All began in the early 1950's in England. Some teenagers gangs appeared in the East End of London; they were called the Cosh boys. It was very easy to recognise them. They wore a very special rig : long jacket with velvet collar and cuffs drain-pipe trousers like under the reign of Edward VII (1901-1910), bright ankle socks and slim Jim tie. There hair were "long" and greased. These Cosh boys terrified the English society : razor attacks, fights between gangs but also against the police, robberies ... After the Second World War England woke up with an headache ! Press needed a new term to describe these gangs which number increased each day? The word chosen was Teddy Boy(s) and Teddy Girl(s), Ted(s)

It seems that the first newspaper that used the term Teddy Boy was the Daily Express on September 23rd 1953. At this epoch, Elvis Presley was just a truck-driver !

And then, came Rock'n'Roll immediately adopted by the young generation and of course by the Teds. Bill Haley, Elvis, Buddy Holly, Eddie Cochran, Gene Vincent, Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard, Chuck Berry, and British artists like Tommy Steele, Cliff Richard and the Drifters (then the Shadows), Billy Fury, Marty Wilde (and many many others ... ) became the teenagers' idols. It was the beginning of something new, a wind of freedom. In Britain, in September 1956, Bill Haley had 5 records in the 'Top 20' and the film Rock Around The Clock was shown at 300 cinemas, but, in the early 60's, the tastes of the public changed and many Teds, after the military service in the British Army, put away their finger-tip drapes, their tightly fitting trousers and cut their hair. Was it the end of the Teds' culture ? Not at all ladies and gents!

50's R'N'R still had many fans in Great Britain ; many of them, the (Ton-Up) Rockers wore the "uniform" of the "American bad boys" : black leather jackets, T-shirts, jeans and motorcycle boots.

In 1967, Bill Haley's Shake, Rattle and Roll crept into the British charts again. At the end of the 60's, some bands played authentic R'N'R for a new generation of Teds which joined the original ones . Bands like the Wild Angels, the Houseshakers, the R'N'R Gang (in France), Shakin' Stevens & the Sunsets, the R'NR Allstars recreated the true spirit of R'N'R ; they rendered the big success of the 50's (',Johnny B. Goode',' Little Queenie'. 'Tutti Frutti','Peggy Sue', 'Be Bop A Lula, 'C'mon Everybody', 'Summertime Blues', 'Great Balls Of Fire', ...). This return to the traditional R'N'R was called Rock'n'Roll Revival.

In the 70's, the new generation of Teds developed a strong identity : hair lacquer started to replace grease, the drapes were brighter and, sometimes, the drain-pipes were tighter. Gradually , this new generation discovered one of the roots of R'N'R : Rockabilly and Country Music. Remember, Mr. Presley started off on Rockabilly! People like Carl Perkins, Johnny & Dorsey Burnette, Charlie Feathers, Hank Mizell, Warren Smith, Billy Lee Riley, Charlie Rich, George Jones, Carl Mann, Hayden Thomson, Janis Martin, Wanda Jackson, Sleepy Labeef (and many many other artists) became suddenly famous in England then soon after in the rest of Europe. In the same time, in the U.S.A., the great label Rollin' Rock recorded brilliant artists as Ray Campi, Mac Curtis ...

The main adepts of Rockabilly founded a new movement called Rockabilly Rebels (Rockabilly Rebs). Some of them embraced the politics of the British National Front and of racial segregation. They wore the Confederate flag. Teds News do not support this "movement" which is nearly dead ! Artists as Matchbox and Ray Campi, musical leaders of the Rockabilly Rebels were not at all racialist.

In the early 70's, a lot of Teds (particularly, the old generation) didn't care about Rockabilly, they asked for Rock'N'Roll. Nowadays, it's different : Rockabilly (with 50's R'N'R, instrumentals of the early 60's, Jumpin' Jive, Country Music) belongs to the Teds' culture.

The interest for Rockabilly coincided with the internationalisation of the Teddy Boy's tradition. New bands like Crazy Cavan & the Rhythm Rockers, the Flying Saucers, the Riot Rockers (... ) exported all over Europe their own songs, their own music. They created a new sound that we 're still calling British Rockabilly. Some Teds prefer to use the term (Rockabilly) Revival. Teds News would like to promote this European sound also called Teddy Boy Rock'n'Roll, which had many supporters in the 70's and still have many fans in Europe even if a lot of (pseudo) purists hate this style that is not enough 50's for them. British Rockabilly can be played with an electric bass. The purists abhor this instrument, they prefer the double-bass ("slap bass")

Teds News decided to support Teddy Boy R'N'R (even is this music is often underestimated), British R'N'R and bands that try to revive the early 60's instrumentals.

It seems that some Teds today return to the roots of their movement. They give up the 70's style for the 50's one. Nobody knows what the future will be. But we are sure that Rock'n'Roll will never die.