"Hello There, I like your style and efforts to explain SHARP etc.
I myself was a teenager during the SKA revival of 1979 which resulted in a huge revival of the 1960's/'70's Skinhead/Suedehead culture. After the initial buzz died down we were determined to get it right and looked deeply into the traditional skinhead culture of 1969. We preferred to be known as Suedeheads, (because the Bone-Head had already appeared, a mix of all the bad sides of the Punk/Skinhead scene) we hung around alot with Mods (who were also having a revival at that time)and also drove Lambretta scooters (Vespas were seen as being a bit too Mod for us). We would only cut our hair to a grade/blade 3 or 4 with a side-parting shaved into the side of the head. (some old boys would jokeingly call us tennisballs) For us it was style and immage, smart sta-prest trousers brogues/loafers/boots polished up like mirrors, three quarter length black or navy crombie coats with the all important ticket pocket. We scoured shops for genuine 1960's clothes. Long-collared button down shirts and genuine navy blue Levis 501's jackets and trousers cut and turned IN (not rolled up)and occasionally the badge of the working-class..... the half inch braces (suspenders). There was no racism. Fighting often occured between us and what we called casuals (people who dressed in current fashion) usually started by them, or long haired guys into heavy metal. We would support the Mods if they were being picked on (Mods n Rockers) but there were no race issues then because Ireland was relatively a 99 percent white country. The poster who tried to put Ireland in the "Brittish Box" made me laugh, but from the outside looking in i suppose we are inexerabily linked through history and blood..... like it or not, but managing to maintain our individual identity/language/customs even during the height of the so called Brittish Empire has made us unique throughout the world. To the critical poster again i would say you have a vague idea of what you are talking about, however telling someone to read a book is just childish, anyone can write a book, does'nt make it fact, and its worth remembering that history was more often written by conquorers and those who hung heros.We stayed true to our Suedehead identity until the late eighties. In England there was alot of trouble between Bone head Nazi types and Redskins, that was our first indication that politics was now gettin involved, England was in turmoil, there was a right-wing gouvernment in power and thousands of workers were loosing their jobs. The Brittish National Party (always looking for an opportunity) worked hard to recruit young clueless Skinheads and anger them up on nonsense about immigrants and white power. I remember being asked by a 16 year old skinhead in Dublin in 1988obviously impressed and a little nervous at seeing a 25 year old traditional looking Suedehead. This lad was handing out leaflets about SHARP and asked me wheather or not i would support it, He said "I'm a SHARP Skin", I said "I'm a SAP".... Skinheads Against Politics. He laughed, we shook hands and he said "Wow you look like something out of a documentary about the sixties"
Good luck to you and your mates "Keep on Keepin On" "Right On" Trojan forever, The Harder they come!"
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