Keith at Smile

It isn't often, to be honest, that my attention would be piqued by the appearance in the obituary columns of a hairdresser - but, in the case of Mr Keith Wainwright, who has departed for the great "Blow'n'Go boutique" in Fabulon, he deserves recognition.

Not only was he a pioneer of the "unisex salon" in the Swinging 60s (when his clients included Roy Wood, The Move, Cat Stevens, The Walker Brothers and Elton John)...

...but, at his salon Smile, he also developed the formula for "unnatural" hair colours, which became wildly popular during the Punk era in the late 70s! Derek Jarman recruited him to style his films, and it was thanks to his work on Jubilee that he developed a life-long friendship and working relationship with one of its stars Toyah Wilcox - creating most of her outlandish hairdos during her chart-dominating era in the 1980s [a sample of which is featured above]. Read her tribute.

Such was his fame among the trend-setters, he was simply referred to as "Keith from Smile" - and was even name-checked by the Pet Shop Boys in this simply faboo track from their 2012 album Elysium [here accompanied by a most marvellous video compilation by a super-fan]:

Pet Shop Boys - Requiem in Denim and Leopardskin

I thought it was like a film
reviewed but never seen
where everybody played themselves
as a drama king or queen
The music was overwhelming
glittering and thin
solemn and shabby like a requiem
in denim and leopardskin

I visualised the flashbacks:
school, punk rock, success
parties, too much of everything
the clichés, the candles, the mess

Lucien in the scene with David
Bryan in a tux
A copy of Ritz in Zanzibar
Old Hollywood redux
Ossie’s last collection
Biba’s closing sale
A little more rouge on the powdered cheeks
but the base is pale

This is our last chance for goodbye
Let the music begin
Shining and soaring like a requiem
in denim and leopardskin

It ended with a motorbike
a search for evidence
poring over old photographs
to make it all fake sense
Glamorous in its own way
Shouting above the din
Solemn and shabby like a requiem
in denim and leopardskin

Johnny’s wearing brothel-creepers
Malcolm’s round the block
Adam’s in a Jarman film
The look is “Let It Rock”
A Johnson’s leather jacket
Hair by Keith at Smile
All you need to make it big
is sex and style

This is our last chance for goodbye
Let the music begin
Shining and soaring like a requiem
in denim and leopardskin
This is our last chance for goodbye
Let the music begin
Shining and soaring like a requiem
in denim and leopardskin

RIP, Keith Wainwright MBE (October 1944 – April 2024)