The title of the business is supposed to be a bit tongue in cheek - a bit of everything really - the 80's was, as you know, the era of looking the business and hopefully the film itself, is the business. For some people anyway! The Casuals, as they came to be known, evoked the sharp, competitive dress-sense of the 1960s mods. Some debate surrounds their origins, but there is general consensus that their roots lay in the British north-west during the late 1970s and early 1980s, where two parallel scenes paved the way for the Casuals’ development − the ‘Perry Boys’ in Manchester and Salford, and the ‘Scallies’ in Liverpool. Everyone knows that if you’re from Liverpool you’ll have a passion for football, fashion and music. With 80s Casuals (which Hewitson owns with Jay Montessori) we get the printing done locally plus the embroidery and any sewing, and for the last eight years we’ve donated clothing to fundraising/ charity nights. It was through one of these nights that the chance to put out a single came about,” he says.

It probably seemed a good idea at the time, but letting a loony Liverpool posse loose over a weekend in Paris, and placing everyone in the same hotel, was always going to be a recipe for madness and mayhem, with music an optional extra.It was like being on holiday with a bunch of cranked-up randy schoolkids with absolutely no excesses spared” But it’s more than that. It’s a quality thing too. It’s about fidelity. Listen carefully, here comes the science...! The Little Book of Casuals explores football fashion from the 1980s as told by the author Scottie who lived and breathed the Casual subculture of the era. It’s been overwhelming,” Hewitson says. “One or two well known bands have got in touch wanting to support the project and help out. We obviously need to sell a good percentage of each release so that we can generate monies to re-invest, so it would be fantastic to have some few high profile names do a song now and again...” A fitting end to a weekend that Martin Carrof the band has scant recollection of “ I remember one thing only. It was when I met my soon to be ex-wife”. Clearly he doesn’t recall his band drinking all of Eat My Dog‘s rider while they were onstage the previous night, but maybe we shouldn’t dwell on that.In early 1998 to much furore Tommy Hilfiger opened his first flagship store in Europe. London being his Capital of choice. But what significance does this hold with Liverpool and its band of travelling protagonists? Three years earlier New York became the destination of choice as the youth of our city once again needed to quench their appetite for stylistic pedantry. Above: The Little Book of Casuals: Football Fashion From The 1980s now available from 80s Casual Classics. SHOP NOW

We’re in a vinyl state of mind this week. After Paul Du Noyer’s selection of his seven favourite album sleeves (and yours) we’re rather excited to discover a limited imprint series, launched by 80s Casuals chap, Dave Hewitson.! Digital takes snapshots of the analogue recording, therefore it can never capture the full soundwaves.”! The closest Outlet Mall to Manhatten is Woodbury Common and it was here that besides a Hilfiger store there was also a Lacoste store. Lacoste would become massive in Liverpool over the next 10 years and would eventually open its largest independent UK store adjoining Wade Smith in the city centre. Wade Smith would sell that much Lacoste over the years that the president and owner of the brand Monsieur Lemaire came for the opening of its new store and stated “Liverpool’s a bit like the Lacoste capital of the world and shows no sign of waning.” It could be said that he should have thanked the entrepreneurs who made these trips to New York for starting a trend. An Interview done with local Merseyside blog ‘Sevenstreets’ when our ‘Vinyl Only’ Record Label launched in 2012.

About Me

Bill Osgerby is an author and professor with a focus on modern American and British media and cultural history — with particular regard to the areas of gender, sexuality, youth culture, consumption, print media, popular television, film and music. Amongst other he has published, Youth in Britain Since 1945 and Biker: Style and Subculture on Hell’s Highway Above: The Little Book of Casuals: Football Fashion From The 1980s now available from 80s Casual Classics SHOP NOW From there things sort of snowballed as a few more bands got in touch as they loved the idea. So we then decided to set it up as a ‘not for profit’ showcase for the bands, the sleeve designer, the studio, the videographer – everyone involved.”! Rooms within rooms, and a surfeit of nooks and crannies made the venue all the more interesting. On the lower level, a giant hole in the floor featuring an ancient railway engine, it was the only part of the weekend that wasn’tgoing off the rails. Upstairs on the top floor wasone of three bars, with a trippy ceiling lighting effect that changed colours through the rainbow, much to the delight of this gaggle of wide-eyed Scouse space cadets. Vinyl is an analogue recording, whereas CDs are digital. Analogue captures the original sound, capturing the waveforms accurately, and capturing a truer sound to that played by the bands,” Hewitson explains.!

Possibly the NME‘s man on the ground had been a little too ‘on the ground’ that weekend too, his judgementseemingly somewhatflawed. Perhaps he was right. Thankfully, we’ll never know. Friday night saw scally rappers Eat My Dog , performing for the very last time, and I can say with complete confidence (and without offending the band in the least) that they will not be missed.” As we have mentioned, the 'Jayne' T-Shirt image reminds us of the girls from the early days of 'Casual' when the look was basically a new fashion that was moving on from the 70s glam image of wide legged jeans and big collared shirts.Twenty or so found a hostel just around the corner, in a dimly lit street that tended to see most of its action in the twilight hours. The kind of hostel that you could smell downwind, a few hundred yards before you arrived at its unlit and distinctly worrying doorway. Not the sort of place that could accurately be described as being in any way pleasant. The kind of place, in fact, you’d recommend instantly to someone you don’t care much for. Somewhere to dump bags and nothing more.