Ska legend Prince Buster - replete in 'Pork Pie' hat
Punk Britannia
1970's Britain - a picture of industrial strikes, football hooliganism, disaffected youth, PVC, economic doom and gloom and in 1976, punk rock. For those of you who weren't there, this is what it was like...
Football hooliganism became the safety valve of disaffected British white youth
The rise of disaffected youth, in the form of the 'Skinhead' 'Bootboys' and the rival Punk rockers, was causing concern to the government of the day.
Punk rock, an angry movement adhered to by disaffected youth, facing no future, few jobs and whipped up by the late Malcolm McLaren who saw the potential of publicity, was taken very seriously by the security services who feared the unrest that may ensue from this type of point of view might spill out into the general populace - the 'Anarchy in the UK' espousal was angry and deeply worried those in charge of the nation.
Many of those in positions of influence had served in World War 2 and knew only too well the significance of the Swastika armbands that many Punks wore as part of their 'shock' appeal or not as the case was. They certainly got noticed and that was the point.
The publicity-savvy Malcolm McLaren 3rd from right with the Sex Pistols
signing a record deal outside Buckingham Palace
Worse was to come, for the 'Agent Provocative' Malcom McLaren who managed the punk super group the Sex Pistols, engineered a publicity coup that saw the group sign a record contract outside Buckingham Palace.
National Front graffiti was common place
The group unleashed their own take on the national anthem, with a nihilistic rant full of disaffected rhetoric entitled 'God save the Queen,' which it is alleged actually topped the pop charts in the week of the Queen's Silver Jubilee in 1977, although the record was banned by the BBC, which only served to ensure it sold in great numbers, yet another publicity coup for Mr McLaren!
National Front supporters in the 70's
Punk, with it's nihilistic 'anarchy in the UK' undercurrent, was opposed by the anti-immigrant white males (& sometimes female) often right wing -leaning 'Skinheads' some of whom were active in the then 'National Front party' - a legitimised interest group that wanted to repatriate non-white immigrants. Punk wasn't about racism, just shock.
Typical Skinhead 'Bootboys' - not all were racists
The National Front staged many marches and public assemblies to support their cause and National Front graffiti was often seen daubed on walls. The uniform of the Skinhead was a pair of Doc Marten boots, usually 17 hole, jeans, taken up to the top of the boots, a Harrington or US Air Force style MA1 jacket and Stayprest shirt, topped off with a 'buzzcut' hair do.
Not all the menacing looking 'Skins' were looking for trouble, or were rabid racists, they were often labelled 'trouble' but were more likely to help an old lady across the road rather than nick her handbag.
The 'Bootboys' looked menacing
The Rude Boys
For the people who were immigrants from the West Indies in Britain, they faced casual everyday racism, attacks from some of the 'Skins' and stop and search by the Police. This stop and search which the black people perceived as discriminatory and done just because of their skin colour contributed to the riots in 1981.
A pair of 'Rude Boys'
When the immigrants came to Britain largely from the West Indies in post war Britain, they also brought their music. And in the enclaves of North London, Harlesden for one and in the Midlands in Handsworth, Birmingham, Dudley and Coventry, areas where large numbers of black people lived, the 'Ska' music of Jamaica started to be heard.
Perceived persecution of black people by the Police led to tension and riots
In 1979, the term 'Rude Boys' started to become known more widely. This was applied to the West Indian people who dressed in sharp suits, trilby or 'Pork Pie' hats and in dress terms equivalent of the 1960's 'Mod' - curiously the white 60's Mods favoured the Motown music of Detroit, performed by black American artists and also Ska, from that era.
The 2 Tone image from the late 70's Ska 'revival'
Prince Buster was one of the leading artists of the Ska movement in the late 1950's and his music would filter in to the UK Mod scene of the 1960's. When the 2 tone scene got off the ground in the late 1970's, his oeuvre became fashionable again.
Coventry band The Specials c. 1979
Stop your messing around..
The Ska revival of the late 1970's broke convention. Bands like The Specials, from Coventry, were made up of both white and black performers, a somewhat unusual arrangement for the time in British music.
The Selecter - fronted by Pauline Black
Inevitably, this drew both white and black people to their performances and one of the great buzzwords of the time was 'multiracial integration' - Ska music of the revival certainly did make this happen.
The Ska revival group 'Bad Manners'
fronted by the enigmatic Buster Bloodvessel aka Douglas Trendle
Ironically, it also led to many of the Ska followers who were skinheads, to come to live performances, here you might expect a rather 'volatile' situation, but the reverse was often the case.
Bands like The Specials and The Selector, made up of white and black performers settled down the issues of integration and through mass exposure to millions of British citizens through music programs of the day such as Top of the Pops, changed attitudes.
Legendary nihilistic punk rocker Sid Vicious, lashes out
One step beyond
In North London, a group proposing to call itself the 'Morris Minors,' started out with some original Ska covers, such as the Prince and Madness, by legendary Ska artist Prince Buster.
Somewhere in Camden, Madness and Morris Minor van
Based in Camden, North London and performing in the nearby areas of Kentish Town, Islington and the like, they took the original Ska and put their own stamp on it.
By coincidence, The Specials from Coventry, also used the Ska framework to pen their own songs such as 'too much too young,' 'gangsters' and 'ghost town' whilst still covering original Ska hits.
The Fun Boy Three - refugees from The Specials
The music scene was very fluid in the post punk era, giving rise to the New Romantic genre as well as the Ska scene.
The Specials lost Terry Hall, Lynval Golding and Nev Staple who left to form the Fun Boy Three, a group that broke another barrier, multi-racial and with supporting female musicians. This musical direction produced some interesting records although this group was sadly short lived.
Madness in their heyday of the late 70's
Madness started to write their own material and forged a career that has seen them remain a part of the British music scene.
In the round, Ska music has not only given us enjoyable music, but helped to heal the divisions of black and white people. The National Front and the Punk movement are now remnants of forty years ago and monochrome nostalgia. It just goes to prove that music is for everyone and good can come out of it. A sort of law of unintended consequences, but a good one.
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