The Shadows in 1960 were just about the coolest thing happening in England. Pre-Beatles, Pre-Stones, they were already at the edge of the door that would soon be exploded open by British rock and roll. But for now, “Apache” was climbing the charts, satisfying England’s deep seeded need for cool. And if you watch them play it, their style compliments their sound in all the right ways. It’s a combination of leather jackets with collars, V-neck tweed cardigans, Buddy Holly glasses and laid-back “I don’t give a fuck.” What makes this band look so cool is the way they marry their sound and attitude with their clothes. They probably didn’t put too much conscious thought into what they were wearing during a particular live performance of “Apache” that I’m thinking of. This only makes the whole thing better. Self-conceit is the downfall of any good, true fashion. The minute you say, “I’m not sure if what I’m wearing is cool,” it automatically becomes true. In personal experience, you just never say that. The best fashion is done in split-second instinct and then forgotten about. It’s an element of true organic fashion. Own what you wear. The Shadows had their sound, and they make cool look easy. In a way, that’s because it is—fashion is a form of self-expression, and the minute you start laboring over it, you’ve got it all wrong. Just like “Apache” is about the notes that don’t get played, their fashion sense is about the thoughts that don’t sway them. They borrowed from what they thought was good and didn’t pay attention to the rest. If it doesn’t come naturally to you, fuck it. It wasn’t meant to be. And don’t forget to have fun with it. If you’re not having fun, neither is your style. It’s all one symbiotic wardrobe, baby. But don’t philosophize.

#theshadows #surfrock #instrumentalrock #fashion #1960 #apache

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzgbcyfJgfQ

 

Little Richard is considered The King of Rock and Roll in some camps. With due credit. While I myself don’t consider him to be the king (I do that with Chuck Berry), he doesn’t need to be: if you want to be Little Richard, try shout-singing a B flat above middle C over and over at repeated gigs. His vocal style is often copied but rarely achieved. Little Richard belongs to a nebulous of R and B shouters from his era, and it’s said he met a young James Brown.

 

Enough about the backstory. Today I want to get into Little Richard’s fashion sense—and most specifically the fashion sense of his band. They were miles ahead of their time, and not just because Charles Connor tightened up the live show like a locomotive train that should have exploded four songs ago. They wore makeup on stage, something that just wasn’t done by male performers in this era. While The Upsetters, as Richard’s band was known early on, generally donned matching suits for the live gig (and dig those suits by the way), it was their makeup that flouted conventions of the time and paved a way for musicians to come for decades. And an important element of this style was its very use in terms of bypassing standard norms for Black artists of the period. Often, good fashion is more than just about looking good—it can also be an immediate way of making direct political gestures. With Little Richard at the helm, not only did they sound good and look good, they also said good things. Rock and roll doesn’t always have to overtly assert a political stance or feeling for it to be political. Working in the 1950s as a Black performer, Little Richard faced many limitations as to what would lead him to break through and become heard by mainstream ears. The Upsetters, with their coordinated dance moves for the live show and subtle but noticeable makeup, treaded the line between sheer enjoyment and breaking down walls with ample grace, and it is, all in all, to be coveted. Countless other musicians not only copied The Upsetters in sound, they copied them in style too. It seems that being the “architect of rock and roll” comes with style in the blueprints.

#littlerichard #rockandrollfashion #charlesconnor #1950s #theupsetters