Beatle haircut
From Haircentric.com
The Beatle haircut, also known as the mop-top (or moptop) due its resemblance to a mop, is a mid-length hairstyle named for and popularized by the UK rock group The Beatles. It is a straight cut, relatively short in the back and sides, with long, straight fringe or Bangs. It is often claimed that the style had been suggested to the band whilst they were in Hamburg by artist Astrid Kirchherr, who adapted it from the Caesar cut which had become stylish amongst bohemians in continental Europe in the early 1960s.
However, Paul McCartney later stated that "The haircut came not from Astrid but from Jürgen Vollmer", who was a student of photography when he met The Beatles in Hamburg in 1960. As a schoolboy in the mid-50s, Vollmer had left his hair hanging over his front one day after he had gone swimming and kept it that way. This hairstyle was unusual in Hamburg in those days, and among the young artists, who later befriended The Beatles, Vollmer was the first with this self-styled haircut.
Vollmer is quoted directly, in 'The Beatles Off The Record' by noted Beatles expert Keith Badman, stating: "I was combing my hair forward as an act against the bourgeois horrors in Hamburg. The barbers here always cut it too short, so I cut my own hair, but I never did anyone else's. So when John and Paul came to Paris, I gave them this haircut. It was their idea to have it the same as mine".
Due to the immense popularity of The Beatles, the haircut was widely imitated worldwide between 1964 and 1966, until the band themselves began to grow their hair longer. Some schools banned students from wearing the style, believing it to be a badge of social rebellion.
In The Beatles film 'A Hard Day's Night', George Harrison, sporting a moptop, is asked by a reporter what he calls his hair style. His reply, "Arthur", has been used by fans of the film as yet another name for the haircut.