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Suggs the smart Geezer !
I first came across Suggs as a young lad, along with The Specials, Dexys etc. Madness were part of a great smattering of cool bands from that era.
Most of the bands shone very brightly for a year or 2, but Madness have hung around. They are in the UK, part of our culture now, playing both the Olympics ceremonies and Royal celebrations and their tunes light up any day. If you dj and have a room full of all ages, madness will get the 7 year old and the 70 year old moving.
Now not for a minute am i suggesting that Madness or even Suggs are Mods, but there is an obvious line back to SKA. Suggs has often said about his love of SKA in many interviews, but he has also recently mentioned that he had leanings to the MOD thing. In his biography he mentions going to see The Who at the Charlton Football Ground, which i believe did future members of The Chords.
In the book he mentions buying a riding an LI150. Chas smash also had one. He talks about cutting his hair short whilst everyone else was long. To me sounds like a
young Weller !
Anyways back to the story, when i was younger Suggs looked friendly and came over well on the telly. The songs they developed became classics and his dress sense changed but he always looked dapper. Even mid 80s period he dressed like he had thought about it.
So why this blog?
Well many of us Mod types cite people like Marriot, Weller etc, as an influence, Suggs was one of mine.
Looking back now you can see a IVY skin look rather than the OI! look that many skins had. He wears a lot of amercan influenced clothes, which to my young eyes, just looked cool. For every pic of him in his cherry reds, you can also see him in mixture of Tassel Loafers & Brogues.
On the front cover of One Step Beyond, brown full wing tip brogues. 3 of the rest of the band in Tassel Loafers. I think this is why i wanted a pair of both at 11 years of age. I had to wait at least a year for a pair.
The suits at the time weren’t classic 3 button affairs, but they looked right, Suggs very often wore a 1 button jacket, which i always thought looked great on him. The Chequered jacket in Embarrassment is just brilliant and no one could pull it off like him.
I must admit his look went very 80s as the decade progressed but i dont remember any long hair or dodgy leather jackets.
The next i heard of him, he was managing Liverpool band The Farm. Pics i saw of this time was very IVY inspired Harringtons and Jeans with turn ups. Once Madness started getting back together properly then smart suits were the order of the day. Notice in the pics Suggs has his trousers or jeans tailored right.
He has had a variety of shoes in these recent times, but he seems to favour Loake Brighton Tassel Loafers and Two Tone Brogues. At Glastonbury he wore some very dapper brogues, and that is pure madness ! how did he keep them clean !
Anyways hope you liked this little blog.
The final picture is a great one, look at those colours, god he looks good. Get the biography it is great and if you get chance try and catch his show about his life it is very entertaining. 
Shoes we sell that remind me of Suggs
Black Loafers
Black Brogues
Brogues
Chris Casey Combo 66 – SUEDE BOOT GROOVE
Guys wanted to share this with the people that come on the website. Chris Casey is a really cool guy and has put this tune & video together. With a name like “Suede Boot Groove” we would be silly to ignore.
Chris Casey Combo ’66 – SUEDE BOOT GROOVE
© 2012 – 2014 Chris Casey.
Instrumental written by Chris Casey and performed by Combo ’66
Featuring:
Chris Casey (Guitar)
Colin Fleishacker (Bass)
Toby Surratt (Drums)
Recorded in August 2012.
A Guest blog, This time from Darron J Connett. Many of you will recognise him from Delicious Junction advertising and also the band “Last of The Troubadours”.
Lots is happening for him at the mo, he has been involved with the new shoe from DJ called the The Troubadour and the band are to tour with The Rifles.
Anyways he took the time to write us a piece on his 5 fav Mod shoes. Thanks fella and enjoy the article.
Darron J Connett – My Top Five Mod Shoes
As musician,singer,songwriter,modernist,indivisualist,stylist(to some) i love my clobber and 1s & 2s,rhythm & blues (shoes) how ever us londoners choose to call them theyre the things that hold you up all day so should be choosen wisely. Im no expert but i know what i like so here’s my top five mod shoes.
1. My favourite has to be the basket weave, good ones are hard to get and very expensive and to be honest they never last very long but what foot furniture they are. I remember the older gents in they’re gabbici’s and farahs in the 80s who always had crocks or bally weave on their feet thinking how smart it looked ,in west london it was very del boy or yardie chic but i remember when i got my first pair circa 2005 they were Hudson chrome Brubaker basket weave which i believe paul weller helped design.I still have them and bring them out for special ocassions and always look out for another special pair….
2.The desert boot is and always has been the casual day wear classic from the late 50s to the present day and i must own maybe 10 pairs in many colours,Brands from sand to red from clarks to Delicious junction and they always do the trick with jeans or dare i say it shorts in the summer.
A wardrobe staple.
3.Everyone should have a pair of loafers whether there penny, tasseled loakes bass oxblood or black they just simply are a very stylish ivy league type foot attire.Again look great with jeans or a suit.I prefer the slimmer type compared to the more northern soul 70s inspired ones but i own both,so grab your levis baracuta g9 white or red socks and you turn automatically into steve mcqueen…if only.
4.Gotta love the european driving loafer its uber cool in the summer,just imagine you in a vintage porshe on the Amalfi coast of italy with Grace kelly by your side.No socks though ever!!!!.
5.Now this one i guess divides opinion in the mod world but im fighting its corner in the name of style its the chelsea boot.Its very 60s beat band but with a sleek pair of strides on a well made suit or a skinny type jean they look Fab baby!!! obviously theres many brands but the black classic is the best for me which leads me on to the collabaration my band the last of the troubadours have done with Delicious junction
“The Troubadour” we found there wasnt a shoe type version and that needed to be ammended so with the good people of DJ we feel we’ve achieved just that.It still has the expanders on the sides but is low cut so as i said a shoe rather than a boot i hope you like the new member of the mod shoe family…
thanks..
Darron j Connett
Here is the facebook page for the band
https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Last-of-the-Troubadours/231392100220545
Here is the shoes Darron has helped design. They are beautiful looking shoes, and make a good addition to any wardrobe.
Just been on holiday and took the DJ afterglows with me to wear in the evenings and see how they faired.
The shoes were really good and didnt get hot like trainers do. Before i have had to loosen or take of my trainers in the evening at dinner. With these it wasn’t the case, which i am really chuffed about.
Also it was nice to wear something that no one else had on.
In terms of the look they have done well, the suede is looking a little raggard but i did wear them on the beach several times. So sand got into them, but tonce dry the sand came out nice. Strangley some of the suede has gone wilder, meaning if you look in the video the main part of the shoe is made up of two parts. One side is as new the other less so.
Would i recommend this shoe for the summer?, yes i would it has been really good and i will be getting another pair for next year