When Animals Ruled

The world was a far different place back in the early 70’s. Believe it or not people actually survived quite well without mobile phones, Internet or Twitter. Reading Books and communicating by letter was a normal part of everyday life. Music was still played on old-fashioned 12-inch vinyl LP records. It would be years away before the first mini compact tape cassettes would take over the market and even more for Cds, Colour Tv’s and home VCR players to become standard household items. Without those luxuries that we now take for granted, teenagers were forced to use their imaginations to seek out their own brand of fun.

(Beach hang,The Wall. short board revolution, MP, Northies kids, Noosa Heads paradise.)

For a kid growing up in Sydney during these raw and innocent times, Surfing was still the most popular youth culture. Its growing notoriety of sun, sand and sex attracted scores of boys and girls from near and far. The beach was the ultimate playground unless of course you were a Westy. At Cronulla, Westies were despised and treated like they had an infectious disease. Being labelled as a Billy Bankstowner, Moontan or a Parra Pipeliner was the ultimate insult aimed towards the inlanders who would flock to the coast during summer by train.

It was back when the short board revolution was in full swing and the long blonde headed surfers were adopting a much harder edge than previously. Bonging On and dead end ambition saw the next generation turn their backs on marriages, mortgages and careers. Other priorities were now firmly etched on their minds rather than just being a slave to work and then you die. The new wave of freedom seekers were opposed to rules and regulations and wanted to break away from the stifling conformity and regimentation that their parents before them were forced to endure. The gap between the open minded youth and the old school establishment was now being stretched to its limits. It was us versus them, the longhairs against the short hairs.

Down on the beach different surfing cliques grabbed their stretch of sand. With no joining fees or strict rules to follow like the Surf Clubs, the local denizens would meet up and hang out from sun up to sun down. The Wall at North Cronulla was home to 14 yearold Magoo and a gathering of his scruffy beach mates during the daylight hours. The ocean was their home away from home and with no parental supervision they were indulging in all kinds of anti social behaviour. The Surf Rats ruled their patch of ground hanging out  until hunger and sunburn sent them homewards. At night they roamed wild in the streets looking for parties to crash. Doped to the eyeballs on drugs and alcohol they were heading blindly towards youthful self-destruction.It wasn’t surprising that most adults were quick to label this new breed of unemployed beach bums as degenerate, drug taking, no hopers and they weren’t far off the mark. In their world, M.P was God.

( Old Joes, Pinny parlours, singles, Cronulla station, Surf groms and Bahne Superflex)

It was Queenslands Michael Peterson that put the mongrel back into Aussie surfing. Known by his initials, MP symbolized a certain kind of bad boy image and embodied what the 70’s beach scene was all about. Many kids from that era built their lives around his; imitating his look and trying to surf just like their tortured idol. Between ’72 and ’78 he was regarded as the best surfer in the world winning the prestigious Bells Beach contest 3 times in a row. MP was the Kelly Slater of his time except he was a rebel purist rather than a Professional Surfer. Peterson had no time for the hype of Pro Surfing and would rather just take the money and run.

The top surfers of the day like Nat Young, Wayne Lynch, Col Smith and MP were called “Animals”. With their long blonde hair and ripped tattered clothing they sold their souls to surfing. With a radical and rebellious spirit they enjoyed looking and acting like outcasts. The innocent days of the 60’s when Gidget, The Stomp and Hanging Ten on the nose were cool were now just a foggy memory. Nat’s brand of power surfing had kick started a wave riding revolution by attacking the surf with power and aggression. The new cut down shaped boards allowed more freedom and innovative ways to ride, which in turn saw the sport heading in an exciting direction. Surfers now ripped harder and faster on the waves and they  lived by their own set of rules.

The Wall Boys at Cronulla policed their strip of sand against the hordes of Westie intruders. Train loads of visitors from the likes of Penrith and Blacktown arrived like locust every Summer and during school holidays. Being labelled, as a “Billy Bankstowner” by the locals stung deep like slap across a sunburnt back. Cronulla being the only beach in the Sydney Metropolitan area to have direct rail access brought the crowds with it. While the surf grommets spend their days riding the waves, packs of bikini girls scour the sand looking for their handsome prince.

Magoo and his mates embraced with a passion the whole concept of being a Surfie Animal . For the stoked and broke the beach was heaven on earth. It was a daily ritual to soak up the long hot summer days from sunup to sundown. With skin golden brown their lips and noses were continually chafed and sunburnt. The grommets had this romantic notion that the carefree life they were leading would last forever without any thought for the coming years. Surfers were also indulging in all kinds of potions and concoctions; it was an extraordinary time for experimenting and living a careless one foot in the grave existence.

(Shag Wagons, Sharpies, Single fins, Milkbar gang hang, seaweed, tubos, Bankstown express).

While the Surf Rats were imitating the moves of their flawed surf heroes, out in the Western suburbs away from the waves, life was more brutal; Gangs like The Sharpies, Petrol Heads and Slicks owned the streets. The brutal gang scene created a sense of power and identity for directionless kids with violent anti social behaviour the main focus. Weekends were prime time for fighting and bashing the stuffing out of anyone who looked different that crossed your path. While Elton John was singing about “Saturday Nights all right for fighting”, suburban Surfers like Magoo were kept busy running from their enemies. Gangs of vicious spikey headed Sharpies were looking for a fight with at almost every street corner. Just having the wrong haircut could get you seriously beaten up. It was tribal warfare and backing up your mates in a punch up was accepted part of life.

Teenage gang violence around the streets of Sydney was nothing new. It can be traced right back to the late 1800s when the area known as The Rocks located on the foreshores of Sydney Harbour was often the scene of violent hostilities. There was war between the rival gangs known as Larrikins who formed criminal outfits like The Rocks Push, Gibb Street Mob, Argyle Cut and the Forty Thieves. By the 50’s the new Rock N Roll craze saw the Bodgies and Widgies cult growing in numbers around the streets of King X. In the 60’s there was well-publicised fights between greasy Rockers and the blonde haired Surfies who would battle it out for youth supremacy. With the arrival of the 70’s a line formed in the sand between the longhairs and the violent shorthaired Sharpies.

Follow Magoo, Egg, Zac, Woody, Crazy, Murf, Scrotem and the rest of their beach friends down a grubby path to a different time and era when gang violence and drug taking was  part of the culture. The first wave of Heavy Metal music was just beginning to evolve with bands like Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath taking over the airwaves. For young teenage girls like the Mole Patrol the beach was the place to unleash their raging appetites for sex . Surfers were getting away with just about anything anti social, political correctness is unheard of and male chauvinism is rife.    (EH Holden,Magic Mushrooms, Browneyes, campfires, longhair, skateboarding and The Eastershow).

The Seventies was an iconic and historical period of Aussie Beach culture. The perfect wave chasing lifestyle that the Surf Rats all longed for would never last. It turned into a drug nightmare for many as it swept through the beachside suburbs destroying life’s. Violence and substance abuse was as much a part of growing up as acne and puberty. It was also a time that defined our fascination with surfing.

      For many the dream of one day owning a customized Holden Kingswood Panel Van was about as good as it gets.

To Be Continued…………..