The clip below, taken from an 80s student movie, was kindly forwarded to us by the filmmaker himself, who promised that there’s “more to come”. It features an interview with an early 70s skinhead at the first International Ska Festival, held at the Brixton Fridge in 1988. The skinhead isn’t exactly unknown: Steve ‘Grogger’ Goodman, editor of the 80s skinzine Chargesheet, author of the subculture novel England Belongs to Me (1994), and writer of the film script Pressure Drop (which is apparently still for sale if you fancy making an OG skinhead movie).
He says in the interview that he became a skinhead round about 1972, which strikes me as an odd year to adopt the style in London. The accepted narrative, after all – confirmed by numerous original skins over the years – is that the look had begun shifting towards suedehead by 1970, and then towards smoothie and bootboy in the following years. By 1972, the original skinhead style would have seemed hopelessly outmoded to most Greater London kids, who were probably Bowie boys or girls by then.
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Creases Like Knives 