OF SHEEP AND SAFETY IN NUMBERS . . . . .
I know I went off in my last post, but, hey, I'm a redheaded, passionate boy. My diatribe was in no way aimed at the crew who took the Brough to Bonneville and put their balls on the line in the time honoured tradition, all power to them with such a noble cause . . .
I just get so pissed off, and have done seemingly all my life, when things that are essentially part of 'alternate' or 'counter culture' lifestyles, embraced by a brave, individualistic few, prepared to be ridiculed by their peers for being 'into' whatever it might be when that thing is still 'underground' and unpopular, are suddenly latched onto by glib, parasitic, insipid marketing departments for 'respectable', mainstream companies and turned into blatant, diluted, prostituted, pseudo hip branding exercises.
It's like the guys at my school back in '77 and '78 who put shit on me for expressing my love for bands like The Pistols, The Clash, Elvis Costello, The Saints, The Dolls and The Stooges, [when they were listening to ELO, Fleetwood Mac and the Eagles] not to mention Devo and later The Kennedy's and B52's, then, when they had filtered through into more popular acceptance and deemed 'safe' and 'cool' they were now into it . . . . fuck off !!! [interestingly they're nearly always the 'jock' crew] It's all about opening your mind and not dismissing something out of hand that might be outside of your usual comfort zone . . . . don't be scared, surrender to your gut instinct, it makes life exciting !!
The same thing that happened with Punk, skateboards and tattoos has now happened with the hot rod/custom/retro/chopper/bobber/flobber/biker thing over the last ten and fifteen years, arse clowns and fucktards who wouldn't have been caught dead near or on a bike back then, not to mention when they were kids, are all over it . . . . these are the dickheads who went out and bought all the turgid OCC merchandise, put Maltese/Iron Crosses on everything they possess and made 'Biker Wank Off' a global malaise . . . . . .
I didn't invent this shit, I wasn't the first, I just follow my heart, I'm not trying to be cool, but I don't give a fuck about others opinions, I just love the same shit I always have and it happens to be cars, bikes, skates and rock and fucking roll !!!!
When the bubble has burst and the fad has come and gone [it's certainly looking that way in the States] and all the tawdry followers and fashion victims have moved onto the 'next big thing', myself and guys and chicks like me all over the planet, who've always been inspired by bikes and the culture and history thereof, will simply go about our business and roll on with what we love.
"FOLLOWERS CAN NEVER BE LEADERS" . . . . . T.A, 1978
I know I went off in my last post, but, hey, I'm a redheaded, passionate boy. My diatribe was in no way aimed at the crew who took the Brough to Bonneville and put their balls on the line in the time honoured tradition, all power to them with such a noble cause . . .
I just get so pissed off, and have done seemingly all my life, when things that are essentially part of 'alternate' or 'counter culture' lifestyles, embraced by a brave, individualistic few, prepared to be ridiculed by their peers for being 'into' whatever it might be when that thing is still 'underground' and unpopular, are suddenly latched onto by glib, parasitic, insipid marketing departments for 'respectable', mainstream companies and turned into blatant, diluted, prostituted, pseudo hip branding exercises.
It's like the guys at my school back in '77 and '78 who put shit on me for expressing my love for bands like The Pistols, The Clash, Elvis Costello, The Saints, The Dolls and The Stooges, [when they were listening to ELO, Fleetwood Mac and the Eagles] not to mention Devo and later The Kennedy's and B52's, then, when they had filtered through into more popular acceptance and deemed 'safe' and 'cool' they were now into it . . . . fuck off !!! [interestingly they're nearly always the 'jock' crew] It's all about opening your mind and not dismissing something out of hand that might be outside of your usual comfort zone . . . . don't be scared, surrender to your gut instinct, it makes life exciting !!
The same thing that happened with Punk, skateboards and tattoos has now happened with the hot rod/custom/retro/chopper/bobber/flobber/biker thing over the last ten and fifteen years, arse clowns and fucktards who wouldn't have been caught dead near or on a bike back then, not to mention when they were kids, are all over it . . . . these are the dickheads who went out and bought all the turgid OCC merchandise, put Maltese/Iron Crosses on everything they possess and made 'Biker Wank Off' a global malaise . . . . . .
I didn't invent this shit, I wasn't the first, I just follow my heart, I'm not trying to be cool, but I don't give a fuck about others opinions, I just love the same shit I always have and it happens to be cars, bikes, skates and rock and fucking roll !!!!
When the bubble has burst and the fad has come and gone [it's certainly looking that way in the States] and all the tawdry followers and fashion victims have moved onto the 'next big thing', myself and guys and chicks like me all over the planet, who've always been inspired by bikes and the culture and history thereof, will simply go about our business and roll on with what we love.
"FOLLOWERS CAN NEVER BE LEADERS" . . . . . T.A, 1978
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