Skinheads is the seventh novel by the British author John King. It was first published in 2008 by Jonathan Cape, and subsequently by Vintage. Set in the same new-town and Outer London hinterland as two of King's previous books, Human Punk and White Trash , it forms a loose trilogy The Satellite Cycle. The book has been translated and released in a number of countries, among them France, Italy and Russia.
Skinheads is based around three generations of the same family – Terry English, his nephew Ray (aka Nutty Ray), and Terry’s fifteen-year-old son Lol (named after the ska singer Laurel Aitken). While the bulk of the book is set in the present day, it includes recurring sections from periods considered key to the skinhead culture – 1969 and the early 1980s – with events linking to the overriding story.
Terry is the main character, an original skinhead approaching his fiftieth birthday and mourning the loss of his wife, while attempting to keep the volatile Ray out of trouble and concerned that his fifteen-year-old son Laurel might be a closet hippy. Terry is also facing a life-or-death problem, but finds strength in his long-term friendships, the responsibilities of running a mini-cab firm, a dream to re-open the boarded-up and recently rediscovered Union Jack Club, and his ongoing love of Jamaican ska and bluebeat.
Ray, meanwhile, is angry and on edge, but doing his best to hold his life together. However, he does not like drug dealers and especially those trying to sell to his children. If Terry reflects the easygoing music of his youth, then Ray mirrors the aggression and street politics of Oi (street punk), while facing the same smears levelled at the original movement. Lol is a much more relaxed character who plays less of a role in the main story, but with his musical interests shows the fusion of ska, punk and Oi in bands like Rancid, as well as the political and cultural shifts of the previous decades.
The journalist and author Garry Bushell, who played a key role in Oi’s development, has said of the novel: “John King is a master of modern fiction and this book is a welcome and recognisable reappraisal of Britain's most down-to-earth youth cult. Skinhead culture is many things – dangerous, thrilling, uplifting, patriotic, creative and often politically incorrect. No wonder it terrified the Establishment. But as King shows, with its roots in Cockney and West Indian culture, skinheads were never just the ‘fick fascist fugs’ of Middle England’s fevered imaginings.”
Raquel Moran, in The New Review, said the central theme of Skinheads is that "family values, the love for your own country and the ethics of hard work are timeless sentiments which anyone and everyone, including members of the British skinhead culture, is allowed to praise and defend in their own way". [1] Arena called Skinheads, “A nuanced argument for skinhead culture,” while The Sunday Telegraph called the author, “An energetic and technically adroit writer.” [2]
Before and after its release King has worked with Club Ska [3] and the DJ Geno Blue, both of which feature in the novel, most notably putting on a Football Factory event headlined by Bad Manners in 2005. Since 2014, King has showcased a number of the bands included in Skinheads at his Human Punk [4] nights at the 100 Club in Central London, among them The Last Resort and The Business, as well as new acts such as Grade 2 and Crown Court. In 2019, Human Punk collaborated with Club Ska to present the legendary Symarip frontman Roy Ellis in concert, supported by King Hammond. [5] Terry English is a big Symarip fan and Ellis has called Skinheads: “A great novel. It is realistic, it is funny, and it should be made into a film. I am proud to be part of its soundtrack.”
A skinhead is a member of a subculture which originated among working class youths in London, England, in the 1960s and soon spread to other parts of the United Kingdom, with a second working class skinhead movement emerging worldwide in the late 1970s. Motivated by social alienation and working class solidarity, skinheads are defined by their close-cropped or shaven heads and working-class clothing such as Dr. Martens and steel toe work boots, braces, high rise and varying length straight-leg jeans, and button-down collar shirts, usually slim fitting in check or plain. The movement reached a peak during the 1960s, experienced a revival in the 1980s, and, since then, has endured in multiple contexts worldwide.
Punk fashion is the clothing, hairstyles, cosmetics, jewellery, and body modifications of the punk counterculture. Punk fashion varies widely, ranging from Vivienne Westwood designs to styles modeled on bands like The Exploited to the dressed-down look of North American hardcore. The distinct social dress of other subcultures and art movements, including glam rock, skinheads, rude boys, greasers, and mods have influenced punk fashion. Punk fashion has likewise influenced the styles of these groups, as well as those of popular culture. Many punks use clothing as a way of making a statement.
Skinheads Against Racial Prejudice (SHARP) are anti-racist skinheads who oppose white power skinheads, neo-fascists and other political racists, particularly if they identify themselves as skinheads. SHARPs aim to reclaim the multicultural identity of the original skinheads, hijacked in their views by white power skinheads, who they sometimes deride as "boneheads".
Lorenzo "Laurel" Aitken was an influential Caribbean singer and one of the pioneers of Jamaican ska music. He is often referred to as the "Godfather of Ska".
Trojan Records is a British record label founded in 1968. It specialises in ska, rocksteady, reggae and dub music. The label currently operates under the Sanctuary Records Group. The name Trojan comes from the Croydon-built Trojan truck that was used as Duke Reid's sound system in Jamaica. The truck had "Duke Reid - The Trojan King of Sounds" painted on the sides, and the music played by Reid became known as the Trojan Sound.
Symarip were a British ska and reggae band, originating in the late 1960s, when Frank Pitter and Michael Thomas founded the band as The Bees. The band's name was originally spelled Simaryp, which is an approximate reversal of the word pyramids. Consisting of members of West Indian descent, Simaryp is widely marked as one of the first skinhead reggae bands, being one of the first to target skinheads as an audience. Their hits included "Skinhead Girl", "Skinhead Jamboree" and "Skinhead Moonstomp", the latter based on the Derrick Morgan song, "Moon Hop".
White power skinheads, also known as racist skinheads and neo-Nazi skinheads, are members of a neo-Nazi, white supremacist and antisemitic offshoot of the skinhead subculture. Many of them are affiliated with white nationalist organizations and some of them are members of prison gangs. The movement emerged in the United Kingdom between the late 1960s and the late 1970s, and in the 1980s, it spread across Europe, Russia and North America.
Trojan skinheads are individuals who identify with the original British skinhead subculture of the middle 1960s, when ska, rocksteady, reggae, and soul music were popular, and there was a heavy emphasis on mod-influenced clothing styles. Named after the record label Trojan Records, these skinheads identify with the subculture's Jamaican rude boy and British working class roots.
The Analogs are a Polish street punk band. They originated in Szczecin, and are quite successful on the local and international punk rock scene.
John King is an English writer best known for his novels which, for the most part, deal in the more rebellious elements driving the country's culture. His stories carry strong social and political undercurrents, and his work has been widely translated abroad. He has written articles and reviews for alternative and mainstream publications, edits the fiction journal Verbal, and is the co-owner of the London Books publishing house.
The Business were an English punk band formed in 1979 in Lewisham, South London, England. The band lasted for four decades until their frontman Micky Fitz died from cancer in December 2016.
Human Punk is a novel by John King that tells the story of a group of boys who leave school in 1977 and the effect the emerging punk movement has on their lives. The book is largely based in Slough, a new town on the outskirts of London, famed for its industry and large trading estate. Human Punk follows the lives of main character Joe Martin and his friends Smiles, Dave and Chris across the next three decades. It has been widely translated abroad in countries such as France, Italy and Russia.
This Is England is a 2006 British drama film written and directed by Shane Meadows. The story centres on young skinheads in England in 1983. The film illustrates how their subculture, which has its roots in 1960s West Indies culture, especially ska, soul, and reggae music, became adopted by the far-right, especially white nationalists and white supremacists, which led to divisions within the skinhead scene. The film's title is a direct reference to a scene where the character Combo explains his nationalist views using the phrase "this is England" during his speech.
Sab Grey is the founder of Iron Cross, one of the United States' first skinhead hardcore/Oi! bands. As a teenager, he began to attend hardcore punk concerts in Washington DC, where he met Ian Mackaye, Henry Rollins, and others in the burgeoning Washington, DC hardcore subculture.
'Hoxton' Tom McCourt is the former bassist and bandleader of punk rock/Oi! band, The 4-Skins. He was one of the most influential members of the skinhead revival of 1977 to 1978, the mod revival of 1978 to 1979 and the Oi! movement from 1979 to 1984.
The Burial were an English Oi! band that incorporated ska, northern soul and folk influences into their music. Formed in 1981 in Yorkshire, England, they released one album, A Day On the Town, in 1988, and worked with Bradford's anarchist rant-poet Nick Toczek on various projects under the name Britanarchists. They disbanded in 1988.
A number of overlapping punk rock subgenres have developed since the emergence of punk rock in the mid-1970s. Even though punk genres at times are difficult to segregate, they usually show differing characteristics in overall structures, instrumental and vocal styles, and tempo. However, sometimes a particular trait is common in several genres, and thus punk genres are normally grouped by a combination of traits.
Garry Bushell is an English newspaper columnist, rock music journalist, television presenter, author, musician and political activist. Bushell also sings in the Cockney Oi! bands GBX and the Gonads. He managed the New York City Oi! band Maninblack until the death of the band frontman Andre Schlessinger. Bushell's recurring topical themes are comedy, country and class. He has campaigned for an English Parliament, a Benny Hill statue and for variety and talent shows on TV. His TV column Bushell on the Box still appears weekly in the Daily Star Sunday, and he is the Review Editor of the Sunday Express.
Stories We Could Tell by Tony Parsons, published in 2005, is set on a single night in August 1977, the night Elvis Presley died. It focuses on the adventures of three men, Terry, Ray, and Leon, all writers for the fictional musical magazine The Paper in pre-Thatcherite punk-ridden London. Parsons covers topics that deal with the role of music for young people, youth gangs and music culture in this time.
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