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The word was invented by The Beastie Boys. I had no idea.
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Oh. Wow. Just…wow. I would love to talk to whomever at C-SPAN put together the infrastructure to digitize, tag, and process all of that video, because I'm guessing they could give me some solid advice.
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Oh god. I really wish I did not just learn that I don’t need TV to watch C-span. I went through a period in highschool where I would stay up all night watching Tony Blair and Parliament duke it out. I suppose without Blair it’s no where near as entertaining, but… god… that’s a bad addiction to be tempted to relapse into.
Really? They coined Mullet???
As much as I love the Beasties, “mullet” has been around much longer than 1994. A quick google and I found mullet junkie
Well now I’m going to have to watch Cool Hand Luke again.
I had just mentioned yesterday that there are some floor speeches I want to look up on the CSPAN archive.
This is one of the coolest things ever.
I’ve heard “mullet heads,” but I always assumed it was a reference to the fish, although I couldn’t guess at the etymology. I’ve seen “Cool Hand Luke” a half-dozen times, and I don’t recall anybody in it sporting a mullet.
I was just watching Cool Hand Luke and they had a short about the filming. They were discussing the girl in the cash washing scene (which was shot without any of the rest of the cast present) the shot was to take half a day to shoot. It ended up taking over 3 days (just on the parts with her washing the car). When asked why it took so long the director said nothing and just smiled.
BTW I remember no mullets in the film either
Brian Lamb is my hero.
The Beastie Boys? And the Board of Mis-Education in Texas doesnt think hip hop deserves mention as a cultural movement!
I don’t know why this fascinates me. I need to know how “mullet” started. Seems as though Mark Twain used the term “mullet-head” in writing and I’ve found a few more references to Cool Hand Luke using the term. “Mullet-head” seems to refer to s stupid person. Which was later shortened to just “mullet” as a derogatory term. And most everything I could find cites Mike D. as the person who linked the word “mullet” to that particular hairstyle. Apparently he’s been asked about it, and he can’t recall where he got it from or how he thought it up, but he used it in a song and in a magazine article in 1994. So then it was born (or at least credited) into popular culture.
I just find it hard to believe since the Beastie’s song “Mullet Head” wasn’t a popular song by any means. That and I can swear people referred to mullets before 1994. My brother had a kick ass mullet circa 1990 and I know I made fun of him for it. (I actually made T-shirts 2 years ago for his bachelor party with his 9th grade class picture featuring his raging, feathered mullet.) I know he didn’t go to the barber shop and ask for a “mullet,” but I swear that’s what people would call it when they were making fun of it.
The term was definitely around when Billy Ray Cyrus was big with “Achy Breaky Heart” and that song came out in 1992. Consider me a skeptic.
All right, I just got off the phone with my brother. He finally got rid of his mullet 1990-1991. He says that no one called it that during that era. Apparently it was still cool back then. And yes, no one ever went to the barber and asked for a mullet. But even as a wearer of the mullet, he couldn’t recall when people started calling it that.
*Wow* Flashback. I now remember the first time I personally heard the term “mullet” in reference to hairstyle. 1996. Senior year. Advanced art class. A girl at my art table was talking about mullet and how funny the hairstyle was. I can actually remember asking her what she was talking about. And I remember being puzzled by her fascination with an outdated hairstyle. So scratch everything I ever said about using the term pre-1996. I guess I can concede credit to Micheal Diamond too.
As I’m telling my wife all this, she’s commenting that I may or may not be a little obsessive compulsive.