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'''Rockers''', '''leather boys'''<ref>Rockers! Kings of the Road by John Stuart. Plexus Publishing 1996. ISBN 0859651258</ref> or '''ton-up boys'''<ref name="express">14 February 1961 The Daily Express, London.</ref><ref>A dictionary of slang and unconventional English, Eric Partridge, Paul Beale. MacMillan Publishing Company, 1985. ISBN 0025949802 P. 962</ref> are a [[motorcycling|biker]] [[subculture]] that originated in the United Kingdom during the 1950s. It was mainly centered around British [[cafe racer]] motorcycles and [[rock and roll]] music.
'''Rockers''', '''leather boys'''<ref>Rockers! Kings of the Road by John Stuart. Plexus Publishing 1996. ISBN 0859651258</ref> or '''ton-up boys'''<ref name="express">14 February 1961 The Daily Express, London.</ref><ref>A dictionary of slang and unconventional English, Eric Partridge, Paul Beale. MacMillan Publishing Company, 1985. ISBN 0025949802 P. 962</ref> are a [[motorcycling|biker]] [[subculture]] that originated in the United Kingdom during the 1950s. It was mainly centered around British [[cafe racer]] motorcycles and [[rock and roll]] music.


British [[Mod (subculture)|mods]] and [[skinhead]]s commonly called rockers ''grease'' as an insult. Since then, the terms ''[[greaser]]'' and ''rocker'' have become fairly interchangeable in the UK but are used differently in North America. Rockers were also derisively known as ''Coffee Bar Cowboys''.<ref>The Restless Generation: How Rock Music Changed the Face of 1950s Britain by Pete Frame. Rogan House, 2007 ISBN 0952954079</ref> In Japan, their equivalent was called the ''Kaminari-zoku'' (''Thunder Tribe'').<ref>A Glossary of Japanese Neologisms, Bailey, Don C. Arizona Press, 1962.</ref>
By 1965 , the American term ''[[Greaser (subculture)|greaser]]'' had crossed over to the UK, with ''[[The Sun (United Kingdom)|The Sun]]'' writing, "you can call rockers Greasers if you like. ... Greasers just means they have to put a lot of work into bikes."<ref name=OED>greaser, n. [[Oxford English Dictionary]]. Second edition, 1989; online version December 2011. <http://www.oed.com.ezproxy.spl.org:2048/view/Entry/81098>; accessed 05 January 2012. Earlier version first published in New English Dictionary, 1900.</ref> Since then, the terms ''greaser'' and ''rocker'' have become fairly interchangeable in the UK, but are used differently in North America. Rockers were also derisively known as ''Coffee Bar Cowboys''.<ref>The Restless Generation: How Rock Music Changed the Face of 1950s Britain by Pete Frame. Rogan House, 2007 ISBN 0952954079</ref> In Japan, their equivalent was called the ''Kaminari-zoku'' (''Thunder Tribe'').<ref>A Glossary of Japanese Neologisms, Bailey, Don C. Arizona Press, 1962.</ref>


== Origins ==
== Origins ==

Revision as of 22:56, 7 January 2012

For other uses, see Rockers (disambiguation).
Rockers on cafe racers at a transport cafe in the UK.

Rockers, leather boys[1] or ton-up boys[2][3] are a biker subculture that originated in the United Kingdom during the 1950s. It was mainly centered around British cafe racer motorcycles and rock and roll music.

By 1965 , the American term greaser had crossed over to the UK, with The Sun writing, "you can call rockers Greasers if you like. ... Greasers just means they have to put a lot of work into bikes."[4] Since then, the terms greaser and rocker have become fairly interchangeable in the UK, but are used differently in North America. Rockers were also derisively known as Coffee Bar Cowboys.[5] In Japan, their equivalent was called the Kaminari-zoku (Thunder Tribe).[6]

Origins

See also: Mods and Rockers
Hattie and other original rockers on Chelsea Bridge, London

Up until the post-World War II period, motorcycling held a prestigious position and enjoyed a positive image in British society, being associated with wealth and glamour. Starting in the 1950s, the middle classes were able to buy inexpensive motorcars, and motorcycles became transport for the poor.[7]

The rocker subculture came about due to factors such as: the end of post-war rationing in the UK, a general rise in prosperity for working class youths, the recent availability of credit and financing for young people, the influence of American popular music and films, the construction of race track-like arterial roads around British cities, the development of transport cafes and a peak in British motorcycle engineering.

Rocker-style youths existed in the 1950s,[8] but were known as ton-up boys because ton-up was English slang for driving at a speed of 100 mph (160 km/h) or over. The Teddy boys were considered their "spiritual ancestors".[8] The rockers or ton-up boys took what was essentially a sport and turned it into a lifestyle, dropping out of mainstream society[9] and "rebelling at the points where their will crossed society's".[10] It had a damaging effect on the public image of motorcycling in the UK, and led to the politicisation of the motorcycling community.[7]

The mass media started targeting these socially powerless youths and cast them as "folk devils", creating a moral panic[11] through highly exaggerated and ill-founded portrayals.[12][13] From the 1960s on, due to the media fury surrounding the mods and rockers, motorcycling youths became more commonly known as rockers, a term previously little known outside of small groups.[14] The public came to consider rockers as hopelessly naive, loutish, scruffy, motorized cowboys, loners or outsiders.[14]

Rockers, like the ton-up boys before them, were immersed in 1950s rock and roll music and fashions, and became known as much for their devotion to music as they were to their motorcycles. Many rockers favored 1950s and early-1960s rock and roll by artists such as Gene Vincent, Eddie Cochran and Chuck Berry; music that George Melly called "screw and smash" music.[13]

Two groups emerged, one identifying with Marlon Brando's image in The Wild One,[8][13] hanging around transport cafes, projecting nomadic romanticism, violence, anti-authoritarianism and anti-domesticity; the other being non-riders, similar in image but less involved in the cult of the motorbike.[13]

Cafe racers

A vintage Triton cafe racer consisting of a Triumph twin motorcycle engine in a Norton Featherbed frame built in a street legal racer style with single seat, clip-ons-style lower handlebars and racing exhausts.

The term cafe racer originated in the 1950s, when bikers often frequented transport cafes, using them as starting and finishing points for road races. A cafe racer is a motorcycle that has been modified for speed and good handling rather than for comfort.[15] Features include: a single racing seat, low handlebars (such as ace bars or one-sided clip-ons mounted directly onto the front forks for control and aerodynamics), half or full race fairings, large racing petrol tanks (often left unpainted), swept-back exhaust pipes, and rear-set footpegs (to give better clearance while cornering at high speeds).[16] These motorcycles were lean, light and handled various road surfaces well. The most defining machine of the rocker heyday was the Triton, which was a custom motorcycle made of a Norton Featherbed frame and a Triumph Bonneville engine. It used the most common and fastest racing engine combined with the best handling frame of its day.[17][18]

The term cafe racers is now also used to describe motorcycle riders who prefer vintage British, Italian or Japanese motorbikes from the 1950s to late 1970s. These individuals don't resemble the rockers of earlier decades, and they dress in a more modern and comfortable style; with only a hint of likeness to the rocker style. These cafe racers have taken elements of American greaser, British rocker and modern motorcycle rider styles to create a look of their own.[19][20]

Rockers in the 2000s tend to ride classic British motorcycles such as a Triumph, Norton, or Triton hybrid of the two. Other popular motorcycle brands include Birmingham Small Arms Company (BSA), Royal Enfield and Matchless from the 1960s. Classically styled European cafe racers are now also seen, sometimes using Moto Guzzi, Ducati or classic Japanese engines with British-made frames, such as those made by Rickman.

Characteristics

Rockers bought standard factory-made motorcycles and stripped them down, tuning them up and modifying them to appear like racing bikes. Their bikes were not merely transport, but were used as an object of intimidation and masculinity projecting them uneasily close to death,[13] an element exaggerated by their use of skull and crossbone-type symbolism. They raced on public roads and hung out at transport cafes such as The Ace Cafe, Chelsea Bridge tea stall, Ace of Spades, Busy Bee and Johnsons.[14] Hence the term cafe racer, (pronounced caff racer).

First seen in the United States and then England,[14] the rocker fashion style was born out of necessity and practicality. Rockers wore heavily-decorated leather motorcycle jackets, often adorned with metal studs, patches, pin badges and sometimes an Esso gas man trinket. When they rode their motorcycles, they usually wore no helmet, or wore a classic open-face helmet, aviator goggles and a white silk scarf (to protect them from the elements). Other common items included: T-shirts, leather caps, Levi's or Wrangler jeans,[21] leather trousers, tall motorcycle boots (often made by Lewis Leathers) or brothel creepers. Also popular was a patch declaring membership of the 59 Club of England, a church-based youth organization that later formed into a motorcycle club with members all over the world. The rocker hairstyle, kept in place with Brylcreem, was usually a tame or exaggerated pompadour hairstyle, as was popular with some 1950s rock and roll musicians.

Largely due to their clothing styles and dirtiness, the rockers were not widely welcomed by venues such as pubs and dance halls. Rockers also transformed rock and roll dancing into a more violent, individualistic form beyond the control of dance hall management.[13] They were generally reviled by the British motorcycle industry and general enthusiasts as being as an embarrassment and bad for the industry and the sport.[22]

Originally, many rockers opposed recreational drug use, and according to Johnny Stuart,

They had no knowledge of the different sorts of drugs. To them amphetamines, cannabis, heroin were all drugs - something to be hated. Their ritual hatred of Mods and other sub-cultures was based in part on the fact that these people were believed to take drugs and were therefore regarded as sissies. Their dislike of anyone connected with drugs was intense.[23]

Cultural legacy

Len Paterson, founder of the Rocker Reunion movement, left, Father Graham Hullet of the 59 Club, seated on motorcycle, original 59 Club member Stu Wester, right, and others at Enfield Motorcycles factory, UK.

The rockers' look and attitude influenced pop groups from The Beatles in 1960 [8] to punk rock bands and their fans in the late 1970s. The look of the ton-up boy and rocker was accurately portrayed in the 1964 film The Leather Boys, starring Rita Tushingham and Directed by Sidney Furie. After 2000, the rocker subculture became an influence on the rockabilly revival and psychobilly scenes. The modern-day rocker-style and reunion motorcycle runs have followings all over the world, especially in Japan, the United States and Australia.

In the 2000s, many rockers still wear engineer boots or full-length motorcycle boots, but Winklepickers (sharp pointed shoes) are no longer common. Some rockers in the 2000s wear Dr. Martens boots, brothel creepers (originally worn by Teddy Boys) or military combat boots. Rockers have continued to wear motorcycle jackets, leather trousers and white silk scarves while riding their bikes. Leather caps adorned with metal studs and chains, common among rockers in the 1950s and 1960s, are rarely seen any more. Instead, some contemporary rockers wear a classic woollen Flat cap.

Rocker Reunion Club revivals

In the early 1970s, the British rocker and hardcore motorcycle scene fractured and evolved under new influences coming from California: the hippies and the Hells Angels.[24] The remaining rockers became known as greasers, and the scene had all but died out in form, but not in spirit.

In the early 1980s, The Rocker Reunion Club[25] was started by Len Paterson (an original 59 Club member),[26] his wife "Baby Blue", a handful of original rockers[25] and a handful of original "Chelsea Bridge Boys" who met over the previous 20 or more years at the tea stall on the bridge.[25] They organized nostalgic rocker reunion dances called piss-ups, which attracted individuals from as far as Europe, America and Japan.[27] In 1984, the first rocker reunion motorcycle run of 70 classic British motorcycles rode to Pitsea.[25] Follow runs went to other destinations with historic relevance to Rockers such as Brighton, Southend and Southsea which in 1988 attracted over 7,000 bikes. They established a model which has become a worldwide movement. Within a few years, these events attracted 10,000 to 12,000 revivalists, which gained widespread media attention and new converts.

In 1993/1994 discussions between Mark Wilsmore and others led to idea of doing a 25th Anniversary Ace Cafe Reunion, the re-opening of the cafe, and Wilsmore's stewardship of the reunion events.[28] The events now attract up to 40,000 riders.[29][30]

Films and documentaries

See also

References

  1. ^ Rockers! Kings of the Road by John Stuart. Plexus Publishing 1996. ISBN 0859651258
  2. ^ 14 February 1961 The Daily Express, London.
  3. ^ A dictionary of slang and unconventional English, Eric Partridge, Paul Beale. MacMillan Publishing Company, 1985. ISBN 0025949802 P. 962
  4. ^ greaser, n. Oxford English Dictionary. Second edition, 1989; online version December 2011. <http://www.oed.com.ezproxy.spl.org:2048/view/Entry/81098>; accessed 05 January 2012. Earlier version first published in New English Dictionary, 1900.
  5. ^ The Restless Generation: How Rock Music Changed the Face of 1950s Britain by Pete Frame. Rogan House, 2007 ISBN 0952954079
  6. ^ A Glossary of Japanese Neologisms, Bailey, Don C. Arizona Press, 1962.
  7. ^ a b Suzanne McDonald-Walker, 'Bikers: Culture, Politics and Power' Berg Publishers, 2000. ISBN 1859733565
  8. ^ a b c d Mods, rockers, and the music of the British invasion. James E. Perone. Praeger, 2008. ISBN 0275998606. pp. 3, 65, etc.
  9. ^ Skateboarding, Space and the City, Borden, Iain. Berg Publishers, (2003). ISBN 1859734936 p. 137
  10. ^ Dancin' in the streets!: anarchists, IWWs, surrealists, Situationists, Franklin Rosemont, Charles Radcliffe. Charles H Kerr 2005 ISBN 0882863029
  11. ^ Stanley Cohen; (1972). Folk Devils and Moral Panics; The Creation of the Mods and Rockers Routledge. ISBN 0-85965-125-8.
  12. ^ Resistance through rituals: youth subcultures in post-war Britain By Stuart Hall, Tony Jefferson. Routledge, 1990. ISBN 0415099161
  13. ^ a b c d e f The sociology of youth culture and youth subcultures: Sex and drugs and rock 'n' roll by Mike Brake 1980 Routledge & Kegan Paul, ISBN 0710003641
  14. ^ a b c d Nuttall, Jeff. Bomb Culture Paladin, London 1969. pp. 27-29
  15. ^ The Cafe Racer Phenomenon (Those were the days...), Alastair Walker. Veloce Publishing 2009. ISBN 1845842642
  16. ^ Reg Everett and Mick Walker. Rocker to Racer. Breedon Books. 2010. ISBN 1859836798
  17. ^ Seate, Mike. Cafe Racer The Motorcycle: Featherbeds, Clip-ons, Rear-sets and the Making of a Ton-up Boy. Parker House (2008). ISBN 0979689198
  18. ^ Welte, Sabine, Cafe Racer. Bruckmann Verlag GmbH, 2008. ISBN 3765476943
  19. ^ Clay, Mike. (1988) Cafe Racers: Rockers, Rock 'n' Roll and the Coffee-bar Cult. London: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 0850456770
  20. ^ Café racers of the 1960s: machines, riders and lifestyle, Mick Walker. Crowood (1994)
  21. ^ Jeans: A Cultural History of an American Icon, James Sullivan, Gotham, 2006. ISBN 1592402143
  22. ^ The Bsa Gold Star, Mick Walker. Redline Books, 2004 ISBN 0954435737
  23. ^ Rockers! Kings of the Road by John Stuart, Plexus Publishing Ltd. ISBN 0859651258
  24. ^ Cookson, Brian (2006), Crossing the River, Edinburgh: Mainstream, ISBN 1 840189 76 2, OCLC 63400905
  25. ^ a b c d New Society magazine (Volume 69, Issues 1127-1136) 1984. Page 165 - 167
  26. ^ The Times, May 23, 2009. 'The Rev William Shergold: biker priest'
  27. ^ Pyke, Rod. Rockabilly Hall of Fame, Feb 1998
  28. ^ Missy D. Interview mit Marc Wilsmore Ace Café, London (deutsche Übersetzung). Speeding E-magazine, July 2007
  29. ^ Brighton and Hove City Council [lhttp://www.brighton-hove.gov.uk/index.cfm?request=c1000175]
  30. ^ Motorcycle News (MCN), UK. September 17, 2008
  31. ^ http://www.cafesocietyfilm.com
  32. ^ [1]

Bibliography

  • Stanley Cohen; (1972). Folk Devils and Moral Panics; The Creation of the Mods and Rockers. Routledge. ISBN 0-85965-125-8.
  • Johnny Stuart; (1987). Rockers!. Plexus Publishing Ltd. ISBN 0-85965-125-8
  • Danny Lyons; (2003). The Bikeriders. Wild Palms 1968, Chronicle Books ISBN 0-8118-4160
  • Winston Ramsey; (2002). The Ace Cafe then and now. After the Battle, ISBN 1-8700067-43-6
  • Ted Polhemus; (1994). Street Style. Thames and Hudson / V&A museum ISBN 0-500-27794-X
  • Steve Wilson; (2000). Down the Road. Haynes ISBN 1-85960-651-2
  • Alastair Walker; (2009) The Café Racer Phenomenon. Veloce Publishing ISBN 978-1-845842-64-2
  • Horst A. Friedrichs (2010): Or Glory: 21st Century Rockers. Prestel ISBN 978-3-7913-4469-0
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