Headbangers

Generic term used, in absence of a better one, to describe heavy metal fans. It is a musical style that grew rapidly from the crossover between the hippy culture and ‘hardness’ of the rockers. The fashion of Heavy Metal unexpectedly merged a certain shabbiness (typical of hippies with denim and long hair) with the brilliance inherited first from psychedelics and later from glam (Spandex jeans, snakeskin and leopard print, and metal accessories), and also with leather clothing and a passion for badges that was typical of Greasers.