I've been listening to a box set called "The In Crowd" that is a loose playlist of tracks that English Mods in the 60s were listening to at clubs like the Marquee. Its an excellent compilation and worth a Stones fans money considering it contains many of the original versions of Stones covers (Harlem Shuffle, Hitch Hike, Can I get A Witness, Time is On My Side, etc). As an American my only knowledge of Mod is a cross between the Carnaby Style of Austin Powers, the movie Quadrophenia and a few pictures of groups like the Who in their early days.
I'm curious to know if anyone here was involved in the Mod culture when it was still parkas and Italian suits prior to the aformentioned Austin Powers version. I know that the Stones were partially associated with the Mods early one due to their choice of music, but obviously weren't as involved in it as The Who. So what can you tell me about it, what books to read to get an idea of it,etc?

That whole mod thing seems to have changed in definition over the years, to the point of becoming some sort of worldview called Mod. (As in, "when Mod first began . . " etc.) Used to be a lot less coherent in the days when you had the big showdowns between mods and rockers (the latter wore leather and rode motorbikes, whereas mods, as mentioned, wore parkas and rode mopeds). I remember there was a big fight scene on the sea-front at somewhere like Brighton, that made all the papers. Anyway, Stones fans were rockers at that point, thus so was I, in theory, though I was really too young to belong to either group. Despite the crossover in musical tastes, I don't remember the Stones ever being associated with mods, but then it was a loooong time ago, so . . .

Mod stands for 'Modernist' It was a new movement that gained momentum in the early 1960's. As Aquamarine correctly noted; they wore parka jackets and rode mopeds. Musically, they tended to listen to R&B and soul. There was a Mod-revival in the mid-late 1970's, but really, it was a little silly considering that there was now nothing 'new' or 'modern' about it. The movement was originally geared-towards the current and exciting: the latter incarnation was just nostalgia.

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Happy Jack
I've been listening to a box set called "The In Crowd" that is a loose playlist of tracks that English Mods in the 60s were listening to at clubs like the Marquee. Its an excellent compilation and worth a Stones fans money considering it contains many of the original versions of Stones covers (Harlem Shuffle, Hitch Hike, Can I get A Witness, Time is On My Side, etc). As an American my only knowledge of Mod is a cross between the Carnaby Style of Austin Powers, the movie Quadrophenia and a few pictures of groups like the Who in their early days.
I'm curious to know if anyone here was involved in the Mod culture when it was still parkas and Italian suits prior to the aformentioned Austin Powers version. I know that the Stones were partially associated with the Mods early one due to their choice of music, but obviously weren't as involved in it as The Who. So what can you tell me about it, what books to read to get an idea of it,etc?

Forget Austin Powers - that's all movie crap.

The best book I've found on this era is..

Author : Richard Barnes
Title : Mods!
ISBN : 9780906008140
Date : 1989
Publisher : Eel Pie Publishing

No idea if it's still in print. Published by Pete Townshend's publishing house, and Barnes is one of Pete's longest standing mates, so it has good pedigree.

"Quadrophenia" movie is outstanding. The attention to detail is fantastic (except at the very end where some geographically impossible things happen, but I only know that because I know that area very well).

Don't forget the culture of the scooter (Lambretta for instance) and the great need for having as many headlights as possible!

But there's no non-trivial association between early Stones and Mods. I think the timing is not quite right. The Rolling Stones were on a very fast ascendancy at about the time the Mods were happening, and by definition in Mod-world, any band that was nationally famous was (in current parlance) not cool at all.

They would only follow a band that was (pretty much) exclusive to Mods.

You'll also get an idea about Mod culture by watching snippets of "Ready Steady Go!", but the versions commercially available come with a huge health warning. Dave Clark (of the 5) bought them all from ATV and their re-marketing has been mainly as cut up segments with every one I have ever seen featuring an insert of the DC5 which, frankly, is fantasy.

Few books about RSG! but this one's good.

Author Shawn Levy
Title Ready, Steady, Go! : Swinging London And The Invention Of Cool
ISBN 9780007148073
Year 2002
Publisher Fourth Estate

Edit: Other bands must include The Small Faces. (Not The Faces - that's an important point.).

--
Captain Corella
60 Years a Fan



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2014-07-14 10:44 by CaptainCorella.

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Big Al
they wore parka jackets and rode mopeds.

Any Mod riding a "moped" would have been laughed off the road and scorned in the clubs.

Mods rode scooters. Not the same.

Rockers (the binary opposite to Mods) rode Motor bikes.

This is a moped [en.wikipedia.org]

This is a scooter [en.wikipedia.org])

I was a Mod in the middle of England in the sixties (near Coventry). We drove Lambretta scooters, with high fur covered back rests for the girls, plenty of chromed mirrors and multi coloured paint work (we good not afford to chrome the side panels). Often the paint work was just two colours "two - tone". We met up at various coffee houses (like the Il Cadore in Leamington Spa) and had to avoid the hangouts of the Rockers in cafes around the corner. If you were in a group of scooters on a Saturday night you were usually OK but if on your own, then you had to be wary of Rockers. Yes it was the Who, The Small Faces but we also loved the Stones and don't forget in late 65 and through 66 the Stones were very fashion conscious. There are pictures of Jagger and Jones in two tone shoes, cord trousers with wide leather belts and polo neck shirts, very "in". Shortly after we were into 67 and we all became hippies, and Brian died and pop became rock.

Here is an extract from Wikipedia that might interest you ;

""In the 1960s mod subculture, many British youth used motorscooters for transportation, usually Vespas or Lambrettas. Scooters had provided inexpensive transportation for decades before the development of the mod subculture, but the mods stood out in the way that they treated the vehicle as a fashion accessory. Italian scooters were preferred for their cleanlined, curving shapes and gleaming chrome. For young mods, Italian scooters were the "embodiment of continental style and a way to escape the working-class row houses of their upbringing".[62] They customised their scooters by painting them in "two-tone and candyflake and overaccessorized [them] with luggage racks, crash bars, and scores of mirrors and fog lights",[62] and they often put their names on the small windscreen. Engine side panels and front bumpers were taken to local electroplating workshops and plated with highly reflective chrome.

Scooters were also a practical and accessible form of transportation for 1960s teens. In the early 1960s, public transport stopped relatively early in the night, and so having scooters allowed mods to stay out all night at dance clubs. To keep their expensive suits clean and keep warm while riding, mods often wore long army parkas. For teens with low-end jobs, scooters were cheaper than cars, and they could be bought on a payment plan through newly available Hire purchase plans. After a law was passed requiring at least one mirror be attached to every motorcycle, mods were known to add four, ten, or as many as 30 mirrors to their scooters. The cover of The Who's album Quadrophenia, which includes themes related to mods and rockers, depicts a young man on a Vespa GS with four mirrors attached.[63] The album spawned a 1979 motion picture of the same name.""

It was all a long time ago. cheers

Marc Bolan the ace face:

[dandyinaspic.blogspot.com.au]

What about the 70's mods? That listened to obscure northern soul and the Jam.

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DiscoVolante
What about the 70's mods? That listened to obscure northern soul and the Jam.

Didn't they listen to Ska music as well?

Not, ahem, really mods but worth mentioning anyway. Great new English duo like a collision crash between The Happy Mondays, The Sex Pistols and badass rap.



Here's a track off the album Divide And Exit.

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Happy Jack
As an American my only knowledge of Mod is a cross between the Carnaby Style of Austin Powers, the movie Quadrophenia and a few pictures of groups like the Who in their early days.

><

OK, who is going to start a "Rockers" thread?

Sorry, my bad for confusing mopeds and scooters. I still couldn't tell you the difference!

Kingbeebuzz is right about the influence of mod fashions, come to think, although that was after the movement had evolved a bit. I don't remember the Stones ever being associated with the parkas/scooters era.

OK, who is going to start a "Rockers" thread?


...hey and like hip-cool swing out man but don't let your head forget about the beatniks ....



ROCKMAN

So what sparked the mods v rockers fights? I have never really been clear why these occurred beside a difference of opinion regarding music and style. I understand that the mods were based more in cities, especialy London, while the Rockers came from the countryside.
I also wonder how prevelant were these fights and were they really as large as depicted in the film Quadrophenia?

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Happy Jack
So what sparked the mods v rockers fights? I have never really been clear why these occurred beside a difference of opinion regarding music and style. I understand that the mods were based more in cities, especialy London, while the Rockers came from the countryside.
I also wonder how prevelant were these fights and were they really as large as depicted in the film Quadrophenia?

Yes, the fights were every bit as large as the one depicted in Quadrophenia. (Historic note - very little actual film of these fights exists. I was lucky enough to unearth some while looking for something else, and that led to meeting Pete & Keith Moon)

As for what sparked them... Testosterone? The need for males to show their ruggedness in front of potential mates? Fear/hatred of the different? Add an element of stage management by the gutter press as well.

I don't think Rockers could be characterised as being mainly from the countryside - (broad brush coming) they came from similar, usually working class, communities that Mods came from. Rocker gangs were centred on Motorbike clubs. Other than groups around (eg) The Goldhawk Social Club in Hammersmith, there were few 'organisations' behind the Mods.

--
Captain Corella
60 Years a Fan

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Rockman
OK, who is going to start a "Rockers" thread?


...hey and like hip-cool swing out man but don't let your head forget about the beatniks ....

Ok, daddio, you dig?

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71Tele
OK, who is going to start a "Rockers" thread?

There's no need, since this is a "Rockers" message forum, and this thread is technically OT.