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Rockers (also known as leather boysStuart, John, Rockers! Kings of the Road (Plexus Publishing, 1996). . and ton-up boys) are members or followers of a rock and roll and Motorcycling subculture that originated in the United Kingdom during the late 1950s and remained popular in the 1960s, especially among . Rockers who rode bikes were widely known as ton-up boys for achieving a speed of 100 mph (miles per hour). By 1965, the term greaser had also been introduced to Great BritainMotor Cycle, 24 June 1965. p.836. On the Four Winds by 'Nitor'. " It was, I have it on good authority, as much a surprise to the so-called rockers to find they are now "greasers" as it was to the general public...The people in question—greasy rockers?—are expected to sit back uncomplainingly while learned gentlemen in such papers as the Guardian discuss the pros and cons...I would suggest to the Guardian's correspondent, and to any other erudite commentators who feel duty bound to join in, that the subject should be allowed to die a natural death." Accessed 20 February 2014greaser, n. Oxford English Dictionary. 2nd ed. (1989); online version December 2011.
Many factors allowed the rocker subculture to emerge: the end of post-war rationing in the UK, a general rise in prosperity for working-class youths, the recent availability of credit and financing for young people, the influence of American popular music and films, the construction of race track-like arterial roads around British cities, the development of transport cafés, and a peak in British motorcycle engineering. During the 1950s,Mods, rockers, and the music of the British invasion. James E. Perone. Praeger, 2008. . pp. 3, 65, etc. they were known as "ton-up boys" because doing a ton is English slang for driving at a speed of or over.
The rockers or ton-up boys took what was essentially a sport and turned it into a lifestyle, dropping out of mainstream societySkateboarding, Space and the City, Borden, Iain. Berg Publishers, (2003). p. 137 and "rebelling at the points where their will crossed society's".Dancin' in the streets!: anarchists, IWWs, surrealists, Situationists, Franklin Rosemont, Charles Radcliffe. Charles H Kerr 2005 This damaged the public image of motorcycling in the UK.Suzanne McDonald-Walker, 'Bikers: Culture, Politics and Power' Berg Publishers, 2000. The mass media started targeting these socially powerless youths, creating a moral panicStanley Cohen; (1972). Folk Devils and Moral Panics; The Creation of the Mods and Rockers Routledge. . through exaggerated, ill-founded portrayals of them as "folk devils", loutish, scruffy, motorised cowboys, loners, or outsiders.Nuttall, Jeff. Bomb Culture Paladin, London 1969. pp. 27-29Resistance through rituals: youth subcultures in post-war Britain By Stuart Hall, Tony Jefferson. Routledge, 1990. The sociology of youth culture and youth subcultures: Sex and drugs and rock 'n' roll by Mike Brake 1980 Routledge & Kegan Paul, From the 1960s on, they became more commonly known as rockers, a term previously little known outside small groups.
The rocker subculture was associated with 1950s and early-1960s rock and roll music by American artists such as Gene Vincent, Eddie Cochran, and Chuck Berry, music that George Melly called "screw and smash" music.
These motorcycles were lean, light and handled various road surfaces well. The most defining machine of the rocker heyday was the Triton, which was a custom motorcycle made of a Norton Featherbed frame and a Triumph Bonneville engine. It used the most common and fastest racing engine combined with the best handling frame of its day.Mike Seate. Café Racer The Motorcycle: Featherbeds, Clip-ons, Rear-sets and the Making of a Ton-up Boy. Parker House (2008). Welte, Sabine, Cafe Racer. Bruckmann Verlag GmbH, 2008. Other popular motorcycle brands included BSA, Royal Enfield and Matchless.
The term café racers is now also used to describe motorcycle riders who prefer vintage British, Italian or Japanese motorbikes from the 1950s to late 1970s. These modern café racers do not resemble the rockers of earlier decades, and they dress in a more modern and comfortable style, with only a hint of likeness to the rocker style, nor do they share the passion for 50s rock'n'roll. These modern café racers have taken elements of the American greaser, British rocker, and modern motorcycle rider styles to create a look of their own.Clay, Mike. (1988) Cafe Racers: Rockers, Rock 'n' Roll and the Coffee-bar Cult. London: Osprey Publishing. Café racers of the 1960s: machines, riders and lifestyle, Mick Walker. Crowood (1994) Rockers in the 2000s tend still to ride classic British motorcycles, however, classically styled European café racers are now also seen, such as Moto Guzzi or Ducati, as well as classic Japanese bikes, some with British-made frames such as those made by Rickman.
First seen in the United States and then England, the rocker fashion style was born out of necessity and practicality. Rockers wore heavily decorated leather motorcycle jackets, often adorned with metal studs, patches, pin badges and sometimes an Esso gas man trinket. When they rode their motorcycles, they usually wore no helmet, or wore a classic open-face helmet, aviator goggles and a white silk scarf (to protect them from the elements). Other common items included: T-shirts, leather caps, Levi's or Wrangler jeans,Jeans: A Cultural History of an American Icon, James Sullivan, Gotham, 2006. leather trousers, tall motorcycle boots (often made by Lewis Leathers and Goldtop) or brothel creeper. Also popular was a patch declaring membership of the 59 Club of England, a church-based youth organisation that later formed into a motorcycle club with members all over the world. The rocker hairstyle, kept in place with Brylcreem, was usually a tame or exaggerated pompadour hairstyle, as was popular with some 1950s rock and roll musicians.
Largely due to their clothing styles and dirtiness, the rockers were not widely welcomed by venues such as pubs and dance halls. Rockers also transformed rock and roll dancing into a more violent, individualistic form beyond the control of dance hall management. They were generally reviled by the British motorcycle industry and general enthusiasts as being as an embarrassment and bad for the industry and the sport.The Bsa Gold Star, Mick Walker. Redline Books, 2004
Originally, many rockers opposed recreational drug use. According to Johnny Stuart:
They had no knowledge of the different sorts of drugs. To them amphetamines, cannabis, heroin were all drugs - something to be hated. Their ritual hatred of Mods and other sub-cultures was based in part on the fact that these people were believed to take drugs and were therefore regarded as sissies. Their dislike of anyone connected with drugs was intense. Rockers! Kings of the Road by John Stuart, Plexus Publishing Ltd.
Many contemporary rockers still wear or full-length motorcycle boots, but Winklepickers (sharp pointed shoes) are no longer common. Some wear brothel creepers (originally worn by Teddy Boys), or . Rockers have continued to wear leather motorcycle jackets, often adorned with patches, studs, spikes and painted artwork; jeans or leather trousers; and white silk scarves. Leather caps adorned with metal studs and chains, common among rockers in the 1950s and 1960s, are rarely seen any more. Instead, some contemporary rockers wear a classic woollen flat cap.
In the early 1980s, a rockers revival was started by Lenny Paterson and a handful of original rockers. Paterson organised rocker reunion dances called piss-ups, which attracted individuals from as far as Europe. The first rocker reunion motorcycle run of 30 classic British motorcycles rode to Battersea - home of the Chelsea Bridge Boys. Following runs went to other destinations with historic relevance to rockers such as Brighton.
In 1994, Mark Wilsmore Cycle World: The Ace Café. Riding the Reunion and others organised the first Ace Cafe to mark the 25th anniversary of the closure of the famous transport cafe before going on to re-opening and establishing a series of events.Missy D. Interview mit Mark Wilsmore Ace Café, London (deutsche Übersetzung). Speeding E-magazine, July 2007 These events now attract up to 40,000 motorcyclists.[2] Brighton and Hove City Council. Ace Cafe Reunion, Madeira Drive (scroll down page) Retrieved 26 January 2014Motorcycle News (MCN), UK. 17 September 2008
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