Hair: curly, fuzzy, matted, twisted, tangled

Those are some of the words sung by one of the key players in the Broadway musical Hair, which celebrated the love, sexual liberation, antiwar politics and drugs. The play had in mind the long hair flowing from the heads of young people who tried to sort through fear, anger and other human emotions at a troubling time in America's history. We present herewith a different form of hair--the kind that sprouts from follicles in all parts of the body.

But before we do, a look at Hair. The play was created by two out-of-work actors who wanted to "create something different" from the traditional Broadway format. Hair opened off-Broadway in October 1967, closing shortly thereafter. After a new producer revamped the plan, the musical reopened, this time on Broadway, in April 1968. It closed in July 1971 after 1,742 performances.

One of the key songs in the play celebrate the long-haired hippie look that the silent majority of Americans found so repulsive and fearful.

"I want it long, straight, curly, fuzzy

Snaggy, shaggy, ratty, matty

Oily, greasy, fleecy

Shining, gleaming, streaming

Flaxen, waxen

Knotted, polka-dotted

Twisted, beaded, braided

Powdered, flowered and confeittied

Bangled, tangled, sprangled and spaghettied! …

Hair, hair hair, hair, hair, hair, hair

Flow it, show it

Long as God can grow it

My hair

As I mentioned, most men no longer keep long hair on their heads. It's the stubble on their face, the mat on their chest, the trail leading to their genitalia and beneath, the tangle on their legs and even brush on their shoulders and back. So here we go. A celebration of hairy men.

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