Where have all the skinheads gone?

SBWNik · 04-06-2010, 06:23 AM

...to paraphrase Slaughter & The Dogs.

Off at a tangent a little here, and not strictly music orientated, but something thats bugged me for a while.
This may be a UK only observation, but to me ska seems to have lost its crowd. Look around at any gig you go to these days and the place is bouncing with skaters, punks, metalheads (whaaaaaaat???), wannabe surfers and assorted other 'types', but no sign of the traditional ska fan, the skinhead.
Sure, you stick a 60s ska legend on and you'll find them all dusting down the Fred Perrys and brogues, but face them with a new offbeat band and where the hell are they all hiding?
Has ska become a cross section thing, or has skinhead become so tainted with the racist brush that it is a no longer acceptable fashion statement?

The odd thing is that there are a lot of bands out there that still hold to the skinhead style on stage, but it's not picked up by their fans.... weird.

04-06-2010, 06:23 AM	#1 (permalink)
SBWNik Music Addict Join Date: Mar 2010 Posts: 67	Where have all the skinheads gone? ...to paraphrase Slaughter & The Dogs. Off at a tangent a little here, and not strictly music orientated, but something thats bugged me for a while. This may be a UK only observation, but to me ska seems to have lost its crowd. Look around at any gig you go to these days and the place is bouncing with skaters, punks, metalheads (whaaaaaaat???), wannabe surfers and assorted other 'types', but no sign of the traditional ska fan, the skinhead. Sure, you stick a 60s ska legend on and you'll find them all dusting down the Fred Perrys and brogues, but face them with a new offbeat band and where the hell are they all hiding? Has ska become a cross section thing, or has skinhead become so tainted with the racist brush that it is a no longer acceptable fashion statement? The odd thing is that there are a lot of bands out there that still hold to the skinhead style on stage, but it's not picked up by their fans.... weird.