The Birth of Cool

Bome Records were made In Hungary before the war (my theory is that this is where the culture began), though they not as bootlegs of forbidden music, but as amateur archivist activity.

In the Soviet Union, as in the West, they were usually associaetd with youth culture and the birth of the teenager (see the ‘Rock Around the Bloc’ post below). Apart from by the music, the Eastern Bloc cold war kids were highly influenced by the glimpses they got (in smuggled magazines) of the look and attitude of their Westen peers - particularly the British Teds and the American Rock and Rollers.

I recently recorded an interview with the author Max Decharne on this subject for my Bureau of Lost Culture show.

You can listen here:

London Teddy Boys - Image © Chris Steele-Perkins | Magnum photos. Click image for more