What is a Mod? Mod is a subculture which first started in England in the late 1950's, a Mod during this era was a young working class youth. Mods carried an image of being stuck up and emulating the middle class, reason for this is that being a Mod was meant to be portrayed as something that was better than all the other subcultures such as the Rockers, Skinheads, Punks and Teddy Boys . Quotes like " We are the Mods we are the Mods we are we are we are the Mods " signified that they were proud of what they were. Being a Mod was a chance to be different and stand out from the crowd and be noticed for being different to your "normal" person. Groups evolved from being a Mod, people that found the same interests and wore the same clothes naturally got along with each other and in some cases they may even have considered to be a gang.
http://www.stthomasu.ca/~pmccorm/modsandrockers2.html
Quadrophenia Film - 1979
This film is about a working class boy named Jimmy who hates his normal life, only when he's with his friends who are a part of the Mod culture he feels free and accepted. He feels life cant get any better taking drugs and scooter riding with friends. He attends a Brighton scooter run where both Mods and Rockers attend which ends in both cultures battling for in my opinion supremacy. Jimmy's life begins to spiral downwards and begins a path of paranoia and isolation.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0079766/plotsummary
I thought the film really portrayed in depth what is was to be a Mod, the film had every detail and really gave me an insight into the Mod culture. There was a lot more than just being a Mod - it was the image and person you were that also makes you that, within the Mod culture tight friends were made and it was all about standing up for one and other, sharing the same interests is what made the Mod culture so big, wearing the same clothes, listening to the same music and even the way they spoke. Main points I took from the film that seemed the most significant for the time period and which things make the culture what it was are:
- Scooters
- Drugs
- Music
- Clothes
Scooters
Being a Mod a scooter was a must have object, Lambretta and Vespa were the most common types of scooters for Mods to have, this was apart of their stigma which connected them to being a Mod, anyone during this time period can buy a scooter but what the Mods did was customise their scooters to give them the " Mod Look " this gave the scooters a really unique and over the top look, this backs up the point made that a Mod is slightly up themselves and didn't care what other people thought. Scooters helped Mods to stand out as when they travelled in large groups to places like Brighton - they were easily noticed and were pointed out as the Mods.
Even today there are Mod clubs and reunions where large groups of Mods or Ex mods gather at bars pubs etc and have rallies to places such as Southend, Isle of Wight and to the coasts up north. This means that even today the Mod culture is still alive and people still keep the flame alight with all the stigmas that signify what being a Mod was all about.
Drugs
Drugs played a major part in the Mod culture, large amounts of money was spent on drugs in the late 1950's. These were mostly consumed when Mods were out clubbing and partying. Drug crime didn't really happen during this era as drugs were shared amongst the groups, compared to now drugs are one of the major problems in crime and cost the Government millions of pounds every year. Mods being mostly young - under the age of 30, drugs and smoking cigarettes was viewed as being cool.
A popular cigarette in the 60's was Camel. Camels advertising was all about how cool it was to smoke, they would have various headings which all in one way shape or form said to smoke Camel cigarettes because there the best.
" Every inch a real smoke " this insists that the whole cigarette is 100% real compared to other cigarette brands you wont get one like Camel.
" Camels real taste satisfies longer! " Again imply's that other cigarettes dont satisfy like Camel cigarettes do.
When Camel started advertising in magazines they cleverly used images of the younger generation, this sends a whole new message that smoking among young people is cool, and the type of people shown in the image are all dressed as if they have come from a party which again applies another message that smoking when your out and with your friends is a good thing to do.
Music
Ready Steady Go! This was a new television show in the 1960's. Music was rapidly growing within cultures - producers were thinking of a way to cover music, fashion and celebrity talks in a new current way. ABC Television came up with a new way for youths of this time period to be up to date with the latest trends, music and celebrity happenings. The scene of the television show had a slight chaotic feel to it with dancers close to the acts, performances and interviews but at the same time it was very appealing because there was so much going on. On Friday nights " The weekend starts here " was on the ABC television station which had 30 minutes of live music performances from all the latest and most popular bands.
http://www.screenonline.org.uk/tv/id/561858/index.html
The Who ( Popular band within the Mod culture )
The Who was a band in which between 1968 and 1975 were most popular and one of the most influential groups at its time, the band received a lot of criticism from the public and they were taken less seriously compared to the music of the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. In the space of those 6 years people of the public said that their individual personalities were are recognisable as members from the Beatles.
http://theband.hiof.no/history/band_shortstory.html
The Kinks ( Popular band for a short time within the Mod culture )
Again another band popular within the Mod culture which were popular around the late 1960's. The Kinks began as an R&B/Blues genre which was big in England at the time but after 4 years the group slowly drifted from all its other competitors and began to draw heavily away from British music.
Ska Music
Ska music was a genre of music which is a form of blending Jamaican Music like calypso and jazz. Early Ska music was first known in America in 1964 and thanks to the television show " Ready Steady Go " people in the UK were able to hear these sorts of songs. Ska music was not as popular as it was in the late 1970's and the early 1980's this was the era of the Mod revival. The film Quadrophenia being made in 1979 had Ska genre songs from bands such as The specials, Madness and The Beat.
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-ska.htm
Music within the Mod culture is what separated them from all the other sub cultures, people who liked Ska music and the various bands shown above would automatically go into the Mod culture. If someone liked Rock music they would be a Rocker. After watching the movie Quadrophenia Mods used to shout aloud the lyrics from songs to almost taunt other cultures as they know which bands were connected with which culture. For example in the movie the Mods are attending a party when someone changes the record player and all the Mods started dancing then some people who wasn't part of that culture left the house as they felt segregated.
Mod Fashion
Mods were obsessed with fashion they always wanted the right look and style. They spent small fortunes on tailor made suits, shirts and shoes. Mods found tailors in south and east London who could make a suit from drawings supplied. There was a strong Jewish feel within the Mod culture as many Jewish boys had fathers in the rag trade so naturally grew up with an interest for clothes. They also knew the best places in London to get high quality suits, this is what made Mod a middle class as well as a working class cult.
1964 was the first year in which Mods became noticed they clashed with a rival group called the Rockers. The Rockers preferred leather jackets, motor bikes and traditional Rock'n'Roll. The first clashes between the two cults began in Clacton and spread to places like Hastings and Brighton as shown in the Quadrophenia Film.
Fred Perry
The Fred perry polo shirt was very popular amongst Mods in the 60's. The line of clothing was intentionally aimed for tennis wear and was only available in white, but, with Fred Perry growing bigger and bigger within the Mod culture they demanded a greater selection of colours. These polo's were worn as casual wear with jeans or could even be worn under a suit. Fred Perry polo's are still worn today and are available in hundreds of different styles. Mod culture is what made Fred Perry's polo's so big as there line of clothes were made for tennis, and now they are worn as casual and smart wear, this is where the style of Mods are still occurring today.
http://www.retrowow.co.uk/retro_style/60s/60s_mods.html
Ben Sherman
Ben Sherman was another brand of clothing that Mods wore - but within this brand Mods only wore the shirts. The Ben Sherman shirt had a buttoned down collar with an additional button at the back and also a hanging loop sewn into the shirt. Ben Sherman's were sold at John Stephan and Lord John on Carnaby Street in the 60's. Some of these shirts were even worn by people who were in Mod bands - this is what made Ben Sherman shirts also popular for its time.
http://www.retrowow.co.uk/retro_style/60s/60s_mods.html
Mod's battle over RAF symbol
Clothing Giant Arcadia group is in talks with the Ministry of Defence over the rights of the use of the blue white and red target symbol. The fashion group claims that the roundel was brought into public use by the Mod movement in the 1960's. Arcadia Group who own Dorothy Perkins, Topshop and Burton, also say they are going to help other clothing manufacturers such as Lambretta and Ben Sherman who have also used the symbol on their products.
A spokesman for Arcadia group said ; " The roundel has been in public use since the 1960's, when it was closely associated with the style of dress made famous by the Mod movement, riders of scooters bearing a plethora of lights and mirrors, wearers of fish-tailed parkas and the musical band The who ". I found this to be quite interesting as I didn't actually know what the symbol was, or about. Its first use was in the 1960's with clothing that was Mod orientated. This was a great symbol for the Mods and is what labeled them - this was the most symbolic figure used to signify a mod as in the movie Quadrophenia this symbol was found on scooters.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/3222616.stm
google.com/imagesmod
Parka Jacket
The rise of the parka jacket happened in the 1960's and this was partly because of its practicality, cheapness and availability. The coat was the ideal garment when riding on a scooter or on your way to a club, as it made it easy to gather what cult you were from. The parka jacket has its history which was made from the newspaper picture with the heading " Parka Clad" during the 60's bank holiday riots - even today the jacket is still a symbol of the Mod culture scene.
google.com/imagesgirl.phpmod
Girls who were mods looked like boys most of the time, they wore the same clothing as what male Mods wore and would cut their hair short. The 60's was the first time where women started wearing clothes that showed some flesh and also makeup started becoming more popular. Women within the Mod culture had eye liner flicks and used to wear 60's shift dresses and Fred Perry Polo's and for footwear they wore square toed heels and chelsea boots.
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090612033243AA7qWjb
Drugs
Drugs played a major part in the Mod culture, large amounts of money was spent on drugs in the late 1950's. These were mostly consumed when Mods were out clubbing and partying. Drug crime didn't really happen during this era as drugs were shared amongst the groups, compared to now drugs are one of the major problems in crime and cost the Government millions of pounds every year. Mods being mostly young - under the age of 30, drugs and smoking cigarettes was viewed as being cool.
A popular cigarette in the 60's was Camel. Camels advertising was all about how cool it was to smoke, they would have various headings which all in one way shape or form said to smoke Camel cigarettes because there the best.
" Every inch a real smoke " this insists that the whole cigarette is 100% real compared to other cigarette brands you wont get one like Camel.
" Camels real taste satisfies longer! " Again imply's that other cigarettes dont satisfy like Camel cigarettes do.
When Camel started advertising in magazines they cleverly used images of the younger generation, this sends a whole new message that smoking among young people is cool, and the type of people shown in the image are all dressed as if they have come from a party which again applies another message that smoking when your out and with your friends is a good thing to do.
Again another image with a cool looking person on it and the Phrase " One of a kind " Camels advertising just signify's that there cigarettes are the best.
Again another image similar to the one above but these images portray a character of someone who would be considered to be good looking, down with the girls and popular. The guy in the images also smokes Camel cigarettes which tells the viewer that if you smoke these cigarettes you will become popular and "get with the girls". The younger generation would have been considered to be naive so these sorts of advertisements are highly effective.
Music
Ready Steady Go! This was a new television show in the 1960's. Music was rapidly growing within cultures - producers were thinking of a way to cover music, fashion and celebrity talks in a new current way. ABC Television came up with a new way for youths of this time period to be up to date with the latest trends, music and celebrity happenings. The scene of the television show had a slight chaotic feel to it with dancers close to the acts, performances and interviews but at the same time it was very appealing because there was so much going on. On Friday nights " The weekend starts here " was on the ABC television station which had 30 minutes of live music performances from all the latest and most popular bands.
http://www.screenonline.org.uk/tv/id/561858/index.html
The Who ( Popular band within the Mod culture )
The Who was a band in which between 1968 and 1975 were most popular and one of the most influential groups at its time, the band received a lot of criticism from the public and they were taken less seriously compared to the music of the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. In the space of those 6 years people of the public said that their individual personalities were are recognisable as members from the Beatles.
http://theband.hiof.no/history/band_shortstory.html
The Kinks ( Popular band for a short time within the Mod culture )
Again another band popular within the Mod culture which were popular around the late 1960's. The Kinks began as an R&B/Blues genre which was big in England at the time but after 4 years the group slowly drifted from all its other competitors and began to draw heavily away from British music.
Ska Music
Ska music was a genre of music which is a form of blending Jamaican Music like calypso and jazz. Early Ska music was first known in America in 1964 and thanks to the television show " Ready Steady Go " people in the UK were able to hear these sorts of songs. Ska music was not as popular as it was in the late 1970's and the early 1980's this was the era of the Mod revival. The film Quadrophenia being made in 1979 had Ska genre songs from bands such as The specials, Madness and The Beat.
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-ska.htm
Music within the Mod culture is what separated them from all the other sub cultures, people who liked Ska music and the various bands shown above would automatically go into the Mod culture. If someone liked Rock music they would be a Rocker. After watching the movie Quadrophenia Mods used to shout aloud the lyrics from songs to almost taunt other cultures as they know which bands were connected with which culture. For example in the movie the Mods are attending a party when someone changes the record player and all the Mods started dancing then some people who wasn't part of that culture left the house as they felt segregated.
Mod Fashion
Mods were obsessed with fashion they always wanted the right look and style. They spent small fortunes on tailor made suits, shirts and shoes. Mods found tailors in south and east London who could make a suit from drawings supplied. There was a strong Jewish feel within the Mod culture as many Jewish boys had fathers in the rag trade so naturally grew up with an interest for clothes. They also knew the best places in London to get high quality suits, this is what made Mod a middle class as well as a working class cult.
1964 was the first year in which Mods became noticed they clashed with a rival group called the Rockers. The Rockers preferred leather jackets, motor bikes and traditional Rock'n'Roll. The first clashes between the two cults began in Clacton and spread to places like Hastings and Brighton as shown in the Quadrophenia Film.
Fred Perry
The Fred perry polo shirt was very popular amongst Mods in the 60's. The line of clothing was intentionally aimed for tennis wear and was only available in white, but, with Fred Perry growing bigger and bigger within the Mod culture they demanded a greater selection of colours. These polo's were worn as casual wear with jeans or could even be worn under a suit. Fred Perry polo's are still worn today and are available in hundreds of different styles. Mod culture is what made Fred Perry's polo's so big as there line of clothes were made for tennis, and now they are worn as casual and smart wear, this is where the style of Mods are still occurring today.
http://www.retrowow.co.uk/retro_style/60s/60s_mods.html
Ben Sherman was another brand of clothing that Mods wore - but within this brand Mods only wore the shirts. The Ben Sherman shirt had a buttoned down collar with an additional button at the back and also a hanging loop sewn into the shirt. Ben Sherman's were sold at John Stephan and Lord John on Carnaby Street in the 60's. Some of these shirts were even worn by people who were in Mod bands - this is what made Ben Sherman shirts also popular for its time.
http://www.retrowow.co.uk/retro_style/60s/60s_mods.html
Mod's battle over RAF symbol
Clothing Giant Arcadia group is in talks with the Ministry of Defence over the rights of the use of the blue white and red target symbol. The fashion group claims that the roundel was brought into public use by the Mod movement in the 1960's. Arcadia Group who own Dorothy Perkins, Topshop and Burton, also say they are going to help other clothing manufacturers such as Lambretta and Ben Sherman who have also used the symbol on their products.
A spokesman for Arcadia group said ; " The roundel has been in public use since the 1960's, when it was closely associated with the style of dress made famous by the Mod movement, riders of scooters bearing a plethora of lights and mirrors, wearers of fish-tailed parkas and the musical band The who ". I found this to be quite interesting as I didn't actually know what the symbol was, or about. Its first use was in the 1960's with clothing that was Mod orientated. This was a great symbol for the Mods and is what labeled them - this was the most symbolic figure used to signify a mod as in the movie Quadrophenia this symbol was found on scooters.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/3222616.stm
google.com/imagesmod
Parka Jacket
The rise of the parka jacket happened in the 1960's and this was partly because of its practicality, cheapness and availability. The coat was the ideal garment when riding on a scooter or on your way to a club, as it made it easy to gather what cult you were from. The parka jacket has its history which was made from the newspaper picture with the heading " Parka Clad" during the 60's bank holiday riots - even today the jacket is still a symbol of the Mod culture scene.
google.com/imagesgirl.phpmod
Girls who were mods looked like boys most of the time, they wore the same clothing as what male Mods wore and would cut their hair short. The 60's was the first time where women started wearing clothes that showed some flesh and also makeup started becoming more popular. Women within the Mod culture had eye liner flicks and used to wear 60's shift dresses and Fred Perry Polo's and for footwear they wore square toed heels and chelsea boots.
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090612033243AA7qWjb
No comments:
Post a Comment