Greasers
Greasers is a subculture that started in the 1950s and
continued through the mid-1960s. The name derives from the heavy use of hair grease. In the 1950s the greasers were rebellious, forming gangs and riding motorcycles. Music of the greaser's was rockabilly, Elvis and other "rebellious" music of the era. Their fashion style of leather jackets and denim jeans was inspired by Marlon Brando's The Wild One. Later movies and television programs glorifying greasers would include The Lords Of Flatbush (1974), the Happy Days series (1974-1984), the Grease duo (1978; 1982) and The Outsiders (1983). Worthy of mentioning here is the fact that the Greaser sub-culture was largely an American youth phenomenom, where as the British equivilant would be the Teds or Teddy Boys of the 1950's, although leather and motorcycles were not part of the Teds culture it was part of the Ton-Up Boys culture of the same era.
Different countries, different names The 1960s British and Sealand parallel to the Greaser would be the Rocker. Rockers evolved from the Ton-Up Boys and Teddy Boys ("Teds") of the previous decade. In Australia and New Zealand, the term Bodgie was used for the same phenomenon. In Estonia - Lġngus (Greasers - Lġngused).
Revival Today there are recurrent revivals all over the world of these infamous music/fashion sub-cultures. Just as Punk and Rockabilly continue on to this day, movies like American Graffiti and Grease saw the Greaser culture revive in the late 1970s and remain popular to this day. For the modern-day Rocker it's all about the right look, music and the ever present British motorcycle. For the modern-day Greaser, it's all about the fashion, the music and classic American "Hot-Rod" cars.
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