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Teddy Boy Rock'n'Roll

mike

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Pardon me if this is a bit off topic, but these are people who absolutely love their suits and are well worth a mention.

I'm curious how many people here are familiar with the English subculture of Teddy Boys?

They predate Rock'n'Roll by a few years. They're commonly referred to as the 1st teenagers, post-WW2 kids with nothing to do living in bleary war-torn England. Similar to the Zoot Suit concept of America but did things their own way. They adapted the older form of the establishment and well-to-do gentleman by way of edwardian era 3 piece suits & brothel creepers. They sported long drape coats and close cut trousers called drainpipe trousers. They often wore western ties, sometimes loud sometimes matching vests and often loud socks. When rock'n'roll began, they embraced it and held on to it for dear life. They were the only group of people that never turned their back on it, they took in our tired, weary and broken 50's musicians when the rest of the world turned to whatever was the next hip thing. They nurtured what they loved and supported it and continue to do so, in many cases over several generations of families! Today you can go do a Ted club or weekender in England, or through Europe, and see every age bracket there. Often with tattoos up to their ears and balding but wearing impeccable 3 piece Teddy Boy suits, because they don't grow up, they love what they love and why complicate it. Over the years you can see the style adapting with the times somewhat, what began with blue, black, charcoal and burgandy in the 50's took on more 70's color schemes as the years went on and further fit the era it existed in during the 80's. They began to become a pop culture joke as you can buy teddy boy wigs for british fancy dress parties but today there's been a return to darker colors as the pictures below illustrate the changing times. Although there has always been the core people involved and breathing life into it along with an ever expanding group of die hard fans of the essential pillars of real Rock'n'Roll.

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some 70's rock'n'roll revival era pictures..
TattooPeteSticksSpot1979.jpg

Southend.jpg


I'll look around for some original 50's teddy boy pictures but you begin to get the idea perhaps..?
 

mike

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Warden

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With the Christmas tunes been shown on the pop TV Channels, I found myself thinking how smart 1970s pop band 'Mud' looked in their Teddy Boy suits.

225px-Mudcd.jpg


Harry
 

mike

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I think the cartoonish nature of them became pop culture for a while but it's not the case anymore, most people wear really classy looking ones in my opinion, look at the picture of the young-ish guy on his own in sun glasses above as an example.

I'm sorry my pictures of me and my drapes aren't really focused on the clothes, pictures usually happen drunk in the middle of the night but they are all I have so...here ya go..
Me in a 70's rock n roll revival full suit, I think it was appreciated ;)
meandlotsofgirlsinsf-1.jpg

same suit -slightly- better shot of it...
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Real classy 3 button charcoal gray drape coat, which can be dressed up or down
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I had a removable collar and a clip on the back to keep my tie in place, but i was three sheets to the wind ;)
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And if you are interested in bands that are the pillars of this music, it would be Crazy Cavan, Freddie Fingers Lee, Matchbox, Vernon & the GI's, CSA and many more. Most of which still play and most of which still look great in their drape suits! Recent bands, check out Lou Cifer & the Hellions, Furious, Black Raven, Foggy Mountain Rockers, Rockabilly Mafia and many more...

Also, this isn't a teddy boy suit, but somewhat similar. I brought Reverend Beat-man, a mock-tv evangelist/one man r'n'r band from Switzerland to NYC to play. Yes he has a bible around his waist, he makes people get down and kiss 'the bible belt'! Here's a picture of us just prior to showtime...
god_decay-1.jpg
 

imoldfashioned

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mike said:
I brought Reverend Beat-man, a mock-tv evangelist/one man r'n'r band from Switzerland to NYC to play. Yes he has a bible around his waist, he makes people get down and kiss 'the bible belt'!

Oh, I'll bet he does! ;)

Thanks for posting these photos, they're really great. I especially like this one:

Southend.jpg


Everybody looks great and I love the incongruity of the beach chairs. Love the guy on the far left especially, with the striped socks, and this guy:

southenddetail.jpg


He's got some serious hair there (you can tell that girl thinks so)!
 

reetpleat

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Here is a question. does this exist at all in the US? I have spent time in LA, SF, SEattle and Portland and have never seen it. Not even in Viva Las Vegas, although I might have just missed it there. I know the Reverend Horton Heat and Brian Setzer wear teddyish stuff, but real teds?

do they mix with the rockabilly or punk scenes, or rockin' or mods. or swing or anything else? Or do they keep to themselves.

What about Japan or Europe?
 

mike

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reetpleat said:
Here is a question. does this exist at all in the US? I have spent time in LA, SF, SEattle and Portland and have never seen it. Not even in Viva Las Vegas, although I might have just missed it there. I know the Reverend Horton Heat and Brian Setzer wear teddyish stuff, but real teds?

do they mix with the rockabilly or punk scenes, or rockin' or mods. or swing or anything else? Or do they keep to themselves.

What about Japan or Europe?

100% never made it to the colonies! Which I think, is part of the appeal. They don't mix with other groups in England and Europe really, it's very self sufficient. And the best thing is they dont' seem to ever fall out of it. Some of these guys are 70 years old, are tattooed all over their faces and have pictures of themselves as Teds on stage with Gene Vincent in the 60's. The dedication I think is marvelous.

10 years ago I was told to "Go back to kings road you filthy punk rocker!" by a drunk 60 year old ted at the Tennessee Club in London! As a NY psychobilly tourist, I was as proud as proud can be! hahah what a culture shock! actually there were a ton of stories about that.

They don't really mix with neo-rockabillies and are separate and distinct from even non-ted rockabilly fans. They're got their own Edwardian Societies. It's really pretty fascinating. Although ofcourse we're really grouping people into stereotypes but for the sake of an overview description, this may do.
 

Alan Eardley

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Teddy Boys are a typical example of a genre that starts out as a genuine sub-culture and decends into parody. I don't believe that anyone who wasn't there in the middle 1950s can really appreciate the impact that this particular fashion had on British society that was only five years out of clothes rationing and ten years away from a war.

I remember seeing Teddy Boys being pelted with horse manure (yes, we had delivery horses in those days) by outraged citizens. I recall my father saying with genuine grief that we may as well have lost the war because of what young men were wearing... all that effort and the sacrifice of millions of lives wasted. I think a lot of people really believed that sort of thing.

Me? I had drainpipes, a bootlace tie and a drape jacket stashed away at a friend's house...

Alan
 

Benny Holiday

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Yeah, the bodgies and widgies were here, too. Some of the Aussie bodgies adopted a Teddy Boy-influenced style. When the Rockabilly scene took off here in the late 70's-early 80's, there was a group of tough characters who had a big influence on the scene who were known as the 'City Teds' and who wore the drapes and crepes.

I had a few Edwardian-style suits over the years, the best one being a grey coat with four buttons and a black velvet collar. I don't have any pics of it to post, unfortunately. I remember my Dad loved it and wanted to 'borrow' it! I grew out of them though, gave 'em all away.

Here's a pic of one of my oldest friends, Geoff, a Ted all his life:

Geoff.jpg


My bass player, another longstanding friend, often dresses in Teddy Boy gear as well. If I can find a good pic, I'll post it.
 

mike

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Alan Eardley said:
Teddy Boys are a typical example of a genre that starts out as a genuine sub-culture and decends into parody. I don't believe that anyone who wasn't there in the middle 1950s can really appreciate the impact that this particular fashion had on British society that was only five years out of clothes rationing and ten years away from a war.

I remember seeing Teddy Boys being pelted with horse manure (yes, we had delivery horses in those days) by outraged citizens. I recall my father saying with genuine grief that we may as well have lost the war because of what young men were wearing... all that effort and the sacrifice of millions of lives wasted. I think a lot of people really believed that sort of thing.

Me? I had drainpipes, a bootlace tie and a drape jacket stashed away at a friend's house...

Alan

WOW! Great story Alan! Thanks for sharing! Do you think it's surprising to see folks who grew up with it in the 50's still going strong? I met a good bunch of them and they were really down to earth good people with tons of passion.

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mike

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Benny Holiday said:
Here's a pic of one of my oldest friends, Geoff, a Ted all his life:

Nice! I've never been able to manage an elephant's trunk haircut, but always loved the look! I wanted to get a midnight blue 3 piece drape suit in wool as opposed to the more synthetic cheaper suit materials but they're atleast 700 to 1200 bucks! Atleast that's the price if you're not 65 years old and from the midlands of England and known the tailor for 40 years! lol
 

Benny Holiday

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Oh how the years have gone by . . .

Some more photos of Geoff, with his wife Tania a few years back:

GeoffTania.jpg


Here's a photo of Geoff and myself from 1994, at a gig I was playing in Canberra:

Geoff2.jpg


And finally, Geoff and I at Oktoberfest a couple of months ago in Sydney. Scary to see how the years have gone by!

Geoff3.jpg


When it comes to Teddy Boys, I reckon he'd have to be the ultimate Ted. He introduced me to the sounds of Crazy Cavan, for crying out loud!
 

reetpleat

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Alan Eardley said:
Teddy Boys are a typical example of a genre that starts out as a genuine sub-culture and decends into parody. I don't believe that anyone who wasn't there in the middle 1950s can really appreciate the impact that this particular fashion had on British society that was only five years out of clothes rationing and ten years away from a war.

I remember seeing Teddy Boys being pelted with horse manure (yes, we had delivery horses in those days) by outraged citizens. I recall my father saying with genuine grief that we may as well have lost the war because of what young men were wearing... all that effort and the sacrifice of millions of lives wasted. I think a lot of people really believed that sort of thing.

Me? I had drainpipes, a bootlace tie and a drape jacket stashed away at a friend's house...

Alan

Interesting history. Similar to the zoot suiters in a way, or, the early bikers in the US were conidered quite shocking, and tried to be, wearing flying crosses, long greasy hair etc. They wre dissafected youth.

I would suggest taht the ted style, because it never caught on, is one rare trend that was never coopted or became parody. they are a genuine sub culture that never really became trendy enough to have pouseurs or see it worn on halloween much, although maybe in the UK.

I for one, hate to see the zoot suit culture having become a matter of cheap ugly suits worn by a lot of people with no connection or understanding of the culture. I think there are a few that can pull it off. I think there is a member or two of this board wh pull it off in grand style, but most do not.
 

reetpleat

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A few questions. Not being judgemental at all. I appreciate all classes and people. But is this strictly or predominantly a working class crowd? Is there a certain amount of working class identity tied up in it, or is that not much of an issue behind it?

Also, is there a general political outlook, or are they all over the map. Punks for example, tend to be politically progressive, or used to be. But then you have your right wing skins, neo natzis as another extreme. Do the teds tend to vote and think a certian way, or does it varry?
 

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