The Trojan Story: https://smile.amazon.com/Rudeboy-Trojan-Records-Dave-Barker/dp/B081BC1C86
REGGAE BRITANNIA!
BUT… this documentary is a cannot miss.
Skinheads were the marriage of the East Indian Immigration movement with working class white dock working Cockney youth. Yes, skinheads were happy black and white people drinking pints at pubs listening to soul and motown and rocksteady. History matters.
Sure, the National Front hijacked the scene, picking up low morale jocko oi punks after hooliganism at football matches.
So skinheads were taken over, sorta like MAGA, working class “economic anxiety” as excuse for racism in lieu of demographic shift. In my mind, the 70s version of skinheads weren’t “real”, so I am gatekeeping the 1960s for sure. The first wave all got married, many mixed race families, and settled down to just live family lives. The 70s was a disaster, to the point that Jimmy Pursey from Sham 69 was at the forefront of the rock against racism movement, and used XRay-Specs and The Clash to onboard the far right skinheads in the mid 70s to the message of anti-racism. That guy is an amazing dude that was in the middle of some awful times. This documentary peels back so many lost layers of nuance and history, it’s important for Britain history, music history, race, culture, economic history… it’s well worth your time.