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Scorcha! Skins, Suedes and Style from the Streets 1967-1973
Levis, Ben Sherman, Crombie. Reggae, rocksteady, soul. The look and sound of Suedeheads – instantly recognisable in the sixties and early seventies – had a long-lasting impact on British style.
Scorcha!: Skins, Suedes and Style from the Streets 1967–73 delves into the roots, rise and fall of the Suedeheads and their close companions the Skinheads. Covering topics from fashion and football to the influence of black music and culture, the book draws on first-hand accounts from the original skin-suede generation and later adopters, such as Paul Weller and Norman Jay MBE.
Featuring a foreword by Suggs and jam-packed with iconic images, this is the definitive visual history of the Suedehead way of life.
'I thought it was a great cultural movement, the music, the look, they’re things that have shaped who I am' Paul Weller
'The skin-suede era was the most rigorously smart and pedantically correct in the history of working class street style.' Robert Elms
Scorcha!: Skins, Suedes and Style from the Streets 1967–73 delves into the roots, rise and fall of the Suedeheads and their close companions the Skinheads. Covering topics from fashion and football to the influence of black music and culture, the book draws on first-hand accounts from the original skin-suede generation and later adopters, such as Paul Weller and Norman Jay MBE.
Featuring a foreword by Suggs and jam-packed with iconic images, this is the definitive visual history of the Suedehead way of life.
'I thought it was a great cultural movement, the music, the look, they’re things that have shaped who I am' Paul Weller
'The skin-suede era was the most rigorously smart and pedantically correct in the history of working class street style.' Robert Elms
304 pages, Hardcover
First published September 9, 2021
2 people are currently reading
21 people want to read
About the author
Paul 'Smiler' Anderson
4 books3 followersPaul 'Smiler' Anderson (born 1965) is an English author and DJ. He has written extensively on the UK 'Mod' scene; Mods: The New Religion is a best seller in the genre and considered a defining work on the subculture.
Anderson began hosting and DJing at local events in Reading in 1985, and has gone on to DJ at national and international events including Rimini, Barcelona, and Rome.He currently co-runs The Fourth Dimension nights in Reading centred around Jazz, Funk, Soul and Hip Hop, as well as the Soho ‘Jazz For Moderns' night, and 'The Modcast' boat parties and events.
He co-wrote and self-published several issues of a 'Modzine', Don't Wanna None-o-that Groove Thang, in the mid-eighties.He has since written music articles for magazines including Shindig!, and various sleevenotes for the ‘History of R&B’ label ‘Soho Jazz’ LPs,plus the ‘Rare Mod’ series of compilations and EPs on Acid Jazz records.
He co-organised the 'Reading Steady, Go!' exhibition at Reading Museum in 2011. The exhibition depicted life through the eyes of a 1960s Mod, and featured a working original jukebox from the Birdcage club in Portsmouth, along with scooters, posters, and 1960s 'Mod' paraphernalia. It ran for six months and was their most successful exhibition.
Anderson is considered an authority on modernist culture and has been interviewed extensively on the subject, including BBC local radio. His books include ‘Circles – The Strange Story of The Fleur De Lys’ ( Acid Jazz Publishing 2009), ‘Mods – The New Religion’ ( Omnibus 2014) which became a best seller, ‘The Pocket Guide To Mod’ ( Red Planet 2018) and ‘Mod Art’ (Omnibus 2019). His most recent book is Scorcha! about Skinheads and Suedeheads 1966-73 with fellow author Mark Baxter.
Anderson began hosting and DJing at local events in Reading in 1985, and has gone on to DJ at national and international events including Rimini, Barcelona, and Rome.He currently co-runs The Fourth Dimension nights in Reading centred around Jazz, Funk, Soul and Hip Hop, as well as the Soho ‘Jazz For Moderns' night, and 'The Modcast' boat parties and events.
He co-wrote and self-published several issues of a 'Modzine', Don't Wanna None-o-that Groove Thang, in the mid-eighties.He has since written music articles for magazines including Shindig!, and various sleevenotes for the ‘History of R&B’ label ‘Soho Jazz’ LPs,plus the ‘Rare Mod’ series of compilations and EPs on Acid Jazz records.
He co-organised the 'Reading Steady, Go!' exhibition at Reading Museum in 2011. The exhibition depicted life through the eyes of a 1960s Mod, and featured a working original jukebox from the Birdcage club in Portsmouth, along with scooters, posters, and 1960s 'Mod' paraphernalia. It ran for six months and was their most successful exhibition.
Anderson is considered an authority on modernist culture and has been interviewed extensively on the subject, including BBC local radio. His books include ‘Circles – The Strange Story of The Fleur De Lys’ ( Acid Jazz Publishing 2009), ‘Mods – The New Religion’ ( Omnibus 2014) which became a best seller, ‘The Pocket Guide To Mod’ ( Red Planet 2018) and ‘Mod Art’ (Omnibus 2019). His most recent book is Scorcha! about Skinheads and Suedeheads 1966-73 with fellow author Mark Baxter.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
October 24, 2022
If you are interested in British youth culture then the hefty hardback Scorcha! Skins, Suedes and Style from the Streets 1967-1973 (2021) by Paul 'Smiler' Anderson and Mark Baxter is nigh on essential.
Part oral history, part scrapbook, part sociology textbook, it's a fascinating history of British working class youth culture in the late 1960s and through to the early 1970s. It actually starts in the early 1960s with a potted history of early mod but then details the evolution, for some, into the harder and more extreme skinheads. This look softened again as suedeheads or smoothies briefly held sway, before hair grew even longer and trousers ever wider.
I'm too young to have participated in any of these trends but do remember them quite clearly as a young boy. I came of age during punk which is another story for another day.
Scorcha! Skins, Suedes and Style from the Streets 1967-1973 is a painstakingly compiled book which tracks the subtle changes over the months and years, and also tries to provide a perspective in different places in the UK.
Whilst most histories of this period tend to focus the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, the hippies, psychedelia, eastern religions etc, this focuses on working class street fashion. It's packed with photos, records and first hand testimony from people who lived and breathed it.
Really great, and much better than I was expecting.
5/5
Scorcha! Skins, Suedes and Style from the Streets 1967-1973 by Paul Anderson and Mark Baxter
Levis, Ben Sherman, Crombie. Reggae, rocksteady, soul. The look and sound of Suedeheads - instantly recognisable in the sixties and early seventies – had a long-lasting impact on British style.
Scorcha! Skins, Suedes and Style from the Streets 1967-1973 delves into the roots, rise and fall of the Suedeheads and their close companions the Skinheads. Covering topics from fashion and football to the influence of black music and culture, the book draws on first-hand accounts from the original skin-suede generation and later adopters, such as Paul Weller and Norman Jay MBE.
Featuring a foreword by Suggs and jam-packed with iconic images, this is the definitive visual history of the Suedehead way of life.
I thought it was a great cultural movement, the music, the look, they're things that have shaped who I am... Paul Weller
The skin-suede era was the most rigorously smart and pedantically correct in the history of working class street style Robert Elms
Part oral history, part scrapbook, part sociology textbook, it's a fascinating history of British working class youth culture in the late 1960s and through to the early 1970s. It actually starts in the early 1960s with a potted history of early mod but then details the evolution, for some, into the harder and more extreme skinheads. This look softened again as suedeheads or smoothies briefly held sway, before hair grew even longer and trousers ever wider.
I'm too young to have participated in any of these trends but do remember them quite clearly as a young boy. I came of age during punk which is another story for another day.
Scorcha! Skins, Suedes and Style from the Streets 1967-1973 is a painstakingly compiled book which tracks the subtle changes over the months and years, and also tries to provide a perspective in different places in the UK.
Whilst most histories of this period tend to focus the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, the hippies, psychedelia, eastern religions etc, this focuses on working class street fashion. It's packed with photos, records and first hand testimony from people who lived and breathed it.
Really great, and much better than I was expecting.
5/5
Scorcha! Skins, Suedes and Style from the Streets 1967-1973 by Paul Anderson and Mark Baxter
Levis, Ben Sherman, Crombie. Reggae, rocksteady, soul. The look and sound of Suedeheads - instantly recognisable in the sixties and early seventies – had a long-lasting impact on British style.
Scorcha! Skins, Suedes and Style from the Streets 1967-1973 delves into the roots, rise and fall of the Suedeheads and their close companions the Skinheads. Covering topics from fashion and football to the influence of black music and culture, the book draws on first-hand accounts from the original skin-suede generation and later adopters, such as Paul Weller and Norman Jay MBE.
Featuring a foreword by Suggs and jam-packed with iconic images, this is the definitive visual history of the Suedehead way of life.
I thought it was a great cultural movement, the music, the look, they're things that have shaped who I am... Paul Weller
The skin-suede era was the most rigorously smart and pedantically correct in the history of working class street style Robert Elms
May 31, 2025
a really good comprehensive oral history, far better than spirit of 69 in my (biased) opinion. do not read if you care about graphic design. this would be a 5 star review if not for the lowest resolution pictures being double page spreads, the arbitrary 7 inches (some transparent pngs, some not) littering every page, and the body text being laid over background images also containing text.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews