Famous men wearing and without hats

I don't know if you have noticed but there has been a trend in recent years of hiding male baldness, especially if the man in question is a famous celebrity. I know from personal experience that press photographers and publicists expect men they are photographing to cover up their bald pates and receding hairlines.

I was once in a photoshoot for Wales On Sunday newspaper for an advertising feature about a hotel in Tenby. The photographer insisted that I put my beret on even for a shot in which I was supposedly climbing out of a jacuzzi whilst playing the guitar. That was the photo of me that went out in the paper too!

Some famous men don't need to hide their baldness at all but still use hats and elaborate headgear as a gimmick to draw attention to themselves. Jay Kay of Jamiroquai is a good example of this.

Legendary singer-songwriter and musician Van Morrison has become inseperable from a hat of some description for all his public appearances and press photos for the last decade or so.

If you know of a recent album by or press feature about Van the Man without photos of him with a hat on his head please let me know! All the ones I have seen have him with his head covered.

I doubt if it is Van's idea to always do this as he comes over as a very honest man in his rare interviews. It is more likely, I would think, that his management have told him to cover up his baldness when in front of the cameras.

And it is not just the famous musicians and rock stars. Conspiracy theory researcher Bill Ryan of Project Camelot is another man always to be seen with a hat perched on his head and his long hair spilling out around the sides and at the back.

In the very many video presentations in which he is either a speaker or interviewing a featured whistleblower, Bill is always wearing a hat. But is he hiding his baldness? We can only wonder.

I always think it must get very hot under stage spotlights with a hat on your head at all times when performing or in the public eye.

The image that people have of famous stars who wear headgear is with a hat, and they will never know what the star actually looks like without one, but can only imagine.

Many years back the late actor Telly Savalas used to play the part of the TV detective Kojak. He was famous for being bald. It was OK then to expose a bald pate on a famous man.

Yul Brynner was another former actor who was famous not only for his acting but for his bald head. Bald was beautiful in those days, so what has changed?

The Candian synthpop band Men Without Hats, fronted by singer Ivan Doroschuk, celebrated not wearing headgear in their name. They have gone down in pop history for the massive hit they had worldwide with the song The Safety Dance.

The band released the albums, No Hats Beyond This Point, Greatest Hats and My Hats Collection. Without or without hats The Safety Dance is a classic pop song and real favourite of mine.