By Sandra Renew,
we segued from Elvis to the Beatles, louts and moral delinquents
frequenting Kings Cross milk bars in our hundreds bodgies and widgies,
didn’t know we were the new and frightening youth subculture
newspapers said the world is turned upside down, boys with long hair and unusual clothes, girls with short hair and unusual clothes
this was our coming of age, our undressed hair, tight sweaters and jeans, chiffon scarves,
brightly coloured strangely shaped sunglasses
we watched boys who sewed themselves into tight jeans on the weekends, slicked back their quiffs with Brylcreem
we made allowances when they didn’t quite look like James Dean
plain clothed Bodgies and Widgees Squad of the Victorian Police watched us,
as our own Silver Bodgie made it into the seriously adult lout-tolerant public sphere
Note: Bob Hawke in public life from 1956, Parliament from 1980, was known as the Silver Bodgie
