DENIM DISCO is a blog dedicated to the pop music and culture of the 1970's.
~ Glam Pop and Discotheque Rock ~
The Sound Of The 70's ~ Contact:denimdisco@hotmail.co.uk
''Black You Know Is Beautiful,
Do You Go Along With That?
Coz When I Start To Do My Thing,
I Turn Into A Bat''
THE MAJESTICS were a UK based SOUL VOCAL GROUP, formed by the US stage actor CLARKE PETERS. They released a number of 45's for a variety of labels during the mid 70's, but failed to make any commercial impact. VAMPIRA was the title music for a 1974 UK COMEDY HORROR MOVIE that starred DAVID NIVEN and TERESA GRAVES. It came out on the B-Side of ''LITTLE BLACK PEARL'' a number which more closely reflected the rest of the groups recorded output
The US made BLACULA had been a box office success a couple of years earlier, so presumably a black American female vampire seemed like a winning idea at the time. The title theme was a funky tune in the 'BLAXPLOITATION' style of the day with humorous lyrics to match the camp action of the movie. The composer ANTHONY NEWLEY isn't a name associated with this musical style, but he did compose the lyrics to GOLDFINGER {with partner LESLIE BRICUSSE} and many of his numbers contain an element of humor. That sense of playfulness finds it's way into the songs lyrics {particularly in the RAP sections of the number}
''Back In Transylvania,
They Found A Drink That's New,
If Someone Wants To Drink Your Health,
They Drink It Out Of You!''
Clarke Peters went onto have a long and varied career on stage and screen, appearing as David Essex companion in the movie SILVER DREAM RACER and in numerous WEST END THEATRICAL PRODUCTIONS. He wrote the hugely successful stage musical Five Guys Named Moe, but is probably best known for playing the role of Detective Lester Freamon in TV crime drama The Wire
'Fuck Joe Hawkins! He's not a Smooth - I am!' He touched his Fair Isle sweater with it's multi-coloured wool hugging his athletic frame. He fondled his satin jacket. Symbols maybe. But insignia too. ''We've been arsin' around on his ''Magpie'' kick like we were a fan club for some stupid movie star. We're not! We're us - Smoothies and Sorts. We're not Brass and we're not suedes anymore!''
The above quote comes from the 1973 PULP PAPERBACK ''SMOOTHIES'' by RICHARD ALLEN. It was the most recent installment in a series of books that chronicled the exploits of YOUNG WORKING CLASS MEN in the UK. ''SKINHEAD'' started the ball rolling in 1970, followed by ''SUEDEHEAD'' and ''BOOT BOYS'' in 1971. By 1973 the 'POST MOD' configuration of STREET FASHION had evolved into a recognisable 70's style that more closely mirrored the mainstream as it took on influences from 'CELEBRITY ROLE MODELS', the prevailing COUNTER CULTURE and recent developments in TAILORING from SAVILLE ROW and MAINLAND EUROPE. The term SMOOTHIE was evoked to describe this 'SOFTER' look.
In London a man called JOHN SIMONS ran a series of menswear shops {THE IVEY, THE SQUIRE, VILLAGE GATE}.These sold the 'IVY LEAGUE' clothing that had been adopted by young working class men and adapted by them {with the influence of AFRICAN AMERICAN and JAMAICAN street styles} to create the look of the aforementioned SKINHEAD/SUEDEHEAD. He noticed how things were changing and the clothes he sold began to move away from the CONSERVATIVE U.S Look
''The flared look started to come in about 1971, as the lapels and trouser widths got wider, shirt collars became deeper and ties were fatter. The jacket had the pinched waist, there was a tight waistcoat and the trousers were much tighter around the arse'' {1*}
THE FASHION OF FOOTBALL
The PEACOCK REVOLUTION that had occurred in men's tailoring had failed to travel down to the 'YOUTHS ON THE TERRACES', but FLARE FOOTBALLERS like ALAN HUDSON of CHELSEA FC were now splashing their cash in fashionable boutiques on THE KINGS ROAD and SAVILLE ROW TAILORS like TOMMY NUTTERS. Others like GEORGE BEST and MALCOLM MACDONALD opened their own boutiques and the fans began to take notice:
''The rigid brutal skinhead look was becoming an anachronism. The football supporters hair was getting longer, and jeans and trousers were getting wider and wider. Suddenly, the hardest footie fans were wearing what amounted to palazzo pants with turn- ups. These were known as 22-inch parallels and were available in denim and gabardine''.
Reading FC supporter SIMON DOONAN {2*}
Tailor TOMMY NUTTER wearing a trademark TWEED SUIT with concave shoulders, wide lapels, pinched waist and flared trousers
CHELSEA Football Star ALAN HUDSON sporting a WIDE COLLARED SHIRT and showing off his collection of KIPPER TIES
MALCOLM MACDONALD of NEWCASTLE UNITED modelling a floral shirt with large rounded collar and high-waisted trousers from his own boutique
WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS supporter {and future DEXYS MIDNIGHT RUNNERS frontman} KEVIN ROWLAND also witnessed the changes:
''Hair was growing and the shirts were first to go. People started wearing wide collars and then penny rounds. Before long, the fancy shirts looked wrong with the parallel trousers, so the trousers had to go and into flares we went. Then came the high heeled boots, polo necks, and Budgie jackets. This was 1971, the year of transition. The 'hairies had been wearing this kind of stuff for years, but now we were. By 1972 I had sort of long hair and a great big coat and big wide trousers and big shoes. If I wasn't wearing toppers then, it was big boots with what looked like a wooden heel. Feather cut hair, all massive blow dried. I had a great pink tweed trench coat that was massive. Great big lapels out here, but flared right out, great big pockets. It might have been from Take Six. It was the start of that 70's look, which was quite similar to the 40's look. The wide lapels and the wide high-waisted trousers'' {3*}
Arsenal Footballer PETER MARINELLO in 1972 with FEATHER CUT hair, PATTERNED 'SCOOPED NECK' TANK TOP and HIGH NECKED WIDE COLLARED shirt
COME IN BUDGIE!
Former teen pop idol turned actor ADAM FAITH also did much to disseminate high fashion peacock clothing to less well healed youths when he landed the lead role in a TV show 'BUDGIE' playing a small time crook/wide boy with a taste for 'QUALITY SCHMUTTER'. The program {which was broadcast during 1971/2} had great impact and kids were keen to emulate him on every level
ADAM FAITH {TV's BUDGIE} with BLOW DRIED HAIR and PATTERNED ROUND COLLARD SHIRT
The most notable item of clothing associated with the character was a short ZIP-UP CANVAS JACKET with large 'RABBIT EAR' lapels, two vertical zip-up pockets and contrasting striped horizontal panels on the front body. The jacket was designed by ANTHONY PRICE and produced by STIRLING COOPER. It was first worn midway into the first series {in May of 1971}
ADAM FAITH in STIRLING COOPER 'BUDGIE' JACKET
ANTHONY PRICE modeling the jacket he Designed in a dark shade for an Italian Vogue fashion shoot
In later episodes Faith wore a similar jacket in suede with contrasting panels on the upper body and around the zipped pockets. These could be brought in the 'UNDERGROUND' retail outlet KENSINGTON MARKET and soon after variations became available in street markets and high street retailers up and down the country. Another notable clothes related event took place in an April 1972 episode when Budgie emerges from a branch of TAKE SIX wearing a BLUE SATIN SUIT JACKET {two buttons, large lapels} and dumps his previously cherished ZIP-UP PATENT BOOTS in a bin. Training shoes are now his footwear of choice, but these would be superseded by GREEN CLOGS and the viewers were taking note and throwing down their cash for similar items
An example of a 'classic' SUEDE 'BUDGIE' JACKET
SUPER FLY GUY'S
SHAFT starring RICHARD ROUNDTREE kicked off a new wave of BLAXPLOITATION movies in 1971. These had an enormous influence on the hair and clothing choices of BLACK BRITISH YOUTH:
''I was sixteen when SHAFT came out and that was one of the most exciting things in my life up until then. What happened was that Shaft and all the other films gave us a manifestation of blackness that didn't come from Jamaica. Suddenly we had a whole new look. Overnight, we went from tonic suits and razor cut hair to AFROS,FLARES and TANK TOPS''
Music Journalists LLOYD BRADLEY {4*}
The Official Trailer for SUPER FLY {1972} starring RON O'NEIL
In Jamaica those fabulous new styles from the US GHETTO were also having an influence and the 60's RUDE BOY gave way to the flamboyant 70's STICKSMAN. This was seen on UK Movie screens in 1973 via THE HARDER THEY COME starring JIMMY CLIFF. Many that saw it were further influenced and empowered from the involvement of RASTA LOCKSMEN
''I started to go to a club called The Co Op. There were a load of lads from Wembley and that's where I first noticed the fashion. It was things like the CAP SLEEVED T-SHIRTS, HIGH-WAISTED TROUSERS with SIX BUTTONS, PATCH POCKETS and BIG FLARES. I got into that and the DUCK-TOED and the STACK HEELED SHOES. It was more of a RUDE BOY thing, what the REGGAE GUYS were wearing''
DJ ASHLEY BEEDLE {5*}
JIMMY CLIFF as the super fly bandit Ivan in THE HARDER THEY COME
THE COUNT SHELLY REGGAE SOUND SYSTEM - DALSTON LONDON - 1973
Residents of The BLACK HOUSE commune in ISLINGTON LONDON circa 1973
GATSBY AND THE 30's REVIVAL
Hollywood actor ROBERT REDFORD stared in THE STING {1973} and THE GREAT GATSBY {1974}. Both movies advanced the cause of the revival of 30's modes of dress and the already popular round bodied peaked Baker Boy caps were renamed as the 'GATSBY CAP'
''My school trousers were made to measure. They had to cover my shoes. They were 32inches wide. They
weren't flares, they were OXFORD BAGS, they were straight. It was 1930's really. It was GATSBY. We didn't
realise it at the time, but the whole style we wore was 1930's''
menswear designer BARRIE K. SHARPE {6*}
ROBERT REDFORD in THE STING
ROBERT REDFORD in THE GREAT GATSBY
THE GLAM AND THE GLITTER
The FOOT STOMPING sounds of The GLITTER ROCK bands that came through in 1971/2 were generally to the liking of 'THE YOUNG DUDES', but the full 'get up' that went with it was 'A TOUCH TOO MUCH' for most to emulate. Some became dedicated BOWIE BOYS, but for the most part it was the girls who adopted LUREX, LAME and the glam make-up schemes:
''Smooths wore their hair in long scalloped, shoulder length phalanges - Rod Stewart meets Mick Ronson - which echoed the long floppy rounded collars of their shirts. As a committed glam rock devotee, I thoroughly approved of this theatrical development. Though very clearly a diluted high-street version of the original Roxy Music/Bowie GLAM ROCK style, smooth seemed like a progressive, positive direction for the hard, hostile, poofter bashing world of footie. I saw a dim distant light at the end of the tunnel''
SIMON DOONAN {7*}
''Although some of us kept our hair at suedehead length or a little longer, many of the lads aped David Bowie's Aladdin Sane look, with long hair cut shaggy down the back and spikey on top''
Hull City Fan SHAUN TORDOFF {8*}
Singer ROD STEWART with 'FEATHERED' HAIR, ROUND COLLARED SHIRT, NORDIC YOKE CARDIGAN and BRIGHTLY COLOURED JACKET with WIDE LAPELS Circa 1971
SMOOTH BOY wearing a HORIZONTAL RAINBOW STRIPED TANK TOP and PURPLE BEAGLE COLLAR SHIRT dances behind BOWIE and BRONSON while they perform STARMAN on TV's TOP OF THE POPS in JULY 1972
BOY WITH A 'ROD' HAIRCUT - CIRCA 1972
A clip from TUNDE'S FILM - an independently made drama shot in EAST LONDON in 1973 - The armature actors are wearing their own clothes
Knitwear: Woolen Scoop / V Necked Tank Tops {Short Bodied Ribbed Waist Optional} in Wool / Acrylic .
Horizontal Rainbow Stripes, 3 Stars, Fair Isle, Argyle Diamond Knit - Cable Knit Crew Necks - Fair Isle Yoke Crew Necks - Multi Paneled Crew Necks in Football Colours - Long Sleeved Zip-Up Cardigans with collar and logo on Breast Pocket in Football Colours - Polo Necks -
Three Button Casual Polo Shirts
-
Scoop Neck,Tight Sleeved Sweatshirts
Suit Jackets: High Padded Concave Shoulders, Long Center / Side Vents, Two Button, Wide Lapel, Nipped in Waist - Gabardine, Prince Of Wales Check, Tweed, Herringbone, Pinstripe, Tonic, Velvet
Casual Jackets: Tight, Short Bodied, Zip Fastening, Rounded Collars - Wool lined 'Lumber' Style in Suede , Denim or Check - 'Budgie' Jackets in Suede or Cotton with Contrasting Rounded Tulip Collars and Pocket Panels - Leather Patch Pocket Safari Jackets - Levis Denim Jean Jackets - Bomber Jackets in Leather, Nylon Satin or lightweight Vinyl
Coats: Long Double-Breasted Ulster Overcoats. Wide Lapeled and Half Belted in Harris Tweed.
Double-Breasted Leather 'Shaft' Trench coats in Brown and Black Leather, Suede or Blue Fur Lined Denim
- Single and Double Breasted Sheepskin Coats - Snorkel Parkas
Trousers - High Waistband with 2 Button Fastening - Wide Legged Parallels - Bell Bottom Flares - Oxford Bags - Checked 'Ruperts', Corduroy, Needlecord - Denim Jeans
RICHARD ALLEN PAPERBACK COVERS
BOOT BOYS from 1972 and SORTS from 1973
THE END OF AN ERA
By the middle of the decade the look was less clearly defined. DENIM and KHARKI GREEN ARMY SURPLUS clothes became common and the overall shape was looser and less tailored in appearance. An approximation of Smoothie clothes could be commonly found on the high street and had become standard dress for the everyman and woman. Some had retained elements of The SKINHEAD look and identified as BOOT BOYS. CROMBIE COATS and DOCTOR MARTIN BOOTS were worn with WIDE LEGGED JEANS {at 'half mast'} along with smooth shirts and knitwear. The main protagonists were of the 'footy fan' persuasion and the resulting image was more SUPER YOB than SUPER FLY
NEL PULP COVER FROM 1976
BOOT BOY PULP COVERS - 1974
AND ON TO THE SOUL BOYS AND CASUALS
Away from the terraces, a more cutting edge street style emerged from the PRE-DISCO club scene. The look was primarily based on 1950's U.S CASUAL WEAR and was initially seen in clubs based in the South East of the UK. Short haired punters tore up the dance floors to a steady diet of underground SOUL and FUNK imports in a functional uniform of flat WINKLEPICKER SHOES, PLASTIC BASKET WEAVE SANDALS, PEGGED TROUSERS, HAWAIIAN SHIRTS, BASEBALL JERSEYS and DENIM DUNGAREES
LONDON SOUL BOYS - 1976
As the decade drew to a close a smart but utilitarian look was in evidence. The BOOT BOYS kept their boots but cut their hair, adopting STRAIGHT LEG JEANS and the GREEN MA1 FLIGHT BOMBER JACKET. Football Supporters in LIVERPOOL and MANCHESTER adapted and finessed the look, adding 'DESIGNER' TRACK SUIT TOPS,GOLF JUMPERS and TRAINERS. The look of the CASUAL would define street fashion from that point until well into the 80's
LIVERPOOL CASUALS - CIRCA 1978
* Quotes from:
{1} The Look - Adventures In Pop and Rock by Paul Gorman
{2} Saturday Night Fever Pitch by Simon Doonon
{3} The Look - Adventures In Pop and Rock by Paul Gorman/The Fashion Of Football by Paolo Hewitt and Mark Baxter
{4} The Soul Stylists by Paolo Hewitt
{5} The Soul Stylists by Paolo Hewitt
{6} The Allcity TaxiTalk Show Youtube Channel
{7} Saturday Night Fever Pitch by Simon Doonon
{8} City Psychos by Shaun Tordoff
