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“ I remember one show we were doing... and a little girl climbed on stage... she reached up and she touched my hair, and she fainted. And once that happened it was almost kind of like, I'm never gonna change this. This is what's going to make the band big.— Mike Score of A Flock of Seagulls, when asked about his famous hairstyle
From David Bowie's ever-evolving flaming red 'do to Justin Bieber's perfectly swooped locks, musicians often sport eclectic and trend-setting hair styles. Today, we explore the past and present of iconic hairdos with Maura Johnston, music editor for The Village Voice, and Christina Christoforou, illustrator of the new book, "Whose Hair?" Plus, we'll be joined by hair stylist and creator of the Ziggy Stardust mullet, Suzi Ronson, and musician Mike Score of A Flock of Seagulls-- whose hair we don't quite know how to describe.
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Comments [13]
Bowies' Ziggy/Alladin Sane hair style is NOT a mullet but a spiky shag cut. the "business in front, party in the back" mullet is from the 80's ( see Billie Ray Cyrus )
I was a big fan of Bowie's blond looks -- even his last long in front short in back classic schoolboy hairdo from his last tour of only a few years ago!
In "Just Kids" Patti Smith wrote that she was merely tolerated by the Max's crowd when she went there with Robert Mapplethorp. She said all that changed when she cut her straight black hair into the same style as Keith Richard's. That night when she went to Max's she said the attitude towards her changed from that moment and everyone was talking about her hair.
You haven't mentioned the origin of the term "long haired music"?
One of my favorite songs about hair is NRBQ's "Tired of your permanent wave"
Don't forget the early 80s boy band Haircut 100, whose music melded the era's new wave sound with a ska beat
Can't credit the Beatles with everything.... Hair icons go back even earlier to the 50's (Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard) and the whole Greaser/Rockabilly look that still goes on today! Totally outlasting the Mop Tops!
Hair? Really? The banality of subjects on this show never ceases to amaze. Hair has as much to do with musical talent as American Idol does.
great show!
norwegian black metal hair and makeup is great, and an interesting 'in' to that culture.
great show!
norwegian black metal hair and makeup is great, and an interesting 'in' to that culture.
Though she never sang a note, the most iconic hairdo ever was Farrah Fawcett. If you were alive in the 1970's, you had wings....
Can we talk about weaves and extensions? Most pop queens today and American Idol finalists (post makeovers) sport huge manes of fake hair. Who exactly are they fooling? Mark my words, we are going to look back on these "dos" and cringe.
You're dead-on re Bowie. Back in the 70s, we all had a version of his haircut and dyed it red too at times. My BF even shaved her eyebrows (and lost her job in the process).
Yeah, our hair didn't always look as fantastic as Bowie's, but we making a statement.
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