Under Heavy Manners

I had my Bad Manners show ruined by some skinheads Saturday night. "Skinhead!", you say. Yeah, but keep in mind these skinheads were not the racist Nazi skinheads that many people believe are what all skinheads are. In fact, some of these skinheads were Chicanos. Confused yet?

Well, what I have discovered down here in Los Angeles is a fascinating sub-culture of working class Hispanic youth that are enthralled with the British working class youth/fashion movements of the late 70's-early 80's. Skinheads, Rock-a-Billy (or PsychoBilly), and Oi! Punks with Spanish surnames abound in this city. I don't know enough about it to know why this is or how it started, but there is a sizable Chicano following for these styles, often crossing over from one to another. Another strange thing is that many of them are fervent followers of Morrisey and The Smiths; they now pretty much make up his fan base here in Southern California--but that is a whole other story.

Many skinheads are known as S.H.A.R.P.s, which stands for skinheads against racial prejudice. It is an actual organization,but many Skins who are not officially part of it identify themselves as such. This working class youth movement began in England in the 1960s and was originally an outgrowth of the mod movement. The skins were more or less the poorer mods who couldn't afford all the latest fashions than the more well off peacock-ish mods could and they tended to be from rougher backgrounds and thus more gang-oriented and prone to violence.

The Skins favored Dr.Marten steel-toe boots, straight-leg Levi jeans or Sta-prest trousers, button-down shirts, Fred Perry or Ben Sherman polo shirts and braces (aka, suspenders), and flight jackets or blazers. They were rabid fans of the Jamaican music they heard from their Caribbean immigrant neighbors: ska, rock steady and early reggae.

When reggae began slowing down the tempo of the music and started singing about Black Nationalism and Rastafarianism, the Skins could no longer relate to the music and thus their connection to Jamaican music ends by about the very early 70's. Their was a skinhead revival in the late 70's that was parallel to the punk movement and found Skins following certain harder edged street punk groups as well as forming the core fan base for the 2 Tone revival of ska in the late 70's-early 80's, a more uptemo, punk-infected take on the genre.

Bad Manners was one of these groups, though they never actually recorded for the 2 Tone label. They were a strictly-for-fun 9 piece ensemble who recorded ska-pop orginals as well as covers of old ska, reggae, 50's R&B and novelty songs. They were and continue to be led by Buster Bloodvessel, a bald, 300 + pound mountain of a man who liked to revel in his own girth and stick out his considerably large tongue a lot. Between 1980 and 1983 they amassed 12 chart hits and were seen as a lightweight alternative to some of the more earnest socio-political messages being articulated in song by The Specials, The Selecter, and The (English) Beat. When the ska craze in England died down, so too did Bad Manners popularity. They tried to move away from their ska roots and released a dreadful pop album on the Portrait label called "Mental Notes". That flopped and in the 20-odd years since they have been a cult act who have toured the world playing the old hits and r eleasing a string of forgettable ska-oriented albums and countless compilations, re-recordings and live albums.

Which leads us finally to the show itself. I arrive at he Knitting Factory's main room, which is a dark and fairly unremarkable performance space with a back bar and an upstairs balcony that is closed off for tonight. Buster (now the only remaining original member) is holding court near the bar: chatting with fans and taking photos with them. In every single photo op he sticks out his tongue. I have seen Bad Manners a couple times before, but that was up in the college town of Chico, California and it is now a good 15 years ago. Buster appears much shorter than I remember him, considerably less than six feet. What is really surprising is how much weight he has lost. He is much more svelte than he has even been in his life. I'm thinking he must of had gastro-bypass surgery.

Bad Manners take the stage at 10:30 to their traditional opener "Echo 4-2". Buster hits the stage and they proceed to move through the same set they have been playing for years. I think only a couple new songs are ever added to the format of hits and live favorites from the first four albums. A couple of things from their late 80's attempt at a serious comeback are now live staples, including "This is Ska", "Sally Brown" and "Skaville UK".

All seems to be going fine, when all of a sudden, the crowd starts moving in my direction and away from the front right-hand side of the stage. I look over and see two Mexican skins pummeling some white guy senseless. The music stops and security come over and grab the dazed victim, who is bleeding profusely from his lower lip, and start to escort him from the building. I am thinking that it will only be a moment before the guys administering the beating will get the same treatment. Nothing happens. The band start to play again and now one of the Mexican skins has taken his shirt off (for some reason,a classic tough guy move) that shows off his muscles and his 2 Tone man and English Beat girl tattoos. At this point you get the sense that he is not through kicking ass, and it takes just a few seconds before he starts attacking someone else in the crowd. The band stops again and security again make a feeble attempt to restore order. This mostly involves waving flashlights around . Once again they don't do anything to try and kick out the trouble makers.

Buster has left the stage momentarily, perhaps he is in discussion with the promoter over what is becoming of the show. He returns and make a plea for everyone to stop the violence and that what we need to do is show one another "luff". At least the guy is trying. He then strikes up the band to start playing a slow ska-reggae version of "Can't Keep My Eyes Off Of You", perhaps hoping the lilting lovers rock tune will mellow out the crowd. A white skinhead couple are dancing cheek-to-cheek right next to me when all of a sudden they are violently shoved by some other Mexican skin. They shove back and things seem to be unraveling quickly. At this rate,Ska-Reggae's message of racial unity may be forgotten pretty soon. I start sizing up which exit is closest and/or easiest to get to in case this thing blows wide open. I might be seen as a likely target for someone to get their Saturday night frustrations-jollies out on.

A Mexican skinhead girl (who looks like quite the bruiser, let me tell you) pushes her way through the crowd and wallops some other girl for no apparent reason. And in a unintentionally funny moment, Buster says from the stage, "That doesn't look like luff to me." No kidding, big man.

The security staff have had enough and I see one of them give to the finger over neck symbol to kill the show. The sound man gets on his mike and declares the show is over. Many people, including myself,are unhappy, but perhaps a little relieved too. This does not change the fact that we paid $20 and only got to see approximately half the show. People mill around not wanting to leave, while the security staff start waving their stupid flashlights around. People are screaming about refunds and a crowd gathers at the box office outside in a vain attempt to get their money back. That isn't going to happen any time soon, so I am out of there.

It is really sad that 95 or so people had their Saturday night ruined by the actions of maybe 5 morons. I abhor violence, but if it has to happen, then let it be for a reason. These idiots seemed hell bent on creating a violent confrontation just for kicks or as some stupid weekend ritual they go through all the time to prove how tough they are or as a temporary escape from their grim day-to-day lives. But now I'm being extremely speculative.

As I move east down Hollywood Boulevard, away from The Knitting Factory and that night's debacle, I see a couple of cop cars and an ambulance heading in the other direction. I'm pretty sure I know where they are headed.