{"id":2696,"date":"2010-05-12T17:06:10","date_gmt":"2010-05-12T21:06:10","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2010-12-11T14:48:54","modified_gmt":"2010-12-11T18:48:54","slug":"rock-s-unfulfilled-fashion-ideas-athletic-wear","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rocktownhall.com\/blogs\/rock-s-unfulfilled-fashion-ideas-athletic-wear\/","title":{"rendered":"Rock\u2019s Unfulfilled Fashion Ideas: Athletic Wear"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Could this be the equalizer?<\/div>\n

As a seemingly rare rock ‘n roll lover who sees (and, yes [sadly], seeks<\/em>) connections between music and sports – and<\/em> as an observer of and sometimes participant in rock style – I’ve long been fascinated by rockers’ attempts at bringing athletic wear onto stage. To date the merging of athletic clothing and rock ‘n roll has not taken root, although rap\/hip-hop artists have succeeded beyond any sports-and-music fan’s wildest desires, ranging from track<\/a> to football field<\/a> to the hardwood<\/a>. Hip-hop artists have even worked in the popular athletic gear with perhaps the highest degree of difficulty of incorporating into rock ‘n roll style (or style anywhere off the playing field for that matter): the baseball jersey<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But we’re here to talk about athletic wear as one of rock’s<\/em> unfulfilled fashion ideas. Sorry to stoop to Rockism, but let’s not kid ourselves: rock ‘n rollers have not had much success in this realm. It’s important that we focus on rock ‘n roll artists who’ve attempted bridging this divide and see if we can’t figure out whether there is any reason for future rock musicians to pursue this concept.
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Canada’s main contribution to rock fashion?<\/div>\n

My first memories of rock musicians in athletic wear date back to the mid-’70s, when hirsute, husky rockers like The Guess Who<\/strong> and Bachman-Turner Overdrive<\/a> sported football and hockey jerseys on stage. Not coincidentally, many of these first-generation jersey-wearing bands included Randy Bachman and his big-boned, North of the Border bandmates. Although I wasn’t particularly a fan of the bands that wore hockey jerseys while rocking the arenas of North America (or the sport of hockey, for that matter), I initially thought it was a cool gesture.<\/p>\n

By the late-’70s it seemed that the wearing of a hockey or football jersey onstage was more a fuction of kissing the hometown’s collective ass than anything else. I figured some of jersey-wearing musicians switched jerseys to cow-tow to each town’s sports fans. Was there ever a “Hello, Cleveland!” mix-up involving a musician wearing the wrong home team’s jersey? If it hasn’t happened yet, contributing researcher andyr<\/strong> suggests we keep an eye on these two<\/a>. (Nice chord, Wayne!) The jersey-wearing rocker would soon be a target for ridicule. You wouldn’t catch a punk rocker<\/a> in an oversized hockey or football jersey!<\/p>\n

Sports jerseys with three-quarter sleeves, however, did have practical uses. They could cover a guitar player’s needle tracks, or at least make teenage kids think they were covering something sinister, while not threatening to accidentally dampen his strings, as the cuffs of a long-sleeved shirt might do. As contributing researcher Oats<\/strong> suggests, the shocking, continued survival of rockin’ football and hockey jerseys, which for athletic use are cut to fit over the athletes’ protective padding, is probably driven by the jerseys’ ability to fit over the musician’s padding<\/a>.<\/p>\n

I will say that today’s occasional hockey rocker sightings still merit consideration if only because hockey continues to be a bit of an underground, or alternative, sport. Football jerseys and rock, however, will never work. As with baseball gear of any sort (ie, jerseys, caps<\/a>), it’s too mainstream, too jock, too threatening to rock ‘n roll’s large percentage of kids who grew up averse to all things All-American. Finally, on the topic of American football, let’s not forget the nadir of rock’s attempts to coopt American football fashion<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Before we proceed, did the three-quarter length sleeve Look of a classic baseball undershirt-style concert t-shirt precede or follow the wearing of three-quarter sleeve sports jerseys on stage?
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Is this a sports-related Look or just silly?<\/div>\n

Across the pond, UK rockers were spreading another kind of football fashion<\/a>. Elton John<\/strong><\/a> and Rod Stewart<\/strong><\/a> were flashing their gams like few rockers had done before<\/a>. Reggae’s leading lights<\/a> were also making a pitch for this new attempt at merging athletic wear<\/a> and US rock culture<\/a>! I was a somewhat rare American high school soccer player (of little note) during this period, and I found images of rockers playing soccer to be quite inspiring to the budding Anglophile musician in me. Soccer was “underground,” and although I continue to stress that shorts are a major no-no<\/a> in rock, soccer jerseys (or lack thereof<\/a>) are flattering on a young guy in decent shape. Like it or not, rockers are supposed to be built more like strikers than nose tackles.<\/p>\n

Efforts to incorporate soccer style into rock ‘n roll would survive the complete embarrassment to rock ‘n roll that Elton and Rod would soon become, making its way into the punk era and, as we will learn, continuing to shine a ray of light to this day. For now, check out the juggling skills – and stylish, sporty Look – of The Undertones<\/strong>, one of Ireland’s finest contributors to rock ‘n roll. The soccer uniforms first appear at the 1:30 mark<\/strong> of this video, but crank this sucker up and enjoy the entire 2:35!