Came across the 4skins and oi when i was 15 im now 57 and still a huge 4skins and proudly wear their tshirts and all oi music at home and car !! Its the best music scene ever !!!
Wrong pic lil buddy this is the much later 1983 lineup with Roi Pearce on the far left of pic as vocalist. This recording is Gary Hodges on lead vocals from 1981 if not before….
Exactly! Be true to yourself. Don't ever pretend to be something you're not like a phoney. This was an excellent time, but at the time kind of boring. You only realize how great something was in hindsight. Back then it was just how we dressed. IT wasn't "skinhead" it was just our thing - probably most similar to Urban kids now. It was just fashion, fashion and music. It wasn't contrived or thought about, it was just what we did. No-one studied what it meant forensically like nerds now, just moving fashions and good music.
Some of their songs were SKA. A kind of reggae mixed with early punk similar to Madness and The Specials. They are the best band out there for eclectic music. 4 Skins = 4 Skinheads which back in the day was as much a style of dress. Boots braces and rolled up jeans. Popular Doc Martens, Fred Perry and Ben Sherman shirts. The look was hijacked by Facists and is taking a long time to shed the stereotype of racism and violence. Check out Plastic Gangster. Radically different sound to this song.
Mostly criticising stuff they didn't like around them to driving rythms. They weren't self-consciously working-class they were just them, and honest, which happened to be working-class.
He's CRITICIZING that attitude you 101% certified TOOL. He;s saying that people who never say sorry are SLOBS. He's not agreeing. Can't you hear the mocking in his voice? "Working class"... you f'ing spanner. You'd get your balls kicked into your skull if you ever met a "working class". 4-skins were not self-conscious about being working class, they just "were" - and they didn't hate other people. You have so much to learn about the world and your own prejudices you haven't even scraped the surface of this music. You're obviously hiding in Skinhead to avoid facing the real world and creating a safe make-believe world to react against "working class". This song is ridiculing slobs.
Reading a lot of comments here, need to clear something up :- This song is CRITICISING slobs who don't say sorry. 4-skins are not apologists for yobs, they are decent, normal, rough people. They are saying people who don't say sorry are slobs and yobbish behaviour is weak. His voice is mocking it's not 1-dimensional.
Whaaaha.. im a true skin and a proud punk...still after 47 years ..so please i've seen it all. Do not give us BULLSHIT,WEST SKINS UNITED,GELDERMALSEN,THE NETHERLANDS!!
take it back from who ?, we dont have a coutry never have the upper class elite own most of it cant even go for a walk in england unless it is on a proper path !!
possibly but there is no racisme in there music so i think not. Not all skins are racists you know you got things like SHARP ( skinheads against racial prejudice) but dunno for sure what 4skins stand for just know they invented my favor!it song A.C.A.B. ;)
The word skinhead related to black kids that were into proper Jamaican reggae which pre dated Bob Marley by about 4 years. They cut their hair short as opposed to the hippies and soul trainers that all had affros in 69. The schools were full of Skins. All races. The saying is if you’re racist you CAN’T be a Skinhead. Check Trojan Skinheads on Spotify. Oi bands came about 10 years later with rock punkabilly tunes which is my choice in music
