Mod to Suedehead

[Bela Kun]

Micky saw those jackets, not Cass. He is a few years older. In the late 60s, Micky was a young Mile End Mob skinhead wearing the full kit, fighting on the terraces, etc.

 

[Gsvs5]

Funny you mentioned the Mile End mob (wasn't it so that Leather usaaf flight jackets could only be bought in Brixton around '68?), Bunty, they got mentioned recently in the article about the South London Mods and on the same site but an older article (that was more focused on the gang side of Mods) also mentioned a few other mod crews including Somers Town, also got mentioned here, interesting to see them still going strong into the skinhead era.

Anyone knows if the other mod crews mentioned where still around back then? The Highbury mob, The Mars (Blackstock Road), Elephant and Castle and The Archway mob on which the author himself was part off?

Hello mate, the story goes that in 67 or 68 some lads from Waltham Cross knew lads from East London and invited them down to a club in Cheshunt What happened next went down in local mod history.These geezers (The Mile End Crew/Mob) came in, dressed identically in THOSE jackets (which they never took off all night !) levis with a small turn up , and very short parted hair with sidies. They all danced the same in a different style (in a line) that nobody was doing yet and of course the girls descended on them....Local boys were not at all impressed but were in awe.
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[Man-of-Mystery]

@Bela Kun Ah, got it.

@Gsvs5 I knew I remembered hearing about that! And if we're talking Mile End, that dovetails with Bela's point.

 

[Thin White Duke]

Good question, and one that I've puzzled over. That's why I said 'mis-transcription' - could this have been something wrongly quoted by whoever compiled the book. Could it have meant an MA-1 and the editor has interpolated 'leather'?

We were often subject to misquotation, or simply being misheard. I'll just mention the words "spy kids."

The way he says leather jacket maybe he meant the sheepskin/shearling B3 types. They would have been hard to get hold of but maybe showed up on rare occasion. Could have been an early indicator of skins wearing sheepskins which did become popular, or maybe one or two lads got lucky with a find in the surplus store and tried them out to be different? Just speculating here of course.

 

[Man-of-Mystery]

Unlikely. B3s were rocker gear in the UK.

 

[Paul B]

Would expect raglan sleeves for a jacket of that price.

Agreed but conscious decision not to use that design from what I remember from the Facebook page feedback.

 

[DonkeyJacket1]

Agreed but conscious decision not to use that design from what I remember from the Facebook page feedback.

Purposefully make the the jacket look cheap.

 

[flyfronted]

The book was officially authored by "Cass Pennant & Micky Smith". It's written in the first person from Micky Smith's POV, although it seems that Cass was heavily involved in researching and co-writing it. Cass is a famous West Ham/ICF hooligan who spent much of his life around skinheads, of course, but I'm not sure how familiar he is with the dress codes of the 'originals' (he was 11 in 1969). There are no hints at any other ghostwriters ("with the help of..." or suchlike), so I'm guessing it's just those two in close collaboration.

It's an entry in the 'hoolie lit' genre, and 99.9% of it focuses on battles between different football firms. The bit that I quoted is the only one where he can't help himself and starts talking about clothes.

2 rules when reading football hooligan books 1. they only write about the victories 2. west ham ones are utter fantasy

 

[DonkeyJacket1]

 

[DonkeyJacket1]

 

[DonkeyJacket1]

Some more with descriptions
https://www.mirrorpix.com/?77747130448317740800

 

[Bela Kun]

The first two are early examples of photoshop, Adobe 1979 edition...

 

[DonkeyJacket1]

Thats acually 1970 looking at the description but it could look like it was later on.

Pic 6 proves skinheads love their mum.

 

[Bela Kun]

Thats acually 1970 looking at the description but it could look like it was later on.

Not impossible, but hard to believe. She looks photoshopped in esp in the first pic.

 

[DonkeyJacket1]

Looks like the lighting more than anything.