Raggare

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A raggare in his ideal environment, with a beer, on the bonnet of a 1960s car (photo taken during Power Big Meet in 2005).

Two raggare (photo taken during Power Big Meet in 2005).

The ideal Raggar-car

When no American fintails are available, raggare are sometimes forced to improvise, like using a Mercedes.

A lot of raggare on the roof a 1960s car during Power Big Meet in 2005

Raggare (a Swedish word roughly corresponding to the English term "pick-up artist", i.e., a person seeking sexual contact with someone) is a subculture found mostly in Sweden and parts of Norway and Finland, mostly in rural environments and smaller villages.

Raggare have existed since the 1950s and haven't changed much since then. Their culture is based on American popular culture of the 1950s, and typically centres on a "rebel" image. James Dean's Rebel Without a Cause and American Graffiti are a popular sources of influence.

Cars are very important to raggare; they like large U.S. cars from the 1950s, although any large American V8-powered car will do. If one is not available some substitutes are used; for instance, the Volvo Amazon, fintail Mercedes, or some other car with U.S. styling, but never a Japanese car. If that too fails, an older Volvo may be used (usually in the 200-series).

The music of choice is rockabilly. The clothes and hairstyle are that of 1950s rockabilly. Blue jeans, cowboy boots, white t-shirts, sometimes with print (also used to store a pack of cigarettes by folding the sleeve), leather or denim jacket. The hair is styled using Brylcreem or some other pomade.

One of the most popular artists among raggare is Eddie Meduza. Although he performed songs against punks, such as "Punkdjävlar!" ("Punk bastards!") and "Punkar'n och raggar'n" ("The punk and the raggare"), many punk rockers do listen to him. In 2005 a Swedish punk label Ägg Tapes & Records released a CD with various bands doing covers of Meduza's songs.

Raggare often use the confederate flag.

1 Raggare history
2 Raggare today
3 Raggare in media and pop culture
4 See also
5 External links

[edit] Raggare history

When raggare first appeared, they caused a moral panic with concerns about the use of alcohol, violence, high-speed driving, and having sex in the back seat. These concerns usually had little merit and most raggare were actually quite peaceful. The film Raggare! covered the issue in 1959.

Later, raggare often got into fights with hippies and punks, something described in the punk rock song "Raggare Is a Bunch of Motherfuckers" by Rude Kids (and later re-recorded by Turbonegro). When The Sex Pistols played in Sweden on July 28, 1977, a group of raggare waited outside and cornered some young girls who came out from the show. The girls had safety pins through their cheeks, and the raggare ripped them right out their faces. The band was upstairs drinking beer when they heard about it. Sid Vicious wanted to go down and fight, and someone else suggested they should get the limousine and run them over. In the end, the gig promoter called the police. Nowadays the hostility between Raggare and other subcultures is much lower.

[edit] Raggare today

No longer considered a menace to society, the raggare subculture lives on in Sweden, but in many ways it is still viewed in a negative light. Because of its mostly rural roots, retro-aesthetics, and unusual (for Swedes) pro-American stance, raggare are often (in Urban areas and in pop-culture) seen as uneducated white trash with poor taste and a low-brow attitude towards sex. This is how they are normally depicted on film and television, with the most famous modern example being the cult-characters "Ronny & Ragge", a pair of complete idiots who cruise around in a beat-up Ford Taunus. There are several gatherings for raggare around Sweden. The Power Big Meet is the most famous, and is also the biggest car show in the world.

[edit] Raggare in media and pop culture

Eddie Meduza have performed songs like "Punkar'n och raggar'n" ("The punk and the raggare"). Rude Kids made a song about raggare (later re-recorded by Turbonegro) called "Raggare Is a Bunch of Motherfuckers". The 1959 film Raggare! was about raggare and the moral panic of the time. The TV series Ronny & Ragge is about two raggare who cruise around in a beat-up Ford Taunus.