Lord Bassington-Bassington has always had a soft spot for Oi! music and for skinhead culture, but for several reasons has not immersed himself completely in it.
There are several reasons for this. One is that the Bulldog is an unofficial symbol of these scenes, so Basset Hounds quickly feel out of place. Another is that Lord Bassington-Bassington isn’t very working class (indeed, His Lordship tends to not do any work at all, but due to blatant racial discrimination Bassets can't sign on the “dole”).
Yet another reason is politics: As His Lordship is ”neither red nor racist”, as they say in skinhead circles, he prefers to avoid the associations with extremism (of the right and left varieties) that often comes with these scenes. And anyway, you get enough political nonsense when you like neofolk music.
One of His Lordship's most beloved recent aquisitions on the vinyl front is The Way We Feel, a seven inch by Dutch Oi! veterans Evil Conduct – featuring the intriguing Frankie Flame, probably Oi! music's only pianist. Together, they have produced a tribute to the really important things in life: Brogues and crombie coats.
We take the liberty of reproducing the lyrics.
Brogues and crombies
I don’t care when people stare
At the clobber that I wear
High street fashion, overpriced
Imitations, oversized
Brogues and crombies, I like to dress in style
Brogues and crombies, I wear’em with a smile
Brogues and crombies, always dressing smart
Brogues and crombies, girls say I look the part
Sometimes people take the piss
Anti-fashion, that’s what it is
I’m no fuckin’ city-gent
They’re too dumb to understand
Trends they come and trends they go
Your life looks like a fashion show
Manipulated, makes you spend
That’s why I won’t follow trends
Words to live by!
Lord Bassington-Bassington’s home town of Oslo will probably never be a hotbed of Oi! Music. Which is probably just as well. But with the help of aforementioned Mr. Flame, local band The Whalers have created a nice little tribute to Oslo. It was originally released on a rather charming self-produced CD back in the 1990s, but has now been re-issued on a beautiful little piece of vinyl.
No comments:
Post a Comment