Of all the rock hairstyles, I find the mullet the most fascinating. No other haircut has transcended so many genres, from being worn by virtually everyone to being completely reviled. Somehow this style moved fluidly from Tom Jones in the 60s to Glam rockers like David Bowie in the 70s and then on to the antitheses of glam rock androgyny, machismo heavy metal. I myself had my hair cut into a mullet in the fall of 1986 just in time for kindergarten. I remember bursting into tears when the beautician turned me to face the mirror. Not only had she cut it into a mullet but she’d blown it out into a giant bouffant. Even at that tender age, I knew I looked ridiculous.
The mullet first made its way into popular culture in the 60s on the head of British pop star Tom Jones. In 1972, David Bowie introduced his alter ego Ziggy Stardust and the glam mullet was born. Glam rock was a post hippie genre marked by flamboyant costumes and make-up taking rock androgyny to a whole new level. Glam rock experimented with themes influenced by sci-fi and the theatre. David Bowie went on to produce such revolutionary musicians as Mott the Hoople, Lou Reed, and Iggy Pop and The Stooges. Glam rock, along with its mullet, grew in popularity such that by the mid 70s, many non glam acts, like The Osmonds, grew mullets and threw some glitter on their faces, though they left out the science fiction, sexual ambiguity and high art. By 1973 Carol Brady was wearing a mullet on the Brady Bunch. And so began the avant-garde hairstyle’s descent into mediocrity.
The 1980s: At the early part of the decade the mullet was worn by new wave bands like Duran Duran and enjoyed some more experimentation in androgyny but by the middle of the decade the hairstyle had made a shift and was being worn by hair metal bands like Mötley Crüe. Sadly, the once avant-garde hairstyle slipped further when it was adopted in the late 80s and early 90s by country acts like Billy Ray Cyrus. Everyone had a mullet at this point, from James Hetfield of Metallica to John Stamos of Full House. Even Little Richard cut his once proud pompadour to business in front party in back. The term itself was coined by the Beastie Boys in 1994 in the song Mullet Head popularized in 1995 in Grand Royal Magazine with the article “Mulling Over The Mullet.” The mullet was most hilariously taunted in the Wesley Willis song “Cut The Mullet” with lyrics like “Take your ass to the barber shop. Tell the barber that you’re sick of looking like an asshole.”
The mullet has made a bit of a come back in the past decade on the heads of hipsters, ironically of course. It’s almost come full circle, now back on the heads of the tragically hip that listen to experimental music and push the boundaries of androgyny.
