A Sharpie Soundtrack
Cool youth dripping with sex, violence and fashion, THE SHARPIE. The coolest and most shocking sign of youth rebellion.
This is Australia of the 70s, still imitating the Menzies era, a time when one out of three men still wore a suit and hat. Some had embraced the hippie idea and wore long hair, jeans and no sense of fashion, some combined the two, but the music–oh my God, you still had the Ray Conniff Singers, the late 50s pop, jazz, the constant echo of the swinging sixties continually playing on the radio. We had spent from birth ’til our teens listening to all of this over and over over and over, a soundtrack to mowing the lawn.
We wanted our own soundtrack. Something for a Saturday night, away from the Penthouse Club. It was our turn to stay out late and go wild to the sounds of Bowie: The Jean Genie, Changes and A Starman Waiting in the Sky; to Marc Bolans’ 20th Century Boy and Get It On. Gary Glitter gave us Rock and Roll Parts 1 and 2 (long before we knew he was a fuckwit), The Sweet went on a Ballroom Blitz, and Mott the Hoople said, “All the young dudes carry the blues.” KISS let us “Rock ‘n’ Roll all night and party every day,” and Elton said, “Saturday night’s alright for fighting”.
If you liked it harder, Slade said, “Cum feel the noise” and “Momma we’re all crazy now.” Some got heavier with Deep Purple and Led Zep or some went light with ELO, Queen (and the never mentioned ABBA attraction). Some went for the weird bands, like Sparks, Alice Cooper, early Split Enz, or even the sensational Alex Harvey Band. (Some say GLAM was existentialist music to lose and find yourself in, which was perfect for Sharpies.)
The girls dug the sweet sounds and showmanship of glam, while the guys liked it a bit heavier. It was so “cliquey”. If you dug the wrong music, you were out (that’s why nobody admitted to listening to ABBA), or if your new girl dug Sherbert, or some other surfie sounds, she was your ex.
The ideal night out was listening to Bowie, KISS or Marc over a dozen bottles; meeting up with the gang, usually at the local shops on the street your gang was named after; hitting the cars or trains, and riding down to the local dance to pose, fight, pull a bird; and back to your base to boast of the night’s adventure. And then, unfortunately, as we never wanted a night to end: home.
Something we all had in common was the love for local bands, like Lobby Loyde and the Coloured Balls; Billy Thorpe; AC/DC; Skyhooks; Buster Brown; Fat Daddy; Hush; Kush; Little Stevie; and about 50 more who had that “romper bomper” backbeat.
The dances were usually held in town halls with amateur security, and with the threat of violence always near, the Sharpies would do the most obnoxious style of dance, for its shock value more than its elegance. This was a theme behind the Sharpie culture: “Did I frighten you? Then don’t fuck with me!”
This is what I remember most from those days.
Chane Chane
good memories thanks
from george leichhardt / Balmain sharpie
Comment by george — June 7, 2008 @ 12:22 pm
good memories like seeing slade live with lindisfarne, and at festival hall with sweet and status quo.
seeing ACDC at our local icering in ringwood or skyhooks at your local dance.
we had it all plus, and of course we had to have guts for many a time i came face to face with other groups while on the train but hey i kicked and got kicked but i would not have missed it for the world, made a man of me it did.
cheers barry
Comment by barry turnbull — July 31, 2008 @ 12:51 am
HEY GEORGE AND BARRY….YOU GUYS STILL AROUND ?
Comment by thommo — June 25, 2009 @ 5:10 pm
at urban rock-blog you got “sound of the sharpies”-podcasts
w/lotsa 1970`s boogie & glam from downunder,download for free.
http://www.bovverboogie.blogspot.com/2009_05_01_archive.html
Comment by fred — June 29, 2009 @ 8:31 pm
this is great!!.. do you have anymore information on sydney sharpies?.. i’m from sydney and i’d like to know more about this..
thanks
justin
Comment by justin — August 31, 2009 @ 1:23 pm
stuff the sydney sharps!
Comment by rob — September 2, 2009 @ 10:44 pm
I remember getting on the bus in 1975 when i was five years old with my older sister (12)and my mum (36) and there were some sharpies on it already. They commented us being wogs, despite us not being dark for italians, and my sister said, “theyre sharpies”, and my mum said in italian, dont say anything and dont look at them. That was my experience with sharpies when i was a kid. Scary looking, thin, tatts, missing teeth, and them kissing and carrying on (even infront of a housewife and her children)
Comment by Leo — November 6, 2009 @ 2:50 am
hey leo.lucky you didn’t get on a bus with the sharpies on it in the late 1960′s mate……you want scary….. THAT’S SCARY!!!!
Comment by chriso — November 7, 2009 @ 8:30 pm
DON’T WORRY ABOUT ROB JUSTIN,HE;S JUST A DICKHEAD !
Comment by JOHHNY — November 7, 2009 @ 8:32 pm
johnny suck me off!
Comment by rob — November 8, 2009 @ 9:33 am
no rob , i’ll let your mates do that.
Comment by johhny — November 13, 2009 @ 3:34 pm