Sneakers gain momentum after ‘Beatlemania’

Pop culture entered a new era when the Beatles burst forth onto the entertainment scene in Liverpool, England, in 1962. American fans were on pins and needles to see which brand of sneakers the band members would choose to wear.

This was one area in which the musically gifted blokes from across the pond displayed their individualism. 

The late George Harrison was a “bellringer for Jack Purcell kicks,” said Zak Maoui, style editor at British GQ magazine, based in London. “Harrison was the purveyor of Jack Purcells,” preferring them over all others.

 

The favorite brand of sneakers of the late John Lennon was Spring Court, a line of canvas and rubber shoes developed in Paris. He and Yoko Ono wore matching Spring Court kicks to their wedding in 1969. 

There are ample photographs showing the left-handed guitarist Paul McCartney, now 78, wearing black high top Converse Chuck Taylor All Stars while lounging backstage. He also was known to wear low top Adidas when out and about.

For a time, Ringo Starr had a sneaker deal with Adidas, based in Herzogenaurach, Germany. Since 2014, however, Starr’s been a paid spokesperson for Skechers of Manhattan Beach, Calif. He’s still banging on his drums at age 80. 

The first big song about sneakers to make an impression in the music world was “Hi-Heel Sneakers,” written and performed in 1963 by Tommy Tucker of Springfield, Ohio, an American blues artist. 

“Hi-Heel Sneakers” peaked at No. 11 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1964. Thy lyrics were hot: 

Put on your high-heel sneakers, child,

Wear your wig-hat on your head.

Ya know you’re looking mighty fine, baby;

I’m pretty sure you’re gonna knock ’em dead.

The Beatles were adamant about avoiding product endorsements. Nike overstepped that boundary. A huge legal dispute ensued. In 1987, Nike used the Beatles’ 1968 recording of “Revolution” in television commercials with tennis player John McEnroe to promote shoe sales, without the group’s consent. 

Attorneys asserted that the Beatles group doesn’t “endorse or peddle sneakers or panty hose…or anything else, from bras to beer.” The lawyers contended that the Beatles “wrote and recorded their songs as artists and not as pitch-men for any product.” 

Harrison was the most vocal, saying if Nike prevailed, “every Beatles’ song ever recorded is going to be advertising women’s underwear and sausages. We’ve got to put a stop to it in order to set a precedent.” 

Nike finally decided to discontinue airing the ads using the “Revolution” song in 1988. An out-of-court settlement was reached in 1989. 

The advertisement not only helped to sell lots of Nike Air Trainer and Air Jordan athletic shoes, but also helped to sell, re-energize and introduce the Beatles’ music to a whole new generation of listeners, reported Jack Doyle, owner of The Pop History Dig, a nonprofit website dedicated to contemporary culture and popular history.  

Doyle said TheStreet.com, a business-oriented web site, selected “the top 100 business events that shaped the 20th century. Nike’s ‘Revolution’ commercial made the cut at No. 97.” 

The Street.com touted the commercial for creating a new genre of advertising and “commodifying dissent.” Editors remarked: “It’s not the first time the ideals of the 1960s – freedom, individuality, anti-materialism, dissent – were called upon to push product but it may stand as the biggest co-optation.” 

The emergence of hip-hop and rap music brought with it a subculture of “sneakerheads.” 

Wearing Adidas Superstars, Run-D.M.C., released “My Adidas” in 1986. The trio’s shoe contract with Adidas became a template for future sneaker/hip-hop relationships.