Two things from the 70s I’m really into right now; the word foxy which I shall promptly add to my lexicon, and the shag haircut.

Let’s talk  Rock and Roll and Hair.  They go together like peanut butter and jelly. From the Beatles’ mop tops, Elvis and Buddy Holly’s DAs,  Robert Plant and Roger Daltrey’s curly long blonde locks, Willie Nelson’s braids, 80s hair bands like Poison, Motley Crue and Twisted Sister to the long dark wigs worn by Khruangbin (see, I am aware of new music ;-)), there is a symbiotic relationship between the hair and the music.  And I gather the shag is having a moment again. But where?

Hair is an expression of freedom, sex, rebellion, drugs, anti-militarism.  It’s also the title of one of my all time favorite movies in which all of those things intersect; Hair! For me, there is just something about a singer with a shag. And a true shag, not a mullet.  They are most definitely different, and one is way more foxy than the other.

Foxy singers with shags from the seventies included Rod Stewart, Ronnie Wood, Keith Richards, Mick Jagger, David Cassidy, David Bowie, and those Scottish lads the Bay City Rollers!

From Goldminemag.com

And of course the foxiest of them all, Benjamin Orr!  Ben could rock that haircut as a blonde, a brunette, and every shade in between. According to what I read in Let’s Go, when he was a teen in the early 60s he was suspended from school for having long hair until his manager explained that Benny had to have long hair because of his job…as a teen rock star in The Grasshoppers, playing gigs just about every night of the week at clubs throughout Cleveland.  David Robinson also had a pretty foxy shag in the early days of The Cars too. And to this day he has a fantastic head of thick, gorgeous hair.  EE also had a cute shag- what a doll he was! 

Photo Ron Pownall/Getty Images

And it wasn’t just guys who had awesome shags.  Plenty of female rockers wore the look too and killed it.  Joan Jett and Cherie Currie from The Runaways, Suzi Quattro rocked hers with leather, Chrissy Hynde had and still has an ultra cool modified shag, as did Stevie Nicks.

And even though she wasn’t a rocker, Florence Henderson, Mrs. Brady herself had an iconic shag.  Jane Fonda also had a pretty famous shag in the early 70s.

But let’s focus on the music. Check out this videos of Faces and Rod Stewart’s foxiness. I know he’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but damn if he doesn’t do something to me when I watch this old footage. 

I may be crazy, but I think the hair makes the music sound better.  I mean, would we even be able to listen to The Partridge Family if David Cassidy wasn’t so damn darling in his velvet bell bottoms, vest and dark shaggy hair?  I don’t think so. 

Jeff Beck had great shaggy hair, as did several members of the Eagles at one point in the 70s- thinking of Glenn Frey and Randy Meisner.  Who am I missing?  Who else had a rock and roll shag?  Warren Beatty had a great shag when he played a hairdresser ( 70s terminology for “stylist”) in the film Shampoo. Freddie Mercury had a shag going on and so did Paul McCartney in his Wings era. Rick Springfield had a serious shag in the 70s before he was Dr. Noah Drake on General Hospital.  Even non-rocking musicians like John Denver had shaggy hair for a while.  

So what is it with musicians today? Why don’t male musicians have hair, glorious hair like those from the 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, heck even the grunge hair of the 90s? Am I missing something or someone?  If so, please point me in the right direction.  I want to bask in the excitement of great music while enjoying the view of tight pants, preferably leather, tight shirts, or no shirts, groovy footwear, and foxy, shaggy hair!