Teddy Boys: Post-War Britain and the First Youth Revolution (2024)

 I would consider music to be my main hobby even though it seems I've been spending less time on it. Teddy Boys by Max Decharné is a brilliant book that is not just about music but about the entire phenomenon, from fashion, to gang violence to music. It reads as a historical document, from its origins in pre-WWI Britain, to the period between the wars, to post-WWII and its 1980s revival.

 This being both my second book by this author (A Rocket in my Pocket, about the rock 'n' roll and rockabilly tribes), as well as my second book on this subject (Teddy Boys a Concise History and Teddy Boy Wars) I have to say Decharné's writing stands out as being extremely well researched and insightful. When covering popular culture there's an usual knack for authors to either use only interviews or personal experiences, cite other modern books or even cite themselves - not so here as the material referenced is usually published at the time the events described were taking place, for example the first instances of the name "teddy boy" being used in newspapers, novels or film or the news reports on gang violence and criminal trials. This gives the book a very authoritative take on the subject, including its presence in other media like cinema and books, as well as its problematic association with crime and many instances of race riots - I would find it hard to imagine something better written or more in-depth. The subject itself is quite boundary-free, as most urban cultures constantly evolve and its a hard thing to try to compartmentalize it in order to seriously study it. 

This is then a story about the dawn of the teenager and how very specific world affairs, namely depression and war, gave rise to this revivalism of Edwardian England, created something which didn't exist in state before (the unworking teenager with disposable income) and how this trend was influenced by what was going on in America, particularly from the mid 1950s on, with the wave of rockabilly and rock 'n' roll, and then back again to America as Teds like The Beatles went on Beatlemania. Thus what was once confined to war rooms and Finance chancellors' offices now unfurled into the street to become a proper culture with an ethos, a look and a soundtrack, that itself was influenced by events elsewhere and in turned influenced back, somewhat becoming the cornerstone of popular culture in the second part of the XX century. Fascinating stuff.

In all, this is a brilliant read. If there's quite a fair few books on rock 'n' roll, teddy boy-ism, per se, is much less researched. That there is such a complete and well made book available is quite a bit of old luck, indeed!