Noel Smith – Crazy Man Crazy: Teds Versus Punks And Other Gang Wars

In 1976 Noel ‘Razor’ Smith became a Teddy Boy and formed a gang called the Balham Wildkatz. Soon they became rockabillies and blazed their way through South London’s pubs and clubs, becoming one of London’s most feared youth gangs. Even in borstal. ‘Many of my old friends were to join me in incarceration for a while, including Bopper Hogan from Battersea, Stud from Shepherds Bush, The Duke of Earl, a huge Teddy boy who used to work behind the bar at The George pub in Hammersmith, Johnny Virgo from Brixton and Gene Vincent Steve from Putney, all jailed for fighting punks and skinheads.’ Here is the sharpest and truest telling of London’s gang wars of the time. Drawing on a cast of hugely memorable characters, Noel tells the shockingly violent and sometimes hilarious story of their lives. The clothes, music, pubs, parties and fights of those far from golden years are all recalled in vivid and engrossing detail. It’s all crazy man, crazy.