I too, was once cursed with straight hair- now it's so thin on top that I just shave my whole head bald. But back in the day, I regularly found that the only way to get my hair to do anything other than hang loose was to comb it straight back and plaster it in place. In the 40's and 50's Michael would have used brill cream or pomade(what is usually referred to as "hair grease"). These products can still be found in any drugstore, but I found that the best product is 100% aloe vera gel- it's usually found in the area that they have skin lotion, it's very easy on the hair, and it dries just like other gels like Dep, without getting so "crispy".

Sammy the Fish