What is "suedehead"

n. A member of an offshoot of the British skinhead subculture, originating in the 1970s and characterised by longer hair and more formal clothing than the skinheads.

The suedehead subculture was an early-1970s offshoot of skinhead subculture in the United Kingdom. Although sharing similarities to 1960s skinheads, suedeheads grew their hair longer and dressed more formally. Although often working class like skinheads, some had white collar jobs. A female suedehead was a sort.

Suedeheads wore brogues, loafers or basketweave Norwegians instead of heavy boots. Suedeheads wore suits (especially in check patterns such as Prince of Wales and dogtooth) and other dressy outfits as everyday wear instead of just at dancehalls. Crombie-style overcoats and sheepskin coats became common. Shirts often had large button-down collars. The most common style was a large windowpane check worn under a tank top (known as a sweater vest in North America). Sta-Prest trousers became worn more than jeans, which had been common with skinheads. Another characteristic was coloured socks—such as solid red or blue—instead of plain black or white.

Suedeheads shared the skinheads' interest in rocksteady, reggae, soul music and ska, but some suedeheads also listened to British glam rock bands such as Sweet, Slade and Mott the Hoople.

Suedeheads were portrayed in the east end London-based film Bronco Bullfrog and the Richard Allen novel Suedehead. The Scottish equivalent of the 1970s bootboy, known as Neds, featured in a 2011 film directed by Peter Mullan. In the late 1970s, a suedehead revival developed following the 1977 skinhead revival. This originated with a small number of individuals such as Hoxton Tom McCourt, who also became involved with the mod revival of the late 1970s. Morrissey made a single called " Suedehead" in 1988, although the lyrics appear to have nothing to do with suedehead subculture.

"Suedehead" is the debut solo single from Morrissey, released in February 1988.

The single charted higher than any of the singles released by his former band The Smiths, reaching #5 in the UK Singles Chart. "Suedehead" peaked at #2 in Ireland, #8 in New Zealand, and reached the top 50 in Germany, the Netherlands, and Australia. The lead track was featured on Morrissey's debut album Viva Hate and the compilation album Bona Drag, the latter of which also featured the B-side " Hairdresser on Fire". The artwork of the single features a photo taken by Geri Caulfield at a Smiths gig at the London Palladium.

The video clip, directed by Tim Broad, features the singer walking through the streets of Fairmount, Indiana, the boyhood city of actor James Dean, including shots of the school where Dean studied and the Park Cemetery, where he is buried. Other allusions to Dean in the video include a child (played by Sam Esty Rayner, Morrissey's nephew, who went on to direct the video for " Kiss Me a Lot" in 2015) delivering to the singer a copy of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's The Little Prince, Dean's favourite book.