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Rage: A Sharpie's Journal Melbourne 1974 to 1980
A raw and real life story of Sharp as you’ve never read before. Follow Julie Mac and the Sharpies as they fight, punch and kick their way through their turbulent teenage years on the unsuspecting streets of Melbourne. It was a time when running from the cops, avoiding the ticket inspectors, drinking, spewing and rooting were all in a nights work, looking Sharp!
282 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2010
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May 21, 2022My pop is in this book I’ve grown up with learning about the sharpies
September 20, 2017
Most young people haven't heard of Sharpies. In fact, even when presented with the facts, their existence seems pretty far-fetched. Violent gangs who wore cardigans and platform shoes and roamed the outer suburbs looking for fights? Sounds like the premise for an unlikely Australian remake of "The Warriors".
Sharpies were real however and any doubters should read "Rage" by Julie Mac. It's the actual journal of a Melbourne Sharpie, and it traces the six years between 1974 and 1980. Julie is a precocious teenager, at the age of thirteen she is comfortable with fighting, drinking, sex, and looks old enough to buy alcohol legally if she needs to (I for one can't imagine starting so early but it certainly makes a colourful story). Her early entries are about Sharpies that she sees near her school. She initially seems to dislike them, but soon comes to release that she is one. She starts dating an older Sharpie boy called Skeeta and becomes part of his gang - the Box Hill Sharps. Later she starts dating Igby and joins the West Side Sharps. Finally she starts dating Chap and rolling with the Melbourne Sharps. (The membership of Sharpie factions doesn't seem to be very well defined so I might have got it a bit mixed up).
Reading this is a bit like attending an Anthropology class about Sharpies. I found it interesting that most of the action happens in the suburbs. Unlike some other subcultures, for example goth, or punk, the Sharps were very spread out. They routinely travelled long distances, by train, car, or even hitch-hiking, slept over at friends' houses and partied when their parents were away. Their enemies were typically Seaweeds (surfers), Rockers and Bikies, other Sharpie gangs, and occasionally ethnic gangs. The girls were also pretty violent, and it was apparently normal for girls to beat each other up and even attack boys on occasion. The Sharps were also not adverse to some serious vandalism, such as slashing and destroying every seat in a train carriage. Favourite pranks included hoax calls to the fire brigade and bomb threats. Tattoos, haircuts, and clothes shopping were important, and Julie often notes down the brands of each item she wears.
This book gets better as it goes along - the section featuring Igby is particularly good. Here there are rolling battles in Alexandra gardens, wild parties and a real sense of vitality. Other parts of the book feel a little bit prozaic. Occasionally Julie mentions other (more exotic) subcultures which seem to coexist with the Sharpies - such as Bowies, who presumably dress something like David Bowie. The Sharps seem to usually get along with Bowies and Skinheads (or Skins), in fact it's a bit difficult to tell what makes people belong to a certain group. Interestingly punks don't exist yet in Melbourne, although she notes the passing of Sid Vicious near the end of the diary and seems to be about to evolve into a punk when the diary suddenly ends. She is only sixteen. The book also features a few photos (in poor resolution), a couple of commentaries from notable Sharpie musicians (such as Angry Anderson), and a "where are they now" section.
I liked this a lot but unfortunately it was a bit long and I occasionally had to read it aloud in a silly voice to make it more interesting. There is some great material here for a retro gang film if anyone ever wanted to make one. The resemblance to films like "The Warriors", and "A Clockwork Orange" is quite palpable, and I found it interesting that she goes to see both films during the book. There's also a lot of current affairs which I liked, for example, the Granvillle train disaster. Sometimes though the voice seems to lack authenticity - is this really a thirteen year old girl? Some parts feel like they have been inserted artificially. There's also a lot of second-hand stories here, stories the narrator has apparently heard from someone else that she is relating with an unusual amount of detail.
I give this four out of five!! ****
review first appeared at: http://bench-press.blogspot.com.au/
Sharpies were real however and any doubters should read "Rage" by Julie Mac. It's the actual journal of a Melbourne Sharpie, and it traces the six years between 1974 and 1980. Julie is a precocious teenager, at the age of thirteen she is comfortable with fighting, drinking, sex, and looks old enough to buy alcohol legally if she needs to (I for one can't imagine starting so early but it certainly makes a colourful story). Her early entries are about Sharpies that she sees near her school. She initially seems to dislike them, but soon comes to release that she is one. She starts dating an older Sharpie boy called Skeeta and becomes part of his gang - the Box Hill Sharps. Later she starts dating Igby and joins the West Side Sharps. Finally she starts dating Chap and rolling with the Melbourne Sharps. (The membership of Sharpie factions doesn't seem to be very well defined so I might have got it a bit mixed up).
Reading this is a bit like attending an Anthropology class about Sharpies. I found it interesting that most of the action happens in the suburbs. Unlike some other subcultures, for example goth, or punk, the Sharps were very spread out. They routinely travelled long distances, by train, car, or even hitch-hiking, slept over at friends' houses and partied when their parents were away. Their enemies were typically Seaweeds (surfers), Rockers and Bikies, other Sharpie gangs, and occasionally ethnic gangs. The girls were also pretty violent, and it was apparently normal for girls to beat each other up and even attack boys on occasion. The Sharps were also not adverse to some serious vandalism, such as slashing and destroying every seat in a train carriage. Favourite pranks included hoax calls to the fire brigade and bomb threats. Tattoos, haircuts, and clothes shopping were important, and Julie often notes down the brands of each item she wears.
This book gets better as it goes along - the section featuring Igby is particularly good. Here there are rolling battles in Alexandra gardens, wild parties and a real sense of vitality. Other parts of the book feel a little bit prozaic. Occasionally Julie mentions other (more exotic) subcultures which seem to coexist with the Sharpies - such as Bowies, who presumably dress something like David Bowie. The Sharps seem to usually get along with Bowies and Skinheads (or Skins), in fact it's a bit difficult to tell what makes people belong to a certain group. Interestingly punks don't exist yet in Melbourne, although she notes the passing of Sid Vicious near the end of the diary and seems to be about to evolve into a punk when the diary suddenly ends. She is only sixteen. The book also features a few photos (in poor resolution), a couple of commentaries from notable Sharpie musicians (such as Angry Anderson), and a "where are they now" section.
I liked this a lot but unfortunately it was a bit long and I occasionally had to read it aloud in a silly voice to make it more interesting. There is some great material here for a retro gang film if anyone ever wanted to make one. The resemblance to films like "The Warriors", and "A Clockwork Orange" is quite palpable, and I found it interesting that she goes to see both films during the book. There's also a lot of current affairs which I liked, for example, the Granvillle train disaster. Sometimes though the voice seems to lack authenticity - is this really a thirteen year old girl? Some parts feel like they have been inserted artificially. There's also a lot of second-hand stories here, stories the narrator has apparently heard from someone else that she is relating with an unusual amount of detail.
I give this four out of five!! ****
review first appeared at: http://bench-press.blogspot.com.au/
September 5, 2016
Growing up in country NSW, I never knew much about Sharpies. My only experience was via a strange dance, which my friend Angela called 'The Wacker' which she taught us to do. We would whip 'The Wacker' out from time to time from 1979 on at school dances and the like. It involved doing this weird one-legged hop and double handed wacking action across the dancefloors, knocking the disco dancers out of the way! Angela had rellies in Melbourne I think, and I think she learnt it from them. Could this be Sharpie dancing? Who knows!
From what I've now come to learn, as a middle-aged woman, is that Sharpies started as Melbourne youth rebellion against long-haired mods in the 1960s and it went until the mid 1980s.
I have Melbourne friends who remember 'connies' and 'treads' and talk with fond recollection of the Sharpies and the fashion at the time. And there is of course, Ferret & Michelle from Fast Forward who also helped fill in the gaps - especially in regard to the dance moves!
So when I had a chance to read Julie Mac's book, Rage, A Sharpie Journal Melbourne 1974 to 1980, I jumped at it.
By the looks of it, Julie Mac was a couple of years older than me, and her fictionalised recollection paints a good picture of the movement. The intro to the book says she gathered the info from her own memories, as well as from info from friends' diaries, scrapbooks and recollections. Rage is 'manufactured' and 'exaggerated', according to the book's 'Fine Print'.
I know the Sharpies would hate this, but it did remind me of Puberty Blues, Sydney's surfside teen recollection. As Rage clearly points out, the Sharpies hated the Surfie long-hairs.
Julie Mac even mentions reading Puberty Blues in the diary. Needless to say, she didn't think much of it.
The best part of Rage was the photos. Seeing these skinny young folk in their tight flared jeans, skintight shirts, braces, platform shoes and all that attitude, was great. An absolute snapshot of the era.
It made me remember my love of music at the time, Staggers hessian bags (we all wanted one!), the obsession with jeans (I had a sticker on my cupboard of a radio station and a pair of jeans unzipping), the adventures in photobooths (where are my albums?) and the constant break ups and hook-ups that happened in large groups of friends.
I especially liked the glossary at the end that gave a 'where are they now' on a few of the main players. So sad that so many have died :(
My only criticism was that I had hoped the story would lead to a major event. But in true diary form, it appeared to only cover weekend train trips to Melbourne, wagging school, going out in cars, going to parties, friends going in and out of juvenile detention and letters (!) to each other in the holidays.
I would have liked to have known what happened to Julie and her friends in between the 'Sweet Sixteen' final photo and the 'where are they now'. What an amazing cross section of people.
Good on you, Julie Mac, for putting it together and keeping so many people's memories alive, and filling in gaps for foreign fringedwellers like me.
From what I've now come to learn, as a middle-aged woman, is that Sharpies started as Melbourne youth rebellion against long-haired mods in the 1960s and it went until the mid 1980s.
I have Melbourne friends who remember 'connies' and 'treads' and talk with fond recollection of the Sharpies and the fashion at the time. And there is of course, Ferret & Michelle from Fast Forward who also helped fill in the gaps - especially in regard to the dance moves!
So when I had a chance to read Julie Mac's book, Rage, A Sharpie Journal Melbourne 1974 to 1980, I jumped at it.
By the looks of it, Julie Mac was a couple of years older than me, and her fictionalised recollection paints a good picture of the movement. The intro to the book says she gathered the info from her own memories, as well as from info from friends' diaries, scrapbooks and recollections. Rage is 'manufactured' and 'exaggerated', according to the book's 'Fine Print'.
I know the Sharpies would hate this, but it did remind me of Puberty Blues, Sydney's surfside teen recollection. As Rage clearly points out, the Sharpies hated the Surfie long-hairs.
Julie Mac even mentions reading Puberty Blues in the diary. Needless to say, she didn't think much of it.
The best part of Rage was the photos. Seeing these skinny young folk in their tight flared jeans, skintight shirts, braces, platform shoes and all that attitude, was great. An absolute snapshot of the era.
It made me remember my love of music at the time, Staggers hessian bags (we all wanted one!), the obsession with jeans (I had a sticker on my cupboard of a radio station and a pair of jeans unzipping), the adventures in photobooths (where are my albums?) and the constant break ups and hook-ups that happened in large groups of friends.
I especially liked the glossary at the end that gave a 'where are they now' on a few of the main players. So sad that so many have died :(
My only criticism was that I had hoped the story would lead to a major event. But in true diary form, it appeared to only cover weekend train trips to Melbourne, wagging school, going out in cars, going to parties, friends going in and out of juvenile detention and letters (!) to each other in the holidays.
I would have liked to have known what happened to Julie and her friends in between the 'Sweet Sixteen' final photo and the 'where are they now'. What an amazing cross section of people.
Good on you, Julie Mac, for putting it together and keeping so many people's memories alive, and filling in gaps for foreign fringedwellers like me.
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