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Mullet 101 - Meet The New Do

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 25, 2008

New Lightning coach Barry Melrose is famous for his mullet hairstyle, a coif that comes with its own slogan: "Business in the front, party in the back." Popularized in the 1970s and '80s, a mullet is characterized by short hair on the top and sides, long hair in the back. Though Melrose trimmed up the back of his for Tuesday's big introduction, he will always and forever be "The Mullet."

Why 'Mullet?'

No one knows for sure. According to one theory, the hairstyle was common in the 1800s among mullet fishermen wanting to keep their necks warm. But it's possible the term grew out of the insult "mullet head," a reference to the broad-headed fish's lack of intellect.

Alternative Name

Hockey hair.

The Mullet In Literature

Though it didn't have a name yet, the mullet was described in Homer's classic "The Iliad": "The sprinting Abantes followed hard at his heels, their forelocks cropped, hair grown long in the back ..."

The Mullet In Song

The Beastie Boys made fun of the hairstyle in their 1994 song "Mullet Head."

He Said It

"I wear my hair this way because I like it. I'm a young coach, and I don't want to look like I'm 50 years old. I don't have to have short hair and be a grouch all the time."

- Barry Melrose, then-36-year-old coach of the Los Angeles Kings, to the Buffalo News in 1993. He's now 51.

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