It’s a bit of an urban myth that The Ramones always wore Converse. Sometimes they did, especially later on in their career, but if you were to look through photos of their past, they were not permanently embedded in their Chuck Taylors like history suggests.
The Ramones do fit one of the two distinct types of musician that fit the culture of Converse though. Marky Ramone himself once explained that “the Ramones were greasers. We were Fonzie with longer hair. The greasers and gangs in Brooklyn all wore Chuck Taylors and leather jackets”. Fellow New Yorkers The Strokes… now there is a band who love their Converse. They fit that stereotype again. The leather jacket and Converse. That’s New York style.
It’s not just New York though. Probably the most famous Converse wearing musician of all time was from the other side of the States. The North West to be exact. Go to Google Images now and try and find a photo of Kurt Cobain wearing any shoe other than Converse. It’s not easy. Again though, Nirvana grew from what Marky Ramones calls ‘the greasers’, albeit grunge rather than rock. Converse are perfect for getting trodden on, dropping beer on and generally getting in a right state at a gig. For many years I had a pair of All Stars hanging pinned to my wall. I’d worn them non stop at Reading Festival. When I returned home, there was no chance of ever wearing them again, but those shoes has taken so much abuse and held so many memories I couldn’t discard them. In fact, although they are no longer pinned to the wall, I still have them on my shoe rack. I don’t think I’ve ever thrown away a pair of Converse. It’s that abuse they accept and the fact that they’re such an antidote to perfect white sneaker that holds their appeal to the Cobains and Casablancas of this world.
The second set to have an affinity with the Chuck Taylor are West Coast rappers. While the East Coast were wearing Adidas Shell Toes or over the top Nikes, groups like N.W.A. went for Converse. In addition to the obvious basketball links, the story is that it was gang culture that started the trend. Thanks to, even back then, the choice of colours available, the Crips could wear their blue while the Bloods wore their red. That was the culture that N.W.A. came from. Ice Cube says it best. “Black Chuck Taylors worked with that raw, hard-core street feel that N.W.A wanted, even if some people were more into Jordans and shit.”
Competition
You have the chance to win a pair of Converse for yourself by voting for them ahead of 11 other types of trainer. All you have to do is tweet your support by using the #ConverseJD hashtag. Click the hashtag back there, and I’ve done the hard work for you. One lucky person will win all twelve pairs too. You can find the other, lesser, brands nominated by watching the video below. If you don’t win, why not go and buy these. In fact, buy them anyway and then choose another pair when you win. You can never have too many pairs of Converse.
