Sharpies

This article takes a look at Australian youth culture. For skinhead movement see SHARP .

The Sharpies (or Sharps ) were a youth culture in Australia in the 1960s and 1970s that was particularly important in Melbourne .

history

The Sharpies were gang- organized teenagers and young adults from the working class , whose fashion and habitus were heavily influenced by British mod and skinhead fashion; at the same time, the Sharpies represented an independent Australian subculture, which optically set itself apart from young people who followed the skinhead or mod style. Some of the Sharpies were former skinheads who had evolved into a more fashionable style, and many Sharpies were British immigrants who had only recently arrived .

The Sharpies came from the city center or the suburbs and organized themselves in small or larger gangs, some with their own names and logos (e.g. the Blackburn South Sharps ), each of which defended its own territory and was considered very violent, although in brawls there was also a strict code of honor . Many sharpies were proficient in karate, and nunchucks were a common weapon. Action movie actors like Bruce Lee were idolized . The Sharpies were seen as opponents of the hippies, but also as rivals for skins and mods. The high point of the movement was between 1972 and 1977 and thus fell between the first wave of the skinhead movement and the beginning of punk .

Appearance

The male Sharpies wore their hair mostly short to shaved, but mostly let the neck hair grow longer as a "rat tail", which was often bleached, similar to a skullet - which set them apart from the earlier skinheads. Female sharpies wore their hair similarly, but generally a little longer.

Almost only Australian clothing was worn, no expensive designer brands, leather shoes, for men suits and black pinstripes or short Lee - or Levi's - jeans , too small and tight sweatshirts and T-shirts , for women platform shoes , mini skirts or jeans, and tight T. Shirts. Clothing was often printed with self-designed symbols, lettering or patterns. The Sharpies were among the first male adolescents to wear earrings (usually on the left) during this period . The individual groups competed with one another for the best designs and outfits. The name "Sharpies" probably comes from the attitude to be dressed as "sharp" as possible.

music

In contrast to the skinheads and mods, the Sharpies listened to Australian pub , hard and blues rock and proto-punk , as well as to some British bands such as David Bowie , Gary Glitter and Slade . Above all, however, musicians such as Lobby Loyde and the Colored Balls , Billy Thorpe & the Aztecs , Skyhooks , AC / DC and Rose Tattoo were popular in the Sharpie scene . AC / DC's Bon Scott dressed Sharpie for a while; Lobby Loyde and the Colored Balls and parts of Rose Tattoo were optically partly sharp, partly more skinheads. The Sharpies' dance style was somewhat similar to skanking .

Short film

• Melbourne Sharpies, short film on Youtube

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original from September 15, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
2. ↑ Archived copy ( Memento of the original from September 24, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
3. ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original from September 15, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
4. ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original from September 15, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
5. ↑ Archived copy ( Memento of the original from September 24, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
6. ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original from September 15, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
7. ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original from September 15, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
8. ↑ Archived copy ( Memento of the original from September 24, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
9. ↑ Archived copy ( Memento of the original from September 24, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
10. ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original from September 15, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
11. ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original from September 15, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
12. ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original from September 15, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.