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So What's This Terrace Thing All About?
Remember the 1970s? The sad glam rock era, Raliegh "Chopper" bikes, skateboards or the boys pen. For the youth of Liverpool it saw their respective clubs entering Europe and a desire to throw off the fashions set by petite bourgeois image makers, such as Mr McLaren and Miss Westwood, very much part of the St Martins art set. LFC's 1977 European Cup victory saw a change in look for its younger army of fans. The punk thing had burnt out and the bands had fully established themselves. Bowie was still much part of the scene and the atmosphere of such albums as "Low" and "Heroes" distanced him from mainstream pop. Liverpool youth were sporting mohair and jelly bean sandals, very much a "neo-beatnick" look. Bands such as The Clash had outlived the media death sentence of punk. Attitude was important and the look of the later terrace trends was evolving. Merseyside's stint in Europe, EFC were in the UEFA Cup at the time, gave new ideas for the development of this new look. As the seventies came to a close, the door of sartorial elitism was opening for the youth of Liverpool.
Contrary to popular belief, "wedge" haircuts were not attributed to Spandau Ballet. Indeed, wedges were very much part of Scouse hairstyle vocab long before the Spands graced the cover of Smash Hits or made their debut on TOTP. It would be David Bowie who holds that particular honour.
The name "Scally" was a popular term in Liverpool for the no-good, going no-where, individual that you kept your daughter away from. It came from the word "Scallywag", a term that was first used in the US after the civil war. Very few people will probably admit to being a "scally" and often refer to the period as "having wore the gear". No Scouser would describe having spent their former youth as a casual or a perry, so you can see why scally is often the preferable term. Other than grafitti at Lime street station and in the toilet cubicles at Liverpool magistrates courts, the first time that I actually heard it used to describe the collective term for the style hungry youth on the terraces was by a mod revivalist, who had also referred to the look as "Square". The latter term being used in 1950s America for people who were not "with it".
How wrong could he have been?
Very!
From 79 until 81 Liverpool youth had created and ended a dynamic youth subculture that has shaped the look for the nations youth ever since. Even on their demise as trend setters, the memorable "Scruff-look" came into being and was set as the way to look if you mattered in Liverpool. Don't be fooled by the title, it was a unique look that still smacked of sharp elegance. London and Manchester were not lacking in producing the goods and the more friendly titles of "Casuals" and "Perries" were their respective versions of terrace movement. "Perries", incidently, was the term used by some further south to describe the northern youth movement, "Soul boys" was another. A friend of mine working in Birmingham, at the time, was quite pissed off after being called a "Perry". The term was said to come from wearing Fred Perry, which did make an appearance at the time especially down south?
Many individuals from the era are still respected for the role that they played then, and for the role that they have played since, in popular culture. Kevin Sampson is now an accomplished author and played a part in the team behind The Farm. Back then, he was a contributor to "The End" and had pieces published in the likes of "The Face" informing the nations sociologists and media big shots that there was more to youth than Culture Club or Duran Duran. This was done before the tabloids even began to think of centre page exclusives on so-called "terrace chic".
"The End" was a Scouse idea that was coedited by Peter Hooton, in his pre-Farm days and after, and Phil Jones. The fanzines regular characters of Joe Wag and Dossa was something to be identified with by many of its local readership. There were articles on terrace fashion and music, not forgetting opinions held on the social and political moods at the time. It was the terrace bible that led to the birth of the footy fanzine, many of which now concentrate solely on the game and resemble a football version of train spotting publications. The End did not reach the masses until 1981, and was ironic to say the least, this being at the time that Liverpool was to take a back seat in the what to wear stakes. Even so, the look that had kicked it all off was to influence street cred Scousers to date. The End brought the Merseyside scene to the nation after a feature in the music press in April 1982, plus the many plugs provided by John Peel on his Radio 1 slot, the fanzine was soon to outgrow its domestic readership. It was to become popular within the new Scouse "wag" era, and to terrace heads up and down the country, not forgetting individuals in foreign institutions. Rumour had it that a publishing house was at one time planning to re-issue all The End volumes in one book, but, sadly it did not materialize. Mr Hooton now fronts a new band "Hunkpapa", with reference to native American history, and I caught them a little while ago and was very impressed.
Elsewhere, Terry Farley was often sending The End his thoughts on the Cockney standing in the measure of things, before engaging on "Boys Own" and "Heavenly" Records. Who can forget the "first at it" debate? Liverpool muso journalist Pete Naylor was the man with his finger on the bands and tunes that mattered. Pete Naylor is behind the current production team "Domestic Films" that recently brought us "Tales from the riverbank", shown in the Granada tv region. Domestic films is a venture he has formed with former Farm bass player Carl Hunter.
"What's the score" is the only fanzine to come close to The End. It was from liverpool and edited by Peter Furmedge, like his father, a lifelong LFC fanatic. It was well timed, arriving on the wave of opportunity brought in by The Farm, and gave the terraces that certain feel that had long been missing since The End's demise. "Boys Own" was probably one of the few better spinoffs from The End, these also including "The Viz" and the countless so-called "New Lad" magazines. There was to be the likes of "When Saturday comes", being very funny, but sadly, concentrating solely on the game.
Even though the main "Scally" era was the late 70s to early 80s the look was still very much evident throughout the eighties and nineties, in particular 1990 when the indie/dance crossover thing exploded. This period introduced the so-called "old school" concept, "the vintage trainie meets the not so tight around the ankle as they used to be jean thing". With jeans that didn't threaten your fertility, as much, its impact was unforgettable.
If you want to read something to set the scene for the terrace trends in Merseyside in 1979, then read Kevin Sampson's excellent "AWAYDAYS". This story centres on a 19 year old Tranmere fan, "Carty". There's loads of references to the gear worn, running and being ran, the bands listened to, and the places to be at the time.
You can buy it online from Amazon, I have seen it here for £4.79.
Just click the link on the left below.
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