We Owned The 80's usually focuses on good music, TV, and other aspects of culture that are fondly remembered over the years. This ain't one of those entries.
Anyone with country relatives surely has had their nostrils singed and their pillowcases permanently stained by that most bastardly of tacky hairstyles. That's right party people, I'm talkin' bout' the infamous Jheri Curl.
The Jheri curl (often incorrectly spelled Jerry curl and/or Jeri curl) is a hairstyle that was common and popular in the African American and Latino communities in the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s. Invented by and named for Jheri Redding, the Jheri curl gave the wearer a glossy, loosely curled look.
Before ya'll ask, yeah, I did some pretty wack hair-related sh*t in the 80's myself. I had a Kwame hightop fade, and a 6-inch Ralph Tresvant shag, and a Bobby Brown Gumby with "frost" in it. But no, I nevar rocked a Jheri curl, although I had plenty of family members who shall remain unnamed that did. The memories of the foul stench of Right On™ curl activator perturb me to this day.
Unlike any other hairdo, the Jheri curl just screamed "I Am A Bama, And I Am Proud!" Yeah, I suppose in some remote corners of the US, a curl kit was attractive to some, but even as a snobbish preteen, I knew to never trust a big butt and a smiiiiile girl who needed activator.
[Editor's Note: For my readers of a lighter persuasion who are completely clueless right now, just imagine the Jheri Curl as an "urban" version of the mullet. That drips and stinks. Nuff' said.]
I mean, c'mon, what other black hairstyle spawned such scorn and random clownage?
Who can forget the tacky Randy Watson from Coming To America?
How about "Soooooul Glow"?
Or Robin Harris' "follow the drip" from House Party?
Who could forget the classic spoof from In Living Color?
That's one's even funnier when you look at Jamie Foxx' yearbook photo. Bwaaahhaahah!!!
I don't really know who these guys are, but this was hella funny too.
While the hairstyle became less trendy in the 90's, contrary to popular belief, the Jheri Curl still lives strong today. Just visit your local swap meet, 3rd grade graduation, or family reunion and you'll know what I mean.
Oddly enough, with all sorts of 80's stuff (flat tops, skinny jeans, hipster rap) coming back in style, I wonder how long it'll be before some NBA player busts out with a wet -n- wild?
A.C. Green is smiling inside.
Question: Don't lie!!! Did you rock a Jheri Curl? Do you have a family member that still rocks one? Do you think the curl will ever come back in style? Any particularly memorable Jheri Curl story you wanna share with AverageNation™?
Friday, November 21, 2008
We Owned The 80's: The Jheri Curl.
Tags Popped: We Owned The 80's
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LOL!
Never had a Jheri curl. My mother almost considered giving me one but she changed her mind. Thank the Lord for that, LOL!
My mother had one in the early 80s and then moved on to a relaxer. Now she has a press and curl.
My aunt wears one and I still can't get over it. She should just rock a short natural. That style actually complements her better.
I've got to admit, I rocked the jheri curl back in the day! You couldn't tell me nothin' shooooot.
FYI, you don't have to look all that hard for a "curl" these days. They are just hiding under the guise of "texturizers" Y'all ain't fooling nobody with that! A curl by any other name is STILL a curl. LOL
MAYNE, this a GREAT Friday post. I don't know where you found them dudes singing about Curl's but that is some funny mess.
I never had a jerhi, texturizer, or any real hair styles. BUT, I had a girlfriend that had one. I still recieved hella clownage for that one.
Here's the story. I am in the 11th grade and on one Friday night my girlfriend and I reached a point where our hormones could hold it anymore. No need to go into details here. So the next afternoon my dad says hey I'm going to use you car to get something. 5 minutes after giving up the keys my dad calls me outside and says, "Hey boy, What the hell is this on this seat?" I ended up telling him that I changed the oil earlier that morning and I put the oil pan on the seat and it leaked. The messed up thing was he was so proud of me for changing the oil......
I never had one but my daddy did and back in the day they used to call him Black Jesus because he's a dark skinned man and that curl was to the shoulders!!! He was cold blooded!!
I look at the pictures today and cringe. He looks at them and says with a big grin, "Damn I was a pretty n*gga!!!"
*Sigh*
I can't watch that Soul Glo commercial from the movie without grimacing. That's my cousin, and all I can remember is his sister talking him into singing that song with a jheri curl wig during a Mardi Gras party in the 90's.
My sister wore one for years, before finally stepping into modern times and wearing her hair natural. My Mom still proudly displays the pictures of her Star Trek spaceship inspired style. Her fav. It was super high on the top and spread/combed out about 4 inches of the sides.
I also remember playing foos ball at the local teenage game hall and how it used to get stuck with rust. Needless to say one of my other cousins always came to the rescue. She would run her hand through her hair and grease the poles. Worked all the time.
So, as horrible as they were, the curl did come to good use at times.
I never wore one, didn't need to, thank gawd.
clearly im way too young to have even had a jheri curl let alone think it was fashionable.
i think the mullet analogy was purrrrrfect because of the less than handful of family in da Chi who decided to rock one, it was kinda the ones who were scratchin an surviving more than the others.
and the other ones who just rocked them incessantly were the relatives down in rural Louisiana and my plethora of cousins spread out between there and Houston on the I 10 corridor.
but seeing as how me and my homeboy went to go visit our grammar school back in 05 and our French teacher was still rockin her jheri curl founded 1989 when me and him started kindergarten....i wanna know WHO STILL SELLLS ACTIVATOR?!??!?!?!?!?
@uppity:
Oh man, rural Louisiana in highschool... that stuff was ever-present, hahaha!
@uppity
Damn bruh, ".....started kindergarten in '89." From now on, don't put any dates on anything man. Most of these "We own the 80's" new pieces you must be getting the information 2nd hand. I.E. Soul Glo.
@CJames
OMG He was proud of you changing the oil! You changed the oil alright....LOL
I admit, I had one when I was like 8. I didn't have drippage going on though and I let my hair grow out the summer before I turned 10 (b-day's in the spring) and switched to a relaxer that I get ever since then. Best switch I ever made! I hate that smell!
Yes, I had a curl, I did, my gma, my auntie, my mom...it kinda ran in the family lol
And I kinda didnt have a choice, my gma didnt want to give me my press and curl anymore.
I think I was about 9 or 10 when I got it, so I kinda thought it was cool, a lot of people had one, but I still had it when I got to Middle School :( (so not cool, anymore)
Happily Nappy and Natural Now!!! :)
I think hair weaves are the new Jheri Curls. In ten years we are going to be looking back and laughing at how crazy women look wearing weaves.
I can say with pride, I never had a Jheri Curl only because it didn't take.
Thanks Goodness for small favors.
Aww, man...
Per capita, I'll bet no city had more Jheri curls/wave nouveaus than mine. Growing up, I saw a lot of messed up pillow cases and smelled plenty of Right On. No kid should have to smell that.
Oh, and it wasn't just the bumpkins/bamas/hood cats rocking that either around here...I know a couple of smart, prominent cats around here that don't want me digging through the photo album.
Fortunately, I was just a bit too young to have rocked the JC myself. The only person I know who still has one is my brother's old boss...in turn, we call her JC Masterpiece.
About the closest I got to Jhericurldom was rocking an small s-curl fro, looking like a budget Carl Thomas. Yeah, I think I'll stick with the caesar cut or the baldie.
Hey there!
I never had a Jheri Curl! I never even dated men with Jheri Curls!!
And how can any of us forget the "Coming To America" movie with that Jheri Curl family who had the Jheri juice on the couch when they all stood up!! *LOL*
Pleeease black people, do not ever bring the Jheri Curl back in effect...it was a sad chapter in our history....
{shaking my head}
Lisa
A family friend wore one well into the mid to late 90s (in the NYC suburbs). The funny thing is she worked as a hairdresser on the weekend, but she was in her early 60s I guess, and one of those people not open to change. I stopped going to her maybe 10 years ago after a particulary bad relaxer burn, but in retrospect I wonder why I ever let anyone with a jheri curl touch my hair? I guess that's what being broke will do for you. Thank god I wasn't allowed to put chemicals in my hair until around '92 when I was 15 so the fad had long passed (I never fell prey to that sculptured waves with the spray glitter and butterflies and rhinestones mess either for that matter). I'm sure if I dig up some of my elementary school class pictures, I'll be able to shame some people.
...sigh...
My name is i.l.l. and I used to rock a jheri curl. I had one in late elementary school when my mom got tired of combing my hair. Or when I wanted hair like my mom. I don't remember which came first. I just remember my curl looking busted sometimes because I hated the smell of activator so I tried to make my hair look more natural. Haha! Speaking of which, I remember this girl in high school with really long hair and that activator smell. She was tryna front like she just "had Indian in her family" and good hair instead of RightOn in her locker!
I still have one auntie who still rocks the Jheri proudly.
Nope, never rocked a Jheri. My mom and grandma used to stock up on that Curl Activator though.
My great sin was thinking I could pimp Jr. High with finger waves. My aunt is a hairdresser and put them in.
The ladies couldn't stop touching my hair. When the waves started coming out it wasn't all that good.
Now that I'm older....the entire idea wasn't all that good. LOL!
Ahh, youth!
EG
@i.l.l.
I could not STAND to have my mom comb my hair! It felt like she was trying to pull it out! I feel your pain!
@cjames
lol...i use that line a lotta times to date myself and usually i get the same response from all the old heads: "Dang you young!"
Yeah, clearly I'm learning more when I read the we owned the 80s pieces, lol.
Per EG's comment:
I remember finger waves. For some reason in seventh grade (I guess y'all can do the math as to what year that was now) I remember a dude showing up in eighth grade who had finger waves. They was on point but I remember all of us were like wtf....who told him that was a good idea.
Never did the jheri curl...I had massive naturals instead. There is one picture of me when I was four and my afro is like 3 times the size of my head LOL.
I just left the natural world a year or so ago...*Siobhan pouts*
My aunt Cynthia was rocking one for quite a bit when I was young...for shame
Ok so I just watched that video with the 3 guys singing about drippin love LOL OMG!?!?! That was soooooooooooooo funny! The one with the gloves was a trip. The other one looked like he was cockeyed. And they was lookin' so serious on that one part where they was all posin for the camera! *dead*
@ Tiffany, Not "Black Jesus"!! LMAO.
I confess, I had a curl in junior high school when they first came out. I ran track, did gymnastics, and was a cheerleader and the curl was low maintenance. One thing about the curl is due to your hair being constantly moisturized (activator) it grows like mad. Once my hair had gotten so long that I had was blowing my entire allowance on activator, I moved on to cornrows (with beads of many colors). I look back at those pictures of me with the curl and cringe--it looked like I had a wooly mammoth on my head. But at the time, you couldn't tell me I wasn't fly!
@AB, don't just discriminate against the curl. I think it's only fair that we now have a discussion about the high top fade (ala Kid & Play), shag, and finger waves... LOL!
I had a curl but it wasn't my fault! My mama didn't know how to do hair and this was the only way she could think of to make sure I wasn't walking around looking crazy everyday. I mean, it was in style for a bit there. Mine was always kinda dryish, like a curly afro, cause I didn't like it juicy.
You forgot "Hollywood Shuffle"--"Do the Jheri Curl" scene with Keenan Ivory Williams!
I had a Jheri Curl from 3rd grade all the way to 8th when everyone started doing the perm thing and I wanted one too. The curl wasn't that BAD (I think I would actually do the curl before I do on of these Power Ranger weaves, I see females wearing nowadays)The curl actually made you're hair grow, but some people did go overboard with the activator. All my aunts, mom, grandma and a couple of uncles rocked it back in the day. GM still does.
And can we also talk about the designs that had to go in the bo tops on the sides. And the tail phase. Some of y'all know you had them small punk tails in the back of your heads.
I didn't know what it was called, but because of Coming to America as a little girl I thought it was what you did to your hair if you were some kind of snob. And Eriq La Salle was such an amazing snob in that film :)
My mother never let me wear one. My brother who is older than I was already out of the house. He did what he wanted. My mother said it looked stupid.
With that in mind, I permed my hair instead.
In hindsight, equally stupid.
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