“As he stood in the dock, Joe Hawkins considered his situation with utter detachment.”
Opening line of ‘Suedehead’, by Richard Allen.
‘Richard Allen’ was the best-known pseudonym of James Moffat, and his series of books based on the Skinhead sub-culture are his best remembered works. Of those books, Skinhead, was the first, and is the best remembered. As you can see from the various book covers on this page, he wrote several sequels. These paperbacks (published by New English Library), had relatively few pages (generally more than 100 but less than 150) but a lot of sex and violence, and were squarely aimed at teenagers and young adults.
Skinhead was an immediate success, hence the raft of ‘Skinhead’ sequels from Allen. These books were marked by a predilection for casual violence, (including rape) which could easily be seen as a glorification / celebration of such behavior, though Allen was at pains to point out that that was not the case (or at least he did in the preface he wrote in his sequel to ‘Skinhead’, ‘Suedehead’). These books were cheap, fast fixes, true ‘exploitation’ books, especially when they began to ride the coat-tails of other contemporary fashions (like the Kung-Fu / Skinhead mash-up of ‘Dragon Skins’);
A more thorough explanation of who Richard Allen was, can be found below;
Richard Allen, The Charles Dickens of skinheads
James Moffat (1922-1993) was a Canadian-born writer who once published a magazine about bowling and who, under sundry pseudonyms, wrote hack fiction (westerns, children’s stories, mysteries). In 1970 he was asked because he was so versatile and prolific, to write a book for the New English Library about skinheads, the white working-class youths whose thuggery seemed, to some, an authentic cry of alienation and, to others, the decline of Western civilisation.
Allen’s first novel, Skinhead, uneasily combined self-righteous fascist rhetoric, nihilist indifference and the shocked voice of reason. But it succeed with its authentic portrayal of Joe Hawkins, the 16-year old gangster convinced the Cockneys had lost control of their patch, London, and whose life of rape, drink and hooliganism ends in a kind of triumph when he is jailed for beating a cop – a punishment which, he gloats, makes him king of the skinheads.
After that sold a million, the formula stayed pretty constant for 17 other novels – seven with the words “skin” or ‘Skinhead’ in the title. Allen bought to the task an enthusiasm for research, speed – he once completed a novel in less than a week – narrative drive and pulp fair. The opening line of Suedehead is masterful: “As he stood in the dock, Joe Hawkins considered the situation with a detachment”. Yet the author, uncomfortable with charges he encouraged violence, later blamed “leniency in courtrooms, catering to fads by mercenary-minded rage-trade merchants, a soft-peddling attitude by politicians who look for teenage votes and a overwhelming pandering by the media”.
Rediscovered in his seventies, Allen was planning a sequel Skinhead Return, when years of writing at short notice aided by tobacco and booze finally caught up with him. He died in 1993.
Influenced by: Pulp fiction, Harold Robbins.
Influence on: His success led to a plethora of books like Bill Buford’s Among The Thugs, in which intellectual types slummed it with violent oiks.
Essential reading: Skinhead and Suedehead stand apart.
Further reading: As Trudi Maxwell, Allen wrote the compellingly dire Diary of a Female Wrestler, unforgettably, ludicrously bad.
Taken from The Rough Guide to Cult Fiction,
What follows is a series of back page ‘copy’ found on Richard Allen paperbacks. Titles covered are Skinhead, Suedehead, Skinhead Escapes and Sorts;
Skinhead
SKINHEAD by Richard Allen
AGGRO – That’s what Joe Hawkins and his mates were looking for, with their shaven heads, big boots and braces.
Football matches, pub brawls, open-air pop concerts, hippies and Hell’s Angels all gave them chances to vent their sadistic violence.
SKINHEAD is a story straight from today’s headlines – portraying with horrifying vividness all the terror and brutality that has become the trademark of these vicious teenage malcontents.
© RICHARD ALLEN
First NEL Edition July 1970
This edition March 1972
Published by New English Library Limited from Barnard’s Inn, Holborn, London EC1.
Suedehead
A young and brutal bovver boy called Joe Hawkins caused outrage when he was first introduced to the world in the NEL smash hit, Skinhead.
Now Joe has grown his hair and swapped his boots and braces for a velvet-collared Abercrombie coat. His aggro days are over … but his city-slicker days are just beginning.
© 1972 Richard Allen
First NEL Paperback Edition October 1971
Published by New English Library Limited from Barnard’s Inn, Holborn, London EC1.
Skinhead Escapes
SKINHEAD ESCAPES by Richard Allen
Joe Hawkins first made his shattering impact on readers in the best-selling novel, SKINHEAD.
For Joe, his exploits of violence and anti-social behaviour were to be cut short by a prison sentence.
But in SKINHEAD ESCAPES Joe Hawkins is on the loose again. With a vengeance to fulfill!
© 1972 Richard Allen
First NEL Paperback Edition July 1972
Reprinted May 1974
Published by New English Library Limited from Barnard’s Inn, Holborn, London EC1.
Sorts
SORTS by Richard Allen
‘Sorts’ are the Smoothy girls – they’re game if the price is right.
Terry Hurdy is running away – from her home, from her skinhead lover, and her memories. She teams up with Rose, who teaches her the ways of the road. Then the aggro starts, and Terry finds herself with “lay-by” problems, drop-outs and drugs – and murder.
This is a new kind of girl – first there were Skinheads and Boot Boys, then the Smoothies – and now there are Sorts, the female of the species.
© 1973 Richard Allen
First NEL Paperback Edition July 1973
Reprinted December 1974
Published by New English Library Limited from Barnard’s Inn, Holborn, London EC1.
The complete list of Richard Allen books reads as follows – as you can see, he didn’t limit himself to the Skinhead movement, as he also documented (amongst others) Punk (Punk Rock),
Mods (Mod Rule) and Glam Rock (Glam);
Books by Richard Allen
Boot Boys
Demo
Dragon Skins
Glam
Knuckle Girls
Mod Rule
Punk Rock
Skinhead
Skinhead Escapes
Skinhead Farewell
Skinhead Girls
Smoothies
Sorts
Suedehead
Teeny Bopper Idol
Terrace Terrors
Top-Gear For Skinhead
Trouble For Skinhead (originally to be titled Skinhead In Trouble)
A BBC TV documentary about his life, Skinhead Farewell, aired in 1996. This is a clip of that documentary;
Links
http://www.stewarthomesociety.org/sex/gensexco.htm
http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~jimthing/allen.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Moffat
http://vaultofevil.suddenlaunch3.com/
http://nastynels.mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/richardallen1.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_skinhead_books
By the way, ‘Penny Dreadfuls’ is a term I have probably incorrectly implied here (to a degree anyway). I like the term, and it does sum up the whole vibe of Skinhead etc. To understand what a penny dreadful really was, look here
those we left behind 
I thought I remembered the skinhead book but there was another book with a similar title which was sort of a guide to the clothes music and scene- sort of a guide to being a skinhead. This is not it is it?
Hello Nigel,no that book is by a guy called Nick Knight, though it is also called ‘Skinhead’. Another great book (similair in tone) is ‘The soul Stylists’ by Paulo Hewitt.Been on your ‘Spit on your taste’ blog a couple of times – great site – keep up the good work!
Ah yes, I should have looked at the dates there- 1972 and so on. Wasn’t the Knight one from the early 80s? Though dunno if thats first edition. I never had a copy though. I lived miles from the city and had limited pocket money and if I remember correctly they had it in WH Smiths Cardiff- think I bought Dance Craze instead.Either way I was very much into this stuff though we were very much on the fringe, living miles froma city- a bit like This IS England. The two tone tour was something we just read about here.My missus is from a city though and she got right in the middle of all this. Sweet memories.
I left my Dance Craze vinyl out on the windowsill in the Summer of 1981. It made a very attractive ashtray, but as I was 10 at the time I was a little too young to use it. I don’t regret much in life, but not looking after that piece of vinyl haunts me on occasion to this day.I was right near the epicentre of 2-Tone (Tamworth isn’t that far from Coventry), but I was just too young to really experience it, as much as I loved the music. I was listening to The Selector while playing with my Star Wars figures, that kind of thing.
I still got my Dance Craze poster knocking about here somewhere :)anyhow, for the blog post- this has inspired me to track down one or two of these books for a look (money permitting)
I loved the days of ska and reggae. I had my skinhead book taken off me by the teacher and never got it back. Great ska and reggae in the early seventies and ever since. I lived in the midlands which was great for reggae, ska and Soul songs.
Ready through your replies brought back memories of my youth as a Suede and still love listening to the vinyl’s I still have and used to lisen too at the time I can even hear my mother shouting to me turn that darn music down.