Rockabilly Pin Ups

Dayna Delux

Photo by Mitzi 2-07 For FTW Kreations

Rockabilly has joined the ranks of established musical subcultures in America. As with other established subcultures such as jazz, blues, bluegrass, and punk, rockabilly musicians are able to earn a steady but limited living, supported by fanzines, websites, annual festivals, and specialist venues and record labels. Although no other rockabilly performers have risen to the level of mass popularity enjoyed by the Stray Cats in the 1980s, the scene has been growing in recent years. There has been quite a bit of overlap and interaction between the current rockabilly scene and swing revival, with Brian Setzer of the Stray Cats and Brian Setzer Orchestra being a key figure for both groups. Other artists, such as Trick Pony a country music trio influenced by both rockabilly and honky-tonk styles and Royal Crown Review, have also found popularity with both camps. [32] There are active local rockabilly scenes in many US cities, particularly on the West Coast, as well as major festivals like Viva Las Vegas and Hootenanny. Rockabilly fans have made common cause with hot rodders and many shows feature both music and cars with a 1950s flavor. With the growth of satellite and internet radio, there are finally regular broadcast outlets for rockabilly music. In Europe, rockabilly remains a vibrant and active subculture, with strong interest not only in current revivalists, but also in performances and recordings by surviving artists from the 1950s.

Kyleigh Jane

By: Rob Blackmon

Since the emergence of the Stray Cats, whose image made such an impression on the public, rockabilly fans have been much more conscious of dressing the part. In the UK, this has meant a full-fledged revival of Teddy Boy fashions while American fans have favored more of the greaser look. In both cases men have sported flamboyant pompadours, with lots of hair pomade and long sideburns, tight jeans or black slacks, brothel creeper shoes (preferably in blue suede), Texas “bolo” neckties, and a fondness for color combinations of pink and black, with leopard-skin accents. American fans have also adopted bowling shirts, cowboy shirts, and Hawaiian “aloha” shirts, as well as the inescapable leather motorcycle jacket.

Women’s fashions in the rockabilly community have never really revived the true Fifties look of poodle skirts worn with letter sweaters. However, “glamorous” 1950s dresses, often with crinolines, have found some favor. Many of today’s female rockabilly fans are inspired by “bad girl” pinups of the 1950s, like Betty Page, and wear lots of animal prints, horn-rimmed sunglasses, fishnet stockings, tight jeans, capris, and short shorts. Plus plenty of gingham.

Tattoos are popular with both sexes.

Rockabilly Monthly

Psychobilly

The term psychobilly was first used by Wayne Kemp when he penned the Johnny Cash song "One Piece at a Time", a Top 10 hit in 1976. Although the song is not musically categorized as psychobilly, the lyrics refer to a "psychobilly Cadillac." The term came into use as a music genre a few years later, when the Cramps described their music as "psychobilly" and "rockabilly voodoo" on flyers advertising their concerts. Also called "Mutant Rockabilly". Although the Cramps rejected the idea of being a part of a psychobilly subculture, they, along with artists such as Screamin' Jay Hawkins and the Stray Cats, are considered important precursors to psychobilly. The Cramps had deep Rockabilly roots and were fascinated by both the Rockabilly sound and attitude. That attitude being 'I'm me and I don't give a damn.' The group recorded numerous covers of Rockabilly tunes from Sun Records. Specifically, it was the group's recorded version of "She Said" by Hasil Adkins that connected them to an earlier, more primitive rockabilly sound. Musically speaking, there are also antecedents in the garage rock genre of the 1960s and the pub rock scene of the 1970s.

The Meteors, who formed in South London in 1980, are considered the first verifiable psychobilly band. One member was part of the rockabilly subculture; another was part of the punk subculture; and the other was a horror movie fan. Their musical and lyrical ideas overlapped to create psychobilly as it is known today. The Meteors invented the idea that psychobilly should be apolitical, by encouraging their concerts to be "politics-free" zones to avoid disputes among fans, as was common in the punk rock scene of the time.

In 1982, a nightclub called Klubfoot opened at the Clarendon Hotel, Hammersmith, West London, creating a home for the UK psychobilly scene. The club was eventually demolished and replaced with offices and a bus station. Because the psychobilly scene has never become very popular, fans often organize weekenders in which many bands are featured on one bill. The first weekenders were organized in the UK in the mid 1980s. In the USA, they happen with frequency in Texas [1], New York, North Carolina and California.

Psychobilly has spread throughout most of Europe (particularly Germany, Italy, Greece and Spain), Canada, and parts of the United States; it's also gradually spreading to Asia, especially Japan. The psychobilly music of the early 1980s (The Meteors, The Sharks, Demented Are Go, Batmobile) was similar to punk rock or 1960s garage rock (with obvious rockabilly influences), but the psychobilly of the late 1980s and the 1990s (Nekromantix, Mad Sin) had a different sound which was a bit harder. The psychobilly of the 2000s is closer to the American psychobilly sound of bands such as Tiger Army.

For psychobilly girls, the "uniform" consists of updated 1950s fashion fused with a punk-rock sensibility and pinup aesthetic. Many psychobillly girls have tattoos of 1950s pinups, Las Vegas-themed cards and dice, skulls, and especially cherries. They favor full crinoline skirts, powerful colors such as black, red, and bright pink, horizontal stripes, gingham, and animal prints. It is very common to see psychobilly girls wearing pompadour-styled bangs and bandannas as headbands.