It's a sign of our ahistorical times that we forget that teenagers were skulking around long before Elvis or The Beatles. Adding a little perspective, Jon Savage's new book traces the origins of modern youth culture back to Scott Fitzgerald and beyond. The Indy has just run an extract. Unfortunately, it seems to have dropped off-line all of a sudden, but here's one part that caught my eye - an account of that French phenomenon of WW2, the "zazous", rebellious, nattily dressed lovers of jazz and all things American:
Living under curfew and surveillance, they took their culture underground, reviving a 1920s tradition of "surprise-parties" - illegal, unlicensed gatherings. Behind thick shutters and under soft lights, they could listen to New Orleans jazz and swing without fear of interruption... After the Germans censored all English and American films made after 1937, the zazous felt bereft. "We deplored the disappearance of the old MGM lion like that of a friend," one remembered... Seemingly innocuous lines became commandments of faith, like Jimmy Stewart's speech in "Mr Smith Goes to Washington": "I am free, to think and speak."
As well as being targeted by fascist bully-boys, the zazous were picked up in regular police sweeps and sent off to work in the harvest. Reinforcing their status as public enemy number one, some zazous responded to the introduction of the yellow star that summer by creating their own star 'to show their sympathy for the Jews".
It's a shame that Independent article has disappeared as your teaser was very interesting.
I caught an article about Les Zazous last year which claim, plausibly, that they invented the discoteque.
Posted by: Mark Holland | Friday, April 20, 2007 at 08:51 PM