Today, entire websites are devoted to this haircut, catching NASCAR fans in all their mulleted glory. But this infamous hairstyle was not originated by the race fans of the south, they just adopted the style as their own. No, to trace the history of this “business in the front, party in the back hairstyle trend, one must dig into the annals of rock and roll.

It’s the hairdo of many names – Hockey Hair, mud-flap, sho-lo, bi-level, to name but a few but the concept is quite simple. Long hair in the back, closely cropped in the front. It is a contradiction of extremes, an outlandishly androgynous style that originated in the early 70s, thanks to a handful of glam rockers that unleashed the mullet on an unsuspecting population.

For men, it provided the best of both worlds, a neatly trimmed appearance from the front, and long locks of rock star hair that could be worn in a ponytail when one needed to be more conservative, and could flow freely when the mood turned more rebellious. For women, it provided a more edgy look that was decidedly more fierce than feminine. Joan Jett sported a mullet and, as a result, adopted a persona that stood out, a rebellious edge amongst her feather winged counterparts. Teenaged America soon followed and a mullet was a perfect accompaniment to the tight jean, muscle tee, look, accentuated by an earring and preferably a sleek Trans-Am.

And while a mullet isn’t exactly what one might consider mainstream these days, it still enjoys popularity wherever race car engines rev and perhaps always will. Racing fans have adopted the much-maligned style as their own and given in new life – and if the rest of the world has a problem with that, well, that’s their problem.