Harold Land - Chocolate Mess

During the decade, the types of parentally approved and appropriate dress for teen boys consisted of loose fitting slacks, an ironed shirt and tie, a sports jacket, and polished black or brown loafers. Haircuts were short and neat. Clean cut preppy boys donned tan chinos, a type of pants, that ended just below the ankles, V neck sweaters, and white buck shoes or Top Siders, deck shoes. Their female equivalents wore saddle shoes, bobby socks, blouses with pleated skirts, or dirndl dresses, which featured lots of petticoats, and came sleeveless or with puffed sleeves. Favored hairstyles included the ponytail and bouffant, hair that was teased and combed up to stand high on a woman's head.

Teens who embraced rock 'n roll began looking and dressing in ways that veered from the accepted norm. Teenage boys wore tight fitting blue jeans and white T shirts, an outfit that represented the essence of rock 'n roll rebellion. Or they adapted the greaser look favoring tight T shirts and dungarees, a type of jean, along with black leather jackets. Their hair was grown long, greased with Vaseline, and combed on both sides to extend beyond the back of the head, a style known as the ducktail, or D.A. White bucks were replaced by blue suede shoes, the name of a mid 1950s smash hit by early rock 'n roll icon Carl Perkins, 1932–1998. Their girlfriends expressed themselves by wearing felt poodle skirts, which often featured such images as record players and musical notes attached to their fronts, or they wore short, tight skirts, stockings, tight blouses and sweaters, and an over abundance of eye shadow and lipstick. While a preppy couple who was going steady, or seriously dating, exchanged class rings or identification bracelets, a greaser girl instead put on her boyfriend's leather jacket.

Source: Rock 'N' Roll Style by encyclopedia.com

Harold Land - Chocolate Mess

• Released in: 1972
• Genre: Jazz, Funk, and Soul
• Composed by: Leon Chancler

"In the early 1980s through to the early 1990s Harold Land worked regularly with the Timeless All Stars, a group sponsored by the Timeless jazz record label."

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