Lewisham 1977 anti-NF riot - 30 years on

T

Transpontine

history is made at night
In August 1977, the National Front attempted to march from New Cross to Lewisham in South East London. Local people and anti-racists from all over London and beyond mobilised to oppose them, and the NF were humiliated as their march was disrupted and banners seized. The day became known as 'The Battle of Lewisham' and has been seen as a turning point in the fortunes of the NF and the 1970s anti-fascist movement as well as in policing - riot shields were used for the first time in England.

To mark the 30th anniversary, we've been collecting people's accounts. It's all coming together with a free event on the 10the November at Goldsmiths College in New Cross with films and a great line up of speakers incuding Paul Gilroy and Dr William(Lez) Henry - author of What the Deejay Said: A Critique from the Street (Paul & Lez were both there on the day in '77).

More details here:
http://lewisham77.blogspot.com/

Neil
 
john eden

john eden

male pale and stale
This looks great - respect to all involved for organising the event and the blog and all that.

Really looking forward to it!
 
Z

zhao

there are no accidents
on a (kind of) related tip, anyone see "this is england"? movie about reggae and the off-shoot of Mods which became the skins...
 
C

crackerjack

Well-known member
zhao said:
on a (kind of) related tip, anyone see "this is england"? movie about reggae and the off-shoot of Mods which became the skins...
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It's not really about reggae or the skinhead reggae thing, but the 2nd wave of skinheads from the late 70s/early 80s who were as much into oi (tho you don't hear any of that in the film) as two tone. Racism played a much bigger part with them than their predecessors, as I understand it.

As for the film, it's good, though not a patch on Dead Man's Shoes.
 
M

martin

----
I have some video footage of the march from a 1977 documentary about Millwall, with some of the participants explaining that they just turned up for a punch-up in the pub afterwards, if that's of any use.

Also, the NF was more full of long hairs than skinheads back then. 'This is England' is OK, though has some WTF moments (like why are they hanging around with some 40-something slob) and the 'not racist' skins are incredibly nice and polite, slightly labouring the point. Agree, 'Dead Man's Shoes' is ace.
 
M

mms

sometimes
what i think is weird is after her 10 year old has been hanging out with a maraudering shit kicking gang of much older nazis fresh out of jail, the only thing the mum has to say about an incident where her kid witnessed a black kid getting almost kicked to death is - 'milky will be alright' it's never talked about !
 
M

martin

----
mms said:
what i think is weird is after her 10 year old has been hanging out with a maraudering shit kicking gang of much older nazis fresh out of jail, the only thing the mum has to say about an incident where her kid witnessed a black kid getting almost kicked to death is - 'milky will be alright' it's never talked about !
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She's a racist, deep down.
 
M

martin

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mms said:
it would be good if she pulled off her face instead to reveal she is infact princess anne and the kid is an initiate on his first steps to becoming a nazi superwarrior.
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Exactly - like "The Omen" crossed with "Psychomania" crossed with "Romper Stomper" crossed with "Conan the Barbarian"
 
B

bassnation

the abyss
crackerjack said:
It's not really about reggae or the skinhead reggae thing, but the 2nd wave of skinheads from the late 70s/early 80s who were as much into oi (tho you don't hear any of that in the film) as two tone. Racism played a much bigger part with them than their predecessors, as I understand it.

As for the film, it's good, though not a patch on Dead Man's Shoes.
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just like to point out that oi! did not exist until after 1980, which is why you don't hear any in the film.
 
M

martin

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crackerjack said:
Film is set in 82 - Falklands War innit.

And this from wiki, god of all truth.
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If we're being pedantic, it wasn't really called 'Oi!' until 1980, it was 'street punk' or 'real punk'. You can't count shouts of 'oi!' on record, or else the Jam and Clash would bag it for 1977.

Fuck, why do I know this rubbish?
 
M

mms

sometimes
bassnation said:
just like to point out that oi! did not exist until after 1980, which is why you don't hear any in the film.
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there is a uk subs track

i can think of several good reasons why they didn't licence oi tracks for the soundtrack to a film about race and skinhead culture.
 
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T

Transpontine

history is made at night
martin said:
the NF was more full of long hairs than skinheads back then
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Indeed if you look at pictures (such as these at Lewisham77), there's not a skinhead in sight.

I've been doing some oral history on this, and there's a kind of false memory of the recent past where people project an image on to it based on what happened subsequently, or how the period has become known. So people might expect that the NF were skinheads, or that because it was 1977 that the anti-fascists were punks, or that there were Anti-Nazi League placards (actually the ANL was formed later than Lewisham).

Most (male white) people on the NF and anti-fascist side in August 1977 seem to have some variation of longish hair (not hippy long, more mid-length), with a fair amount of facial hair too - which is not what people imagine when they hear the word '1977'. Punk was very much still a minority then, not a mass fashion, and the skinhead revival hadn't really started as I understand it.
 
B

bassnation

the abyss
mms said:
there is a uk subs track

i can think of several good reasons why they didn't licence oi tracks for the soundtrack to a film about race and skinhead culture.
Click to expand...

uk subs weren't oi! (ok really splitting hairs now, 57 million varieties and all that). even stuff like the exploited doesn't really count as oi. its more general punk i think, but what the hell do i know.

now peter and the test tube babies however - no matter how you slice it, that is oi.
 
B

bassnation

the abyss
crackerjack said:
Film is set in 82 - Falklands War innit.
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yep, my bad. should have clocked that.

however, oi really came to fore as a "cultural force" (lol) when old twatface garry bushell started championing it in sounds magazine (an nme competitor that went into receivership, for younger readers) as real punk in opposition to the anarcho syndicalist (and very middle class) strain of hardcore punk, crass etc.
 
B

bassnation

the abyss
we should really be turning to the forums resident oi! expert and ex-skinhead "daddy" for a definitive conclusion to this debate - none other than mr john "swallow neck tattoo" eden who assures me his oi collection hit the 10,000 records mark the other day and still shows no sign of peaking.

john, whats the verdict?
 
john eden

john eden

male pale and stale
Well (ahem) guvnor, personally I can't really sum it up any better than this:
Hard Skin: Oi Not Jobs said:
Oi Oi! Saturday Night!
Oi Oi! Black and White Unite!
Oi Oi! Punks and Skins - come on in!

I don't like your company
I won't work in your factory
I'm just a geezer who likes a beer
So get your boat race out of here - alright?

Oi Oi! That's what I say
Oi Oi! At the end of the day
Oi Oi! We're fucking here to stay
Oi Oi! Posers - get out the fucking way
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