The Black Leather Jacket
Encyclopedia
The Black Leather Jacket is a book written by English
journalist
and author
Mick Farren
published in 1985.
Initial prints of the book came in leather effect cover. The paperback version had a studio still of Marlon Brando
in The Wild One
.
television channel Channel 4
in 1988. Nick Mead directed and co-wrote the script with Farren, Paul Cowan produced. The voice over was provided by US
actor
Dennis Hopper
, with Michael Vartan
playing the part of the Motorcycle Boy.
group Motörhead. Motörhead frontman Lemmy had known Farren since the late 1960s and they had often collaborated with each other, composing songs for The Deviants, Hawkwind
and Motörhead. The song remained unreleased until the 2003 Stone Deaf Forever!
boxset was issued.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
and author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
Mick Farren
Mick Farren
Michael Anthony 'Mick' Farren is an English journalist, author and singer associated with counterculture and the UK Underground.-Music:...
published in 1985.
The Book
The book chronicles the history of the black leather jacket over a seventy year span up to the mid-1980s, taking in all aspects of its social, cultural and political impact. In the introduction, Farren explains:- The black leather jacket has always been the uniform of the bad. Hitler's Gestapo, the Hell's Angels, the Black Panthers, punk rockers, gay bar cruisers, rock 'n' roll animals and the hardcore mutations of the eighties all adopted it as their own.
Initial prints of the book came in leather effect cover. The paperback version had a studio still of Marlon Brando
Marlon Brando
Marlon Brando, Jr. was an American movie star and political activist. "Unchallenged as the most important actor in modern American Cinema" according to the St...
in The Wild One
The Wild One
The Wild One is a 1953 outlaw biker film directed by László Benedek and produced by Stanley Kramer. It is famed for Marlon Brando's iconic portrayal of the gang leader Johnny Strabler.-Basis:...
.
The Television Documentary
The book was adapted into a 60 minute television documentary shown on the UKUnited Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
television channel Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
in 1988. Nick Mead directed and co-wrote the script with Farren, Paul Cowan produced. The voice over was provided by US
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
Dennis Hopper
Dennis Hopper
Dennis Lee Hopper was an American actor, filmmaker and artist. As a young man, Hopper became interested in acting and eventually became a student of the Actors' Studio. He made his first television appearance in 1954 and appeared in two films featuring James Dean, Rebel Without a Cause and Giant...
, with Michael Vartan
Michael Vartan
Michael S. Vartan is a French-American film and television actor. He is probably best known for the role of Michael Vaughn on the American television action drama Alias...
playing the part of the Motorcycle Boy.
The Song
The title music for the television documentary was written and performed by the British heavy rockHard rock
Hard rock is a loosely defined genre of rock music which has its earliest roots in mid-1960s garage rock, blues rock and psychedelic rock...
group Motörhead. Motörhead frontman Lemmy had known Farren since the late 1960s and they had often collaborated with each other, composing songs for The Deviants, Hawkwind
Hawkwind
Hawkwind are an English rock band, one of the earliest space rock groups. Their lyrics favour urban and science fiction themes. They are also a noted precursor to punk rock and now are considered a link between the hippie and punk cultures....
and Motörhead. The song remained unreleased until the 2003 Stone Deaf Forever!
Stone Deaf Forever!
Stone Deaf Forever!, released in 2003, is the first fully comprehensive box set collection covering the British band Motörhead's career from 1975–2002 and is the first box set to be issued with full band approval: the track listing was compiled in association with the band and its fan club.The...
boxset was issued.
External links
- Funtopia (official Farren website) - The Black Leather Jacket