Skinheads and racism in a German news article, June 1970

‘London skinhead and cop’ – from Der Spiegel, no 24/1970

Below, you will find our translation of an article that was first published in the German news weekly Der Spiegel on 8 June 1970. As far as we’re aware, it’s the only time the press in that country reported on the original skinhead wave. It would be eight years before skinheads made another appearance in Der Spiegel, once again in connection with racism and street thuggery in the East End of London.

August 8, 2016March 10, 2017 by Crombieboy Categories: Skinhead historyTags: 'Paki bashing', East End, original skinheads, racism 4 Comments

A skinhead in Paris, 1979-83

Paris skinhead band Swingo Porkies, early 1980s

While the original wave of skinheads remained a strictly British phenomenon – the closest the French came to mod were the minets – it didn’t take long for the late 1970s revival to cross the Channel. As the Sham Army turned concert halls into battlefields and skinheads began to proliferate across Britain again, a small gang of punks in a working class banlieue of Paris took note. Around 1978, Farid, Pierrot, Fan, Fabian and a dozen mates swapped their spiky hair and leather for clean-cut crops and MA-1 jackets.

August 3, 2016July 1, 2022 by Crombieboy Categories: Skinhead historyTags: French skinheads, La souris deglinguee, Les Halles skins, Paris skinheads, Skins de France, Swingo Porkies, Tolbiac's Toads 9 Comments