae music by reading articles or watching videos about it.
4. Get involved with a local Reggae festival or event!
5. Celebrate with some friends and family members who share your love for reggae music!

And it is this year being celebrated under the theme ‘60 years of ska music’.

Here are 15 songs the organisers want you to add to your playlist!

1. My Boy Lollipop — Millie Small

2. Eastern Standard Time — Don Drummond

3. Guns of Navarone — The Skatalites

4. Forward March — Derrick Morgan

5. I’ll Never Grow Old — The Maytals

6. Ska War — The Maytals

7. Easy Snapping — Theophilus Beckford

8. Isrealites — Desmond Dekker

9. Simmer Down — The Wailers

10. Al Capone — Prince Buster

11. Boogie in My Bones — Laurel Aiken

12. World’s Fair — Skatalites, Ken Boothe, Stranger Cole

13. Jamaican Ska — Byron Lee & the Dragonnaires

14. One Eyed Jack — Jimmy Cliff

15. Carry Go Bring Come — Justin Hinds

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

 

Music/Lyrics by Union Blood Recorded at Mare Estudios (A Coruña) and Mixed in Taloowa Corporation (Nyc) Video directed by Juan Antonio Garcia Varela Video single debut from streetpunk/OI! band UNION BLOOD WORKING CLASS PRIDE EP 7" COMING SOON ON: Crowd Control Media (US) Spirit of the Streets (DE) Crom Records (ES/FR)

tell me what your favorite bands?

for me :

A.C.A.B

The Official

SpiderWar

Brown Attack

Roots N' Boots

Gerhana Ska Cinta

The Skinflicks

 

 

 

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.

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. 

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SkinheadGirl Warrior

Skingirl Knuckle

The Official - New Age

When I hear.... the sound of concrete and steel
I sense a rhythm, that science can't feel
I feel the beat.... of our hearts as one
I hold your color, when my vision is gone

This power is something but the force is blind
Transmitted through a network, of your own kind
As minutes tick away.... and days become years
I know this old feeling, it's a substance in my tears

And the kids on the street
And the kids everywhere
And all I gotta say is the kids don't care

When I hear...
I sense a rhythm...
I feel the beat...
I hold your color...

When you've got me running and you stop my machine
You try to tell me something, that has never been
When you stop me running, with my own pack
You know you've got me swearing that I'll get my own back

You lads ready to own that real madrid  in UEFA champion leagues? calling all the headhunters to cheer for our glorious club on this Thursday 7 April

sing it boys!

 

The Belgian midfielder was expected to be reunited with his former club in the Champions League next term but now looks set to miss out

Real Madrid have confirmed that Eden Hazard is set to undergo surgery and could therefore be a doubt for next month’s Champions League clash with Chelsea. The reigning European champions welcome Los Blancos to Stamford Bridge on April 6 for the first leg of their quarter-final meeting.

Hazard was expected to be part of the travelling contingent for the game but could potentially be set to be restricted to the sidelines, with the Spanish giants confirming that he is set to go under the knife.

The news come amid growing rumours that Hazard could potentially have been set for a move back to Stamford Bridge. Reports have suggested that a return had already been explored before the sanctions imposed on owner Roman Abramovich by the UK government following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Whether Chelsea choose to reignite their interest in the Blues icon once a new owner takes control of the club remains to be seen. Hazard still has just over two years left to run on his current contract in Spain having endured a frustrating time with Real Madrid since his big-money move from west London.

 

He has managed to score just six goals in the three seasons since, with a combination of inconsistent form and injury problems limiting his contributions. Hazard of course appeared against his former club last term in the Champions League, with Chelsea securing an aggregate victory over Real Madrid as they booked their place in the final against Manchester City.

With fans allowed back into stadiums this term though, there was hope that some supporters would be able to see the Belgian in action once more but the likelihood of that happening looks slim. Following the first-leg in west London, Chelsea are set to travel to Madrid just six days later where Thomas Tuchel will of course be hoping to lead his side to another victory over the Spanish side.

source : Football.London

Chloe